57-541: The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia . The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley , a prominent promoter of his exploration expedition to the northwest. The range is one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth and primarily consists of ancient rock formations, including banded iron formations (BIFs), that are about 2.5 billion years old. The Pilbara Craton, which underlies
114-600: A cell-like morphology , were chemically analysed, revealing that they used sulphur for fuel. An extinct genus of stromatolite-forming cyanobacteria , Pilbaria , was named after the region, where the type specimen was found. The Pilbara region, under the Pilbara Development Commission, contains four local government areas : According to the Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre Wangka Maya ,
171-476: A movement with around 20 similar schools established in northern Western Australia by the mid-1990s. Jan Richardson , wife of Victorian Aboriginal activist Stan Davey , wrote a biography of McLeod as a doctoral thesis . In 2006, it was estimated that 15% of the population of the Pilbara identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people , approximately 6000 people. Many Pilbara communities face
228-518: A number of different places. Many have poor infrastructure, and relations between police and Aboriginal people are often tense. The climate of the Pilbara is arid and tropical . It experiences high temperatures and low irregular rainfall that follows the summer cyclones . During the summer months, maximum temperatures exceed 32 °C (90 °F) almost every day, and temperatures in excess of 45 °C (113 °F) are not uncommon. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 10 °C (50 °F) on
285-642: A particular region are very specifically focused upon land systems that are based on natural features. Western Australia is divided into approximately 90 land districts for cadastral purposes. There are five land divisions in Western Australia, as specified in Schedule 1 of the Land Administration Act 1997. Western Australia covers the western third of the continent, although the winemaking regions are almost entirely situated in
342-715: A quarantine hotel security guard in Perth tested positive, a five-day lockdown, from 6pm on 31 January until 6pm on 5 February was declared. Schools scheduled to resume on 1 February were to remain closed for another week. The areas affected were: "... the whole Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the South West region ..." The same region names as those used by the Regional Development Commissions Act (RDCA) are incorporated into
399-711: A small part of the state: See also Category:Biogeography of Western Australia There are a number of regionalisations that attempt to provide a regionalisation based on natural features. The best known of these are the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) regions, and the World Wildlife Fund 's Ecoregions in Australia , and the "natural regions" of John Stanley Beard , all of which are based on biogeography . Other natural regionalisations included
456-403: Is about 7 every 10 years. Due to the low population density in the Pilbara region, cyclones rarely cause large scale destruction or loss of life. The area is known for its petroleum , natural gas and iron ore deposits, which contribute significantly to Australia's economy. Other than mining, pastoral activities as well as fishing and tourism are the main industries. The Pilbara's economy
513-517: Is centred in the range. The range contains large deposits of iron ore , producing a large proportion of Australia's iron ore exports. It is predominately associated with banded iron formation . Western Australia's major iron producers have mines, communities and railways that occur along the range. Rio Tinto operates several iron ore mines within the range, including Mount Tom Price , Marandoo , Brockman , Channar , West Angelas , Mesa A mine , and Paraburdoo . Over 100 million tonnes of iron ore
570-590: Is close to Mulga Downs Station , a property owned by the Hancock family and where Lang Hancock is buried. The range runs from the Fortescue River in the northeast, 460 kilometres (290 mi) to the south. The range contains Western Australia's highest point, Mount Meharry , which reaches approximately 1,249 metres (4,098 ft) AHD . There are many extensively eroded gorges, such as Wittenoom Gorge . The twenty highest peaks in Western Australia are in
627-410: Is dominated by mining exports and petroleum export industries. During the 1970s the area was known for union militancy with many strikes and some mines operating as fully unionised 'closed shops.' This was challenged by employers from the mid-1980s onwards and the region now has a very low level of union membership compared to other parts of Australia. Most of Australia 's iron ore is mined in
SECTION 10
#1732764806507684-530: Is economically dependent on agriculture. During the Western Australian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic , travel between regions – other than between Perth and Peel – was restricted, with police checkpoints set up at the borders. Only essential travel was allowed. At some checkpoints, police were assisted by army and State Emergency Service personnel;
741-544: Is removed from the range every year. Existence of crocidolite (blue asbestos) in the Hamersley Range has been known since 1915. In 1917 crocidolite was discovered at Wittenoom , it was mined from the 1930s and was discontinued in 1966 because of unprofitable production costs. Wittenoom was Australia's only blue asbestos mining town. A cave in Juukan Gorge, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Mt Tom Price,
798-711: Is the Roebourne coastal sandplain, which supports most of the region's population in towns and much of its industry and commerce. The eastern third is almost entirely desert, and is sparsely populated by a small number of Aboriginal people. The two areas are separated by the inland uplands of the Pilbara Craton , including the predominant Hamersley Range , which has numerous mining towns, the Chichester Range , and others. The uplands have many gorges and other natural attractions. The Pilbara contains some of
855-664: Is the division of the state by the Government of Western Australia into regions for economic development purposes, which comprises nine defined regions excluding the Perth metropolitan region . However, there are a number of other systems, including those made for purposes of land management (such as agriculture and conservation), information gathering (such as statistical and meteorological), and election for political office. The various different systems were defined for different purposes, and give specific boundaries, but although many of
912-608: The Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 , which defined their extents and established Regional Development Commissions to promote their economic development. In defining the regions, an attempt was made to capture distinct socio-economic communities. For example, the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia has an economy based heavily on mining, whereas the Wheatbelt region
969-780: The Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 ; the term also refers to the Pilbara shrublands bioregion (which differs in extent) under the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA). The Pilbara region, as defined by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 and administered for economic development purposes by the Pilbara Development Commission, has an estimated population of 61,688 as of June 2018 , and covers an area of 507,896 square kilometres (196,100 sq mi). It contains some of Earth's oldest rock formations , and includes landscapes of coastal plains and mountain ranges with cliffs and gorges. The major settlements of
1026-552: The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics , as of 2010 , that resource is being used up at a rate of 324 million tonnes a year, with rates expected to increase over coming years. Experts Gavin Mudd ( Monash University ) and Jonathon Law ( Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ) expect it to be gone within 30 to 50 years (Mudd) and 56 years (Law). As of 2010 , active iron ore mines in
1083-670: The Manyjilyjarra language and "mingkirri" in the Warlpiri language ) which are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between 2 and 12 metres (7 and 39 ft) in diameter and often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass, are found in the western part of the Great Sandy Desert in the Pilbara. It has not yet been proven what causes these formations, but one theory suggests that they have been built and inhabited by Australian harvester termites since
1140-507: The Pleistocene . The Pilbara is home to a wide variety of endemic species adapted to this tough environment. There is a high diversity of invertebrates, including hundreds of species of subterranean fauna (both stygofauna and troglofauna ), which are microscopic invertebrates that live in caves, vugs or groundwater aquifers of the region, and terrestrial fauna (see short-range endemic invertebrates ). The Pilbara olive python ,
1197-404: The coastal regions of Western Australia . The South West Land Division has 23 fire districts. Under Australia's three-tiered system of government, Western Australia has four political regional schemes: Many government departments maintain systems of regional and district breakdowns of the state for their own internal purposes. Fisheries tends to separate the state into four main regions for
SECTION 20
#17327648065071254-497: The rangeland livestock (grazing/pastoral) industry or pearling ports . However, as natural mother of pearl beds around Cossack were fished out, the pearling fleet began to move northward, and by 1883 it was based at Broome, in the Kimberley region. From c. 1900 , pastoralism went into decline with the growth of other, more productive agricultural areas of the state. Mining in the region started on 1 October 1888, when
1311-497: The western pebble-mound mouse , and the Pilbara ningaui of the Hamersley Range are among the many species of animals within the fragile ecosystems of this desert ecoregion. Birds include the Australian hobby , nankeen kestrel , spotted harrier , mulga parrot and budgerigars . Wildlife has been damaged by the extraction of iron, natural gas and asbestos, but the protection of culturally and environmentally sensitive areas of
1368-762: The Bureau of Meteorology – features such as points and capes are useful indicators of coastal water forecasts. Landgate publishes touring maps that include coastal zones including: For the purposes of statistical geography , the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the Australian Standard Geographical Classification , a hierarchical regionalisation that divides Western Australia into statistical divisions , then statistical subdivisions , statistical local areas , and finally, census collection districts . Statistical divisions include: The ABS produces regional profiles for
1425-503: The Hamersley Range, dates back to around 3.4 billion years, but the range itself is younger than that. The deformation that began uplift of the region and created the tightly folded rocks of the range began around 2.2 billion years ago, during the Ophthalmia Orogeny. This would make it approximately the 6th oldest mountain range in the world. Karijini National Park (formerly known as Hamersley Range National Park) lies within
1482-456: The Hamersley Range. Peaks in the range include Mount Bruce (1,234 metres (4,049 ft)), Mount Nameless/Jarndunmunha (1,115 metres (3,658 ft)), Mount Reeder Nichols (1,109 metres (3,638 ft)), Mount Samson (1,107 metres (3,632 ft)), Mount Truchanas (1,148 metres (3,766 ft)) and Mount Tom Price (775 metres (2,543 ft)). Karijini National Park (formerly Hamersley National Park), one of Australia's largest national parks ,
1539-538: The Pilbara Goldfield was officially declared – named after a local creek, the goldfield would later give its name to the region as a whole. It was later divided into the Nullagine Goldfield and Marble Bar Goldfield. However, gold mining began to decline in the Pilbara in the mid-1890s, after alluvial ore had been exhausted. In 1937, mining of asbestos commenced at Wittenoom Gorge . While
1596-636: The Pilbara are: A significant part of Pilbara's economy is based on liquified natural gas (LNG) through the North West Shelf Venture and Pluto LNG plant, both operated by Woodside. The region also has a number of cattle-grazing stations, and a substantial tourist sector, with popular natural attractions including the Karijini and Millstream-Chichester national parks and the Dampier Archipelago . The first railway in
1653-553: The Pilbara coast. The Aboriginal population of the Pilbara considerably predates, by 30,000 to 40,000 years, the European colonisation of the region. Archaeological evidence indicates that people were living in the Pilbara even during the harsh climatic conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum . The early history of the first people is held within an oral tradition , archeological evidence and petroglyphs . Near
1710-658: The Pilbara is now enhanced by the delineation of several protected areas, including the Millstream-Chichester and the Karijini National Parks . The western Pilbara is part of the Pilbara freshwater ecoregion , also known as the Pilbara-Gascoyne or Indian Ocean drainage basin. The freshwater region is characterized by intermittent rivers which form deep gorges, and brackish-water caves that host endemic species. The region includes
1767-535: The Pilbara region around 1900 have been described as slavery , with no wages paid, kidnapping as well as severe and cruel punishments for misbehaviour and absconding all common practices. Some incidents, such as the Bendu Atrocity of 1897, attracted international condemnation. The first strike by Indigenous people in Australia took place in 1946 in the Pilbara, known as the Pilbara strike or Pilbara Aboriginal strike, when Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off
Hamersley Range - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-511: The Pilbara region was the narrow-gauge Marble Bar Railway between Port Hedland and Marble Bar . The Marble Bar Railway opened in July 1911 and closed in October 1951. The Roebourne-Cossack Tramway opened in 1897 and many industrial railways have been built to serve the mines. Five heavy-duty railways are associated with the various iron-ore mines. They are all standard gauge and built to
1881-416: The Pilbara's rainfall occurs between December and May, usually with occasional heavy downpours in thunderstorms or tropical cyclones. The period from June to November is usually completely rainless, with warm to very hot and sunny conditions. Like most of the north coast of Australia, the coastal areas of the Pilbara experience occasional tropical cyclones. The frequency of cyclones crossing the Pilbara coast
1938-399: The Pilbara, with mines mostly centred around Tom Price and Newman . The iron ore industry employs 9,000 people from the Pilbara area. The Pilbara also has one of the world's major manganese mines, Woodie Woodie, situated 400 kilometres (250 mi) southeast of Port Hedland. Iron ore deposits were first discovered by prospector Stan Hilditch, who in 1957 found a large iron ore deposit in
1995-547: The area was Francis Thomas Gregory in 1861. Within two years, European settlers had begun arriving. The region was regarded as part of the North West at first – a larger area that included the modern Kimberley and Gascoyne regions. Settlements along the coast at Tien Tsin Harbour (later Cossack), Roebourne and Condon (officially Shellborough; later abandoned) were established over ensuing decades, mainly as centres of
2052-405: The army did not have any authority to prosecute or arrest. Remote communities and some "biosecurity areas" had further travel restrictions due to the lack of medical facilities and number of high risk community members. Some inter-regional restrictions were lifted on 18 May, and on 5 June all regional restrictions were removed except for remote Aboriginal communities. On 31 January 2021, after
2109-456: The coast; however, inland temperatures as low as 0 °C (32 °F) are occasionally recorded. The Pilbara town of Marble Bar set a world record of most consecutive days of maximum temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius ) or more, during a period of 160 such days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924. The average annual rainfall in the region is between 200 and 350 millimetres (7.9 and 13.8 in). Almost all of
2166-562: The combined land area of the US States of California and Indiana . It has a population of more than 45,000, most of whom live in the western third of the region, in towns such as Port Hedland , Karratha , Wickham , Newman and Marble Bar . A substantial number of people also work in the region on a fly-in/fly-out basis. There are approximately 10 major/medium population centres and more than 25 smaller ones. The Pilbara consists of three distinct geographic areas. The western third
2223-469: The creek, and the name later became associated with the region. Radiocarbon dating estimates in evidence show that rock art and standing stones at Murujuga in the Dampier Archipelago , Australia's earliest known stone structures, believably dating from 6046 to 5338 BC, are of contextualization by thousands of years of unique cultural traditions and folklore . These sites have lived up as part of survival in present times. The first European to explore
2280-414: The different systems' regions have similar names, they have different boundaries; the names and boundaries of regions can and do vary between systems. The Western Australian system of regions defined by the Government of Western Australia for purposes of economic development administration, which excludes the Perth metropolitan region , is a series of nine regions. These nine regions were established by
2337-466: The drainage basins and catchments of river systems, and highly specialised regionalisations dealing with such matters as geology and soil systems. Administrative regionalisations include Landcare Districts and the Department of Agriculture's "Land-use Zones". However the Department of Agriculture publications – Technical Bulletins – usually titled An inventory and condition report/survey... of
Hamersley Range - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-468: The drainages of the Murchison , Gascoyne , Ashburton , Fortescue , and De Grey rivers. The Great Sandy Desert, which covers the eastern Pilbara, has little freshwater habitat. 21°S 119°E / 21°S 119°E / -21; 119 Regions of Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is divided into regions according to a number of systems. The most common system
2451-448: The heaviest North American standards. Rio Tinto runs driverless trains on its railways. The ports of the Pilbara are: The dominant flora of the Pilbara is acacia trees and shrubs and drought-resistant Triodia spinifex grasses. Several species of acacia (wattle) trees are endemic to the Pilbara and are the focus of conservation programs, along with wildflowers and other local specialities. " Fairy circles " (known as "linyji" in
2508-581: The many complex effects of colonisation, and lack adequate access to housing, health and education. A 1971 survey of 1000 Aboriginal people conducted by Pat McPherson found that most had one or more serious diseases. At the McClelland Royal Commission into British nuclear testing, Aboriginal people from the Pilbara provided evidence regarding the explosion on the Montebello Islands. Aboriginal communities are sited over
2565-582: The name for the Pilbara region derives from the Aboriginal word bilybara , meaning "dry" in the Nyamal and Banyjima languages. Another suggested origin is pilbarra , an Aboriginal word for the salt-water mullet found in local waters, reflected in the name of a tributary of the Yule River , Pilbarra Creek, which evolved to "Pilbara" Creek. The Pilbara Goldfield, discovered in 1885, was named after
2622-412: The north of Western Australia . It is known for its Aboriginal people ; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore . It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna . At least two important but differing definitions of "the Pilbara" region exist. Administratively it is one of the nine regions of Western Australia defined by
2679-543: The presence of abundant iron ore had been known for about a century, it was not until the 1960s and the discovery of high-grade ore in the Hamersley Ranges that the area became pivotal to the state's economy, and towns built to accommodate mining and allied services boomed. In the 1950s, three British nuclear weapons tests were carried out in the Montebello Islands , 130 km (81 mi) off
2736-440: The purpose of regulating recreational fishing: The department produces statistical data based on the Regional Development Commissions Act regionalisation schema Since the creation of the Department of Industry and Resources some rationalisation of mines administration has occurred, however the mineral fields and boundaries remain the same as when established. There are three regions with regional planning schemes, covering only
2793-623: The range. The traditional Aboriginal owners of the area that the range runs through are the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples. In 1999 a small range within the Hamersley was named the Hancock Range after the Hancock family, who were pioneers in the area. The Hancock range is east of Karijini National Park in a region of broad valleys and peaks that rise to almost 1,200 metres (3,937 ft). The Hancock Range
2850-535: The region are Port Hedland , Karratha and Newman . The three main ports in this region are Port Hedland, Dampier and Port Walcott . Under the Regional Development Commissions Act , Pilbara is situated south of the Kimberley , and comprises the local government areas of Shire of Ashburton, Shire of East Pilbara, City of Karratha Town of Port Hedland. The Pilbara region covers an area of 507,896 km (193,826 mi ) (including offshore islands), roughly
2907-468: The south-western tip of the state. It has nine regions, and five nominated subregions for wine under the geographical indications legislation as determined by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation . Wine regions include: Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state in Australia, at 10,194 km. The regions can be determined by the underlying geology, and in the case of
SECTION 50
#17327648065072964-474: The southern Ophthalmia Range , at what was to become the Mount Whaleback mine . In the 1960s, it was reportedly called "one of the most massive ore bodies in the world" by Thomas Price, then vice president of US-based steel company Kaiser Steel. Geoscience Australia calculated that the country's " economic demonstrated resources " of iron amounted to 24 gigatonnes, or 24 billion tonnes. According to
3021-489: The stations in protest at low pay and bad working conditions, a strike that lasted for over three years. Family clans in the Pilbara who were supported by mining prospector, Don McLeod , developed skills for mining and the concentration of rare metals . For a short period money accumulated, which according to Aboriginal law was to be used for traditional ways. Eventually the funds were used to establish an independent Aboriginal-controlled school. The concept has expanded into
3078-526: The system used by Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which uses 14 regions, so the boundaries of the two systems do not coincide. In some of the regions, the BOM designates the forecast area regions with a finer level of detail using points of the compass. Regions numbered 8 to 14 are usually known as forecast areas in the South West Land Division ; coastal zones for sea forecasts are dealt with in
3135-412: The town of Dampier is a peninsula known as Murujuga , which contains a large collection of World Heritage-listed petroglyphs, dating back thousands of years. Rock art in the Pilbara appears to have been mainly etched into the hard rock surfaces, whereas on the softer sandstone in the Kimberley rock paintings predominate. Working conditions in the pearling and pastoral industries for Aboriginal people in
3192-420: The world's oldest surface rocks, including the ancient fossilised remains known as stromatolites and rocks such as granites that are more than three billion years old. In 2007, some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth was found in 3.4 billion-year-old sandstones at Strelley Pool , which preserve fossils of sulphur -processing bacteria. The mineralised spheres, which were found on an ancient beach and have
3249-530: Was one of the oldest in the western Pilbara region, and the only inland site in Australia to show signs of continuous human occupation through the Ice Age . The cave was destroyed by Rio Tinto along with another Aboriginal sacred site on 23 May 2020 as part of their expansion of the Brockman 4 mine . Pilbara The Pilbara ( / ˈ p ɪ l b ər ə / ) is a large, dry, thinly populated region in
#506493