Is the Pilbara the oldest place on Earth?

March 10, 2023 Bangkok

The Pilbara area of Western Australia is the location of the oldest known fossilized traces of life on Earth, which date back to around 3.6 billion years ago.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia is among the oldest regions on Earth, something that Aboriginal Australians, the longest continuous surviving culture in the world, have long known.

The Pilbara, which runs from the western coast to the Northern Territory border, has a wide terrain of intense pindan reds and infinite vistas and was formed more than 3.6 billion years ago. It’s approximately twice the size of Great Britain, but it has only 61,000 people, making it one of the least populous locations on Earth. For those visiting the area for the first time, the initial sensation of expanse and loneliness might be intimidating.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

The oldest crust on Earth

The massive iron-rich rock formations in the Pilbara, which developed before oxygen and life as we know it existed, are the best-preserved specimen of the planet’s oldest crust, according to scientists. While it is believed that other iron deposits throughout the world occurred around the same time, the Pilbara’s surface has remained exposed and unaffected by geologically catastrophic occurrences.

Martin Van Kranendonk, professor of geology at The University of New South Wales, has spent years charting and studying the Pilbara. He claimed that in addition to its age, the Pilbara region has exceptional preservation.

(Credit: Pete West

The earliest living forms on Earth

Van Kranendonk asserts that Pilbara rock is so old that it lacks fossils within its structure but is covered in stromatolites, which are the fossilized remains of the planet’s earliest life forms.

In the Pilbara, close to Marble Bar (seen above), fossil stromatolites dating back 3.45 billion years were discovered in 1980. Since there was no other life on Earth, these microscopic cyanobacteria communities first appeared, creating bulbous reef-like formations as they produced oxygen through photosynthesis.

Amazingly, the world’s largest live stromatolites system is still surviving, even fizzing, as it creates oxygen in the hypersaline bay at Hamlin Pool near Shark Bay, just south of the Pilbara. Only two locations on the planet have living marine stromatolites, and this is one of them.

(Credit: Dan Avila

An unanticipated surprise

The Pilbara can be harsh, intense, and occasionally deadly for those who are unprepared. Also, it is eerily beautiful and seizes the attention of tourists from all over the world.

One of the most stunning national parks in the entire world is located there, despite the area’s appearance as a semi-arid desert. The otherworldly beauty of Karijini National Park is hidden deep within its ancient gorges and sheer-sided chasms, where majestic waterfalls and crystal-clear waterholes are placed among the striated rock, and was carved out of the soil by billions of years of slow erosion.

This is a heaven for tourists, with cool rock pools fed by springs below ground, beautiful foliage, and a wide variety of species.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

An organic spa pool

Given the harsh Pilbara environment, the continuously flowing waterfalls, waterholes, and oases found here are more more breathtaking.

At the head of Hamersley Gorge, Spa Pool has been carved out of the rock like an enigmatic, old cistern. A smooth, multicolored rock wall almost fully encircles the bath-like creation. One of Karjini’s most private hiding places is completely silent, but for the soft burbling of the stream that replenishes the pool on a regular basis.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

The untold story of Australia

The Karijini Eco Retreat, which is owned by indigenous people, is the only place to stay in the national park. In the retreat, the mornings are magical. The early morning’s crisp air is energizing, and the low light, which is filtered through iron-rich dust suspended in the air, bathes the landscape in color until the late morning’s full sun washes everything away until nightfall.

For stargazers and astro-photographers alike, Karijini is a dark sky wonderland at night when there are clear skies and no moon. The Milky Way is seen in stunning detail thanks to the dry air and lack of light pollution.

According to co-owner Marnie Shields, “Karijini is a unique and iconic Australian destination,” and that visitors are frequently overcome by the beauty, accessibility, and diversity of the area.

Massive Fig Tree, Dale Gorge, near Fern Pool

The untold story of Australia

According to co-owner Marnie Shields, “Karijini is a unique and iconic Australian destination,” and that visitors are frequently overcome by the beauty, accessibility, and diversity of the area.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

important location for ladies

Karijini is also a place of significant cultural value to the indigenous people, with some areas of the park designated as being exclusively for women and others as being exclusively for men. Anthropologist Dr. Amanda Harris, who has worked with traditional owners throughout the Pilbara, said that there are sites where women would go in order to get pregnant or give birth to twins.

For the local Banjima people, Fern Pool (shown above), which is situated in a terrarium-like setting at the beginning of Karijijni’s Dale’s Gorge, is a significant women’s place. However, unlike other indigenous sites that forbid interference, such as Uluru’s climbing ban and certain areas of the Kunku-Breakaways near Coober Pedy, Fern Pool does not have a similar restriction.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

A place of respite

Scientists believe that the Banjima people and their forebears have been using Karijini, which means “hilly place” in local Aboriginal languages, as a meeting location for 30,000 to 40,000 years. Nomadic tribes of the Pilbara maintained life in a challenging environment with daily resource gathering essential for survival. Karijini offered a place of respite and security of resources, shelter and permanent water.

“Karijini is referred to by all the neighbouring tribes as a meeting place, as an ancient place where business is conducted, families get together, marriages are arranged, lore is passed. This still goes on today,” said West.

Mount Bruce (pictured above), Western Australia’s second-tallest peak, stands at the entry to Karijini and holds both geological and indigenous significance. Known as Punurrunha to indigenous people, the mountain is a sacred site and highly significant in Aboriginal Law. To Banjima, this is strictly a male-only site, with some female elders refusing to even set eyes on the peak as they pass by. Visitors, however, are not restricted from photographing or even ascending to the summit.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

Ancestral wisdom

The Pilbara continues to offer new details about the early Earth and the existence of the area’s original settlers. Indigenous people have always recognized that the Pilbara has been continually inhabited for much longer than science have realized.

Clinton Walker, a Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma elder and indigenous Pilbara tour guide, said: “Because we know life, as a people we’ve always recognized [human] life started here. “From our perspective, we’ve never believed we came from anyplace else save here and that we were made in this terrain by beings much more evolved than us, who also taught us all our knowledge,” the author writes. “The universe began here, everything began here.”

(Credit: Dan Avila)

Observations of extinct macropods

Walker discovered historic rock engravings of kangaroo tracks earlier this year while searching at low tide on the Burrup Peninsula in the Pilbara. He thinks this is the first discovery of its kind made underwater anywhere in Australia, sparking intense scientific interest. According to the prevailing assumption of origin, between 7,000 and 18,000 years ago, when the water levels were more than 100 meters lower, this etching was most likely created.

Walker enjoys introducing visitors to the important local rock art that depicts extinct macropods (seen above) and feels that there are still many discoveries to be uncovered, both underwater and on land.

(Credit: Dan Avila)

A mystical setting

The Pilbara’s ancient roots are what give it its magic. There are no people, barriers, structures, or other modernization-related restrictions. Just an ancient location whose keepers invite you to embark on your own voyage of discovery.

In addition to geologists, photographers, artists, painters, and lovers of nature, this place is for searchers, as West noted. “I see this in people who come to Karijini in particular. As you walk through those gorges, guaranteed you’ll be running your hands along the oldest rocks you’ll ever touch. It gives you a true sense of perspective. I think that’s super great.”

Source: https://bbc.in/3J5Txzg