*photography: >>photo essays: desert landscapes, uluru

Uluru is a 600 million year old sandstone rock formation or 'island mountain' located in the southern part of the Northen Territory, central Australia. A world heritage site and part of Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park, Uluru is sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankuytjatjara tribes of the Anangu people, it's traditional custodians for millennia.

Uluru is composed of coarse grained sandstone, with significant deposits of feldspar, quartz and silicate minerals. Standing over 350 m high, Uluru is taller than the Eiffel tower, with a maximum 2 km width, 3.4 km length and a base circumference of 9.5 km.

Although from a distance Uluru looks monolithic and quite uniform, walking around the base reveals its many features from ground level up: numerous ancient Aboriginal paintings and rock caves, as welll as natural springs, water holes and gorges which support a diversity of animal and plant life, providing a sanctuary for many species in the otherwise extreme desert environment. As light changes through the seasons and each day progressess from sunrise through to nightfall, Uluru's colours and appearance transform, adding a distinctly living quality to its majestic presence in the central Australian desert landscape.