Devils Marbles

Not too far out of Tennant Creek is an area called Devil's Marbles. The local people believe these boulders to be the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent.




If you can't tell from my posture, it was unbelievably cold, despite the sun; we found out later that it had been in the low 20's at dawn that morning. Hadn't we, just the day before, been lounging in a hot spring in lovely 80 degree weather?




I expect everyone who visits here takes a picture like this.




Devils Marbles is a large deposit of granite that had made its way to the surface via erosion. The area experiences extremes in temperatures (we can attest to that!) which have cracked the rock and caused spalling, creating the rounded shapes. It appears that someone scattered or placed these boulders here, but really they eroded in place.




Its interesting how often the erosion process has left these rocks balancing on small points.




This one is particularly remarkable; its very nearly perfect. The granite has a high iron content, which accounts for the reddish color of the exposed surfaces. The fresher inside surface of the crack is a light grey.