The Sturt Stony Desert is what’s known as a “pavement desert”. In Australia it’s often known as a gibber desert. These deserts are characterised by one layer of interlocking stones underlain by clay and sand. It is thought that over tens of thousands of years the expansion and contraction of the stones caused by the extreme daily temperature variations in the desert, causes dust and sand to drop between the stones and get worked underneath. You will note that the stones look smooth and shiny as if polished. Obviously, this is not due to water. It is also not due to sand blasting because they just the same underneath. It seems that during the cold night, fine clay and mineral dust combines with dew from what little moisture there is in the air. Then during the extremely hot day, this mixture is baked on like a glaze. It’s called “desert varnish”. The sun-bleached dead branch is there for artistic effect. It just happed to be there blown in from don’t know where.

Sturt Stony Desert