Misplaced Pages

#474525

24-549: Cordillo Downs or Cordillo Downs Station is both a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station and a formal bounded locality in South Australia . It is located about 116 kilometres (72 mi) north of Innamincka and 155 kilometres (96 mi) south east of Birdsville . The name and boundaries of the locality were created on 26 April 2013 for the long established local name. The station once occupied an area of 7,800 square kilometres (3,012 sq mi) and

48-451: A July 1995 article in Geology, that he concluded, "stone pavements are born at the surface." While the stones remain on the surface due to heave, deposition of windblown dust must build up the soil beneath that pavement. For the geologist, this discovery means that some desert pavements preserve a long history of dust deposition beneath them. The dust is a record of ancient climate, just as it

72-561: A role in their formation. Desert varnish is also prevalent in the Mojave desert and Great Basin geomorphic province. Stony deserts may be known by different names according to the region. Examples include: Gibbers: Covering extensive areas in Australia such as parts of the Tirari-Sturt stony desert ecoregion are desert pavements called Gibber Plains after the pebbles or gibbers. Gibber

96-456: Is on the deep sea floor and in the world's ice caps. Desert pavement surfaces are often coated with desert varnish , a dark brown, sometimes shiny coating that contains clay minerals. In the US a famous example can be found on Newspaper Rock in southeastern Utah . Desert varnish is a thin coating (patina) of clays, iron, and manganese on the surface of sun-baked boulders. Micro-organisms may also play

120-607: Is situated in the channel country and is periodically inundated with water from heavy rains further north, resulting in lush vegetation growth immediately afterwards. Some pasture species that appear when the water recede are Nardoo, Cooper Clover, Verbine, Lignum as well as many grasses. The Cordillo Downs road links the station with Innamincka and the Birdsville Developmental Road . 26°42′31″S 140°37′12″E  /  26.70856°S 140.6201°E  / -26.70856; 140.6201 Pastoral lease In

144-525: The Australian states and territories , leases constitute a land apportionment system created in the mid-19th century to facilitate the orderly division and sale of land to European colonists. Legislation ensured that certain Aboriginal rights were embodied in pastoral leases. However, according to historian Henry Reynolds , several colonial leaders ran roughshod over these rights, including Sir John Downer (when

168-475: The Mojave Desert of California, by Stephen Wells and his coworkers. At Cima Dome, geologically recent lava flows are covered by younger soil layers, with desert pavement on top of them, made of rubble from the same lava. The soil has been built up, not blown away, yet the stones remain on top. There are no stones in the soil, not even gravel. Researchers can determine how many years a stone has been exposed on

192-512: The Northern Territory was governed by the colonial government of South Australia ); Sir John Forrest in the colony of Western Australia ; and Sir Samuel Griffith in Queensland . Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions. They do not give all the rights that attach to freehold land: there are usually conditions which include a time period and

216-456: The Earth's constant microseismic vibrations. The removal of small particles by wind does not continue indefinitely, because once the pavement forms, it acts as a barrier to resist further erosion. The small particles collect underneath the pavement surface, forming a vesicular A soil horizon (designated "Av"). A second theory supposes that desert pavements form from the shrink/swell properties of

240-466: The clay underneath the pavement; when precipitation is absorbed by clay it causes it to expand, and when it dries it cracks along planes of weakness. Over time, this geomorphic action transports small pebbles to the surface, where they stay through lack of precipitation that would otherwise destroy the pavement by transport of the clasts or excessive vegetative growth. A newer theory of pavement formation comes from studies of places such as Cima Dome, in

264-430: The ground. Wells used a method based on cosmogenic helium-3 , which forms by cosmic ray bombardment at the ground surface. Helium-3 is retained inside grains of olivine and pyroxene in the lava flows, building up with exposure time. The helium-3 dates show that the lava stones in the desert pavement at Cima Dome have all been at the surface the same amount of time as the solid lava flows right next to them. He wrote in

SECTION 10

#1733093044475

288-487: The lease has: Gibber plain A desert pavement , also called reg (in western Sahara), serir (in eastern Sahara), gibber (in Australia), or saï (in central Asia) is a desert surface covered with closely packed, interlocking angular or rounded rock fragments of pebble and cobble size. They typically top alluvial fans . Desert varnish collects on the exposed surface rocks over time. Geologists debate

312-526: The leaseholder and the affected native title group. Australian jurisdictions have land management legislation that affects the administration of pastoral leases. As of November 2023 the legislation and management arrangements are as follows: The statutory provisions of pastoral leases are covered by the New Zealand Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and the Land Act 1948 . The holder of

336-419: The leases falls mainly to state and territory governments. Leases within state jurisdictions have variations as to applicability from state to state. Under Commonwealth of Australia law, applicable only in the Northern Territory , they are agreements that allow for the use of Crown land by farmers. Native title can co-exist with pastoral leases, and Indigenous land use agreements may be made between

360-515: The mechanics of pavement formation and their age. Several theories have been proposed for the formation of desert pavements. A common theory suggests that they form through the gradual removal of sand , dust and other fine-grained material by the wind and intermittent rain, leaving the larger fragments behind. The larger fragments are shaken into place through the forces of rain, running water, wind, gravity, creep, thermal expansion and contraction, wetting and drying, frost heaving, animal traffic, and

384-663: The outback. The Brooks run a herd of approximately 40,000 Hereford cattle and are certified organic producers of beef using the OBE Beef label. Both the historic main Cordillo Downs Homestead and Woolshed and the Cadelga Homestead Ruins are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register . The woolshed was damaged by a storm in 2017, and restored with the help of Scottish stonemasons, with

408-501: The property until 1981 when they sold it to Brookman Holdings for $ 1.2 million. Brookman holdings is owned by the Brook family, Bill Brook was 81 years old when he bought Cordillo, where he was employed in 1918 as a ringer for 30 shillings per week. The property was owned by Anthony and Janet Brook in 2012, both of whom met Prince Charles and Camilla in Longreach during their 2012 tour of

432-481: The route. The Cooper Creek broke its banks in 1950 resulting in widespread flooding through the area. A meteor was thought to have landed somewhere at Cordillo in 1954. The bright flash and ball of fire that lasted for several minutes was spotted from many properties including Innamincka , Muloorina and Narilya, all of whom reported the phenomena to the Royal Flying Doctor Service . Beltana owned

456-513: The station was initially known as Cardilla . Frazer let the property go in 1878 and a ballot was held, the lease going to Edgar Chapman, who sold off in 1883 to Peter Waite of the Beltana Pastoral Company. The property was stocked with just over 10,000 sheep, nearly 600 cattle and about 30 horses. In 1903 the property was amalgamated with two other stations, Cadelga and Haddon Downs, and had a flock of around 85,000 by 1905. The homestead

480-450: The type of activity permitted. According to Austrade , such leases cover about 44% of mainland Australia (3,380,000 km (1,310,000 sq mi)), mostly in arid and semi-arid regions and the tropical savannahs . They usually allow people to use the land for grazing traditional livestock, but more recently have been also used for non-traditional livestock (such as kangaroos or camels ), tourism and other activities. Management of

504-516: The work completed in July 2019. The stonework was restored using the traditional techniques, and the roof that had been blown off was replaced. The terrain of the country is flat with undulating gibber plains with sandhills and claypans . The land is prone to drought but otherwise has a light grass covering. Native vegetation found in the area include Mitchell grass , katoora, spinifex , cane grass, sandhill wattle and Bladder saltbush . Cordillo Downs

SECTION 20

#1733093044475

528-496: Was abandoned for a few years during the 1930s. A plague of rats swept across the property from further north in Queensland in 1940, they were prevented from making it further south by the flooded Cooper Creek . Cattle replaced sheep on the station in 1942 when the manager, Mr Napier, decided that the wild dogs that were prevalent in the area and were inside the boundary fence at the time would cause less damage. The entire area

552-430: Was regarded as Australia's largest sheep station (in the 1880s, Cordillo set a record of shearing over 85,000 sheep in a season). One of the best known features of the station is the heritage -listed woolshed that is constructed of stone with a curved tin roof, built this way due to a lack of timber in the area. Cordillo gets around 167.3mm of rain annually. First taken up by John Frazer from Victoria in 1875

576-451: Was struck by drought in 1946 with many cattle dying and properties destocking. Airmail delivery to remote properties in outback South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland commenced in 1949. Cordillo Downs along with other remote properties including Mungerannie, Clifton Hills , Glengyle , Davenport Downs , Morney Plains , Mount Leonard, Durrie , Mulka , Tanbar, Durham Downs , Nappa Merrie , Lake Pure and Naryilco were also on

#474525