Tomorrow I head off on a two week trip to Western Australia and South Australia. Both states contain regions that contain rocks and fossils that date to very important periods in the history of life on Earth.

Western Australia constitutes the western third of the Australian continent. It is very rich in natural resources (iron, gold, aluminum, nickel, diamonds, natural gas and oil to name a few) but also contains some of the oldest rocks on the planet. The oldest rocks date to around 2.5 - 3.5 billion years ago and some contain some very important fossils. Just recently, the oldest confirmed fossils from these rocks were dated at approx. 3.45 billion years ago. The fossil structures have been identified as stromatolites formed by the actions of a group of photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria. Geologists from the Geological Survey of W.A. have mapped out a series of trips, based from the town of Marble Bar, to give the general public a chance to see some prime examples of these fossils (the very best formations are off limits unless you have a permit and a guide). Over the next few days I'm going to follow some of these trips to look at these remarkable fossils and document what I find. What is even more remarkable is that living stromatolites still exist in some regions, including along the coast of Western Australia in a region known as Shark Bay. There, at the extreme end of the Bay is a series of isolated marine pools known as Hamelin Pool. The isolation has led to the development of an extreme environment that favors the cyanobacteria that form stromatolites. After seeing the fossils, I'm going to drive down the coast from Port Hedland to Hamelin Pool to catch the living stromatolites. From there, I'm traveling on to Perth, where I grew up, for a few days and then on to Adelaide in South Australia.

North of Adelaide, adjacent to the Flinders Range National Park, lies a range of small hills called the Ediacara Hills. In 1946, a geologist named Reginald Spriggs discovered a series of fossils in the sedimentary rocks that form the hills which are now recognized as representing the first major collection of early multicellular animals. The importance of the fossils is reflected in the fact that they, and other fossil collections subsequently discovered elsewhere, are known as the "Ediacara biota". The most important site for these fossils lies west of the town of Nilpena, and access is restricted to the research group actively investigating the site. It is sometimes possible to visit the research site when the investigators are in residence by prior arrangement but unfortunately the timing has not worked out this time. However, nearby within the National Park, in a region called the Brachina Gorge it is possible to drive "back in time" through rocks from the Cambrian period (which follows the Ediacara period in time) down to those that contain Ediacara fossils. I'm planning on spending a day exploring the gorge and the fossils. Two days later I have been given the opportunity to view and photograph the collection of fossils collected from the Nilpena site with curator of the collection. This a great opportunity and I'm grateful for it.

 Anyway, heading Outback means limited access to modern technology (no Internet, no cell phones - oh shame) but this is the part of Australia that I love. But when I come back I should have lots of stories and photos to share. So onwards and upwards.

Doc