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Devil's Marbles Conservation Reserve

The Devil's Marbles are located in the Davenport Range, 100 km south of Tennant Creek. I thought there were only a handful of rocks, but there are lots and lots of them (that's a highly technical numeric description), covering an area that's 9 km at its longest point by 5 km at its widest.

The rocks are the remnants of a solid mass, most of which is underground, formed by volcanic magma squeezing up through sandstone and cooling into granite. The pressure of the earth forced cracks in the granite, water in the cracks formed clay, then erosion along the cracks rounded the edges and corners, forming the rocks that we see now. The process is continuing, with many rocks splitting, while others are suffering from onion-skin weathering, and eventually all the rocks will erode into sand.

The area is sacred for four Aboriginal groups, who believe the rocks are the eggs of the rainbow serpent.