Wave rock land formation in Western Australia

Wave Rock is in Hyden Western Australia

Wave rock is not a thin wave by itself. It is the edge of a large granite rock where over time, probably ground water has weathered away the sand and soil that filled-in this whole area you see from the front of wave rock now. Leaving a scooped out, smooth 'flared slope'. So the ground level then before this erosion; the sand removed, was at the top of the rock sloping to what is the ground now.

This is the view from on top of wave rock. You are allowed to climb on top. We climbed up and all around the top of wave rock as there is a lot of area to explore. There was very little plant life but we did find moss, lichen, and a few scrubby bushes on top. The 360-degree view was pretty amazing of the surrounding area.

The wall you can see going around the edge at the top of wave rock is not a safety wall but a catchment wall to catch the rainwater and guide it down the left side of the rock (facing North).

Currently Wave Rock is 12 metres high from the ground, and more than 100 metres long.

The granite in this rock is around 2,600 million years old but the shaping of Wave Rock how it is today was probably formed around 27 million years ago.

The granite rock contains quartz, feldspar and mica.

The grey, orange and black streaks are caused by algal growth. The dark stains are living algae attached to the granite. When the water supply disappears through summer the algae change to brown and die. The algae that has been dead for a few seasons fall away so the pattern you photograph today could look different in 3 years time.

Unfortunately I was there in the middle of the day so wildlife was scarce. But I did see orange and black butterflies, blue butterflies, tadpoles in a puddle on top of wave rock (its amazing how frogs make the most of any water they can find), crows, magpies and cuckoo shrikes.

Text;

"Geology and Landforms of the South West" by Iain Copp Department of Conservation and Land Mangement