Murphy's Haystacks Explained

Murphy's Haystacks are inselberg rock formations located at Mortana, between Streaky Bay and Port Kenny on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.^[1]

They are of a 'tumulus' form of weathered granite outcrop.^[2] They are made of a pink, massive, coarsely equigranular rock consisting mostly of quartz and orthoclase. Their appearance may be due to a combination of erosion by underground rainwater and then by subsequent weathering after they were exposed. Most of the pillars emerge without a break from the underlying granite. Their structural base may be of orthogonal or vertically-aligned sheet jointing.^{[3] [4]}

They obtained their name because a traveller in a coach saw the formation in the distance. He asked how a farmer could produce so much hay. As the farm was on a property owned by a man called Murphy, the rocks became known as Murphy's Haystacks.^{[5] [6]}

The site is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.^[7]

External links

• District Council of Streaky Bay webpage
• Murphy's Haystacks - Ancient Granite Rock
• Murphy's Haystacks YouTube

-33.0152°N 134.4888°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Murphy's Haystacks . Google Maps . 14 February 2016.
2. Main . B York . Granite outcrops: A collective ecosystem . Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia . 80 . 3 . 115 . September 1997 . Department of Zoology, University of Western Australia . 4 April 2017.
3. Twidale . C. R.. Charles Rowland Twidale . Campbell . Elizabeth M. . 1984 . Murphy Haystacks, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. . Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia . 108 . 4 . 175, 177–9 . 24 April 2017.
4. Web site: White . Melissa . Prioritising rock-holes of Aboriginal and ecological significance in the Gawler Ranges . 17 . Knowledge and Information Division Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation . 31 December 2008 . 24 April 2017.
5. Web site: Murphys Haystacks in SA. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 October 2014. 26 July 2007.
6. Web site: Murphy's Haystacks, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia . Steve Wade . 3 October 2014 . 2002 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20080820192320/http://www.murphys-haystacks.com/the_story.htm . August 20, 2008 .
7. Web site: Murphy's Haystacks Geological Site . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 14 February 2016 .