AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA.

Panorama of Australia.
The Pinnacles Desert.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 17.10.1988.
Face value: 39 cents of Australian dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 35 x 35 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1131.
- Scott No. 1098.
- Seven Seas Stamps No. 1174.
- StampWorld No. 1133.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1161.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1099.

The Pinnacles are limestone formations within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia. The area contains thousands of weathered limestone pillars. Some of the tallest pinnacles reach heights of up to 3.5 m (11.48 ft) above the yellow sand base. The different types of formations include ones which are much taller than they are wide and resemble columns (suggesting the name of Pinnacles) while others are only a meter or so in height and width resembling short tombstones. A cross-bedding structure can be observed in many pinnacles where the angle of deposited sand changed suddenly due to changes in prevailing winds during formation of the limestone beds. The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes.

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Thanks to Óscar Valencia for his contribution.