| Kintore Caves Conservation Reserve Northern Territory | |
|---|---|
  Kintore Caves Conservation Reserve | |
| Coordinates | 14°24′53″S132°09′49″E / 14.4147°S 132.1635°E Coordinates: 14°24′53″S132°09′49″E / 14.4147°S 132.1635°E |
| Established | 1965 [1] |
| Area | 423 hectares (1,045 acres) [1] |
| Managing authorities | Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory |
| See also | Protected areas of the Northern Territory |
Kintore Caves Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved.
It is located approximately 12 kilometres (7 mi) west of Katherine and 330 kilometres (205 mi) south east of Darwin.
Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River below the "Top End", 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of Darwin. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory and is known as the place where "The outback meets the tropics". Katherine had an urban population of approximately 6,300 at the 2016 Census. Katherine is also the closest major town to RAAF Base Tindal located 17 km southeast and provides education, health, local government services and employment opportunities for the families of Defence personnel stationed there. In the 2016 census, the base had a residential population of 857, with only around 20% of the workforce engaged in employment outside of defence, the majority commuting to work in Katherine. Katherine is also the central hub of the great "Savannah Way" which stretches from Cairns in north QLD to Broome in the Kimberley WA.
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia, situated on the Timor Sea. It is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, with a population of 148,564. It is the smallest, wettest and most northerly of the Australian capital cities, and acts as the Top End's regional centre.
The area is made up of karst limestone and has an extensive network of caves that contain rare fauna and evidence of a long history of human occupation. The conservation reserve shares a boundary to the north with the Northern Territory Rural College and to the south with private property zoned for rural use. [2]
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. However, in regions where the dissolved bedrock is covered or confined by one or more superimposed non-soluble rock strata, distinctive karst features may occur only at subsurface levels and can be totally missing above ground.
Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolomite, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In old USGS publications, dolomite was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolomites or magnesium-rich limestones.
