- Ball's Pyramid
Infobox World Heritage Site
Name = Lord Howe Island Group
imagecaption=
State_Party = AUS
Type = Natural
Criteria = vii, x
ID = 186
Link =
Region = Asia-Pacific
Coordinates =
Year = 1982
Session = 6th
Extension =
Danger =Ball's Pyramid is an erosional remnant of a
shield volcano andcaldera that formed about 7 million years ago. Ball's Pyramid is 20 km (13mile s) southeast ofLord Howe Island in thePacific Ocean . It is 562 m high, while measuring only 200 m across. Ball's Pyramid is located at coord|31|45|21|S|159|15|02|E|display=inline,title. It is part of theLord Howe Island Marine Park .Ball's Pyramid has a few satellite islets. Observatory Rock and Wheatsheaf Islet lie about 800 m WNW and 800 m WSW, respectively, of the western extremity of Ball's Pyramid. Southeast Rock is a pinnacle located about 3.5 km southeast of Ball's Pyramid. Like Lord Howe Island and the
Lord Howe seamount chain , Ball's Pyramid is based on theLord Howe Rise , part of the submergedcontinent of Zealandia.History
The pyramid was named after Lieutenant Henry Ball who discovered it in
1788 at the same time he discoveredLord Howe Island (see the history section of that article). The first person to go ashore is believed to have been Henry Wilkinson in1882 , who was ageologist at theNew South Wales Department of Mines .The first successful climb to the summit was made on
14 February 1965 by a team of climbers from the Sydney Rock Climbing Club, consisting of Bryden Allen, John Davis, Jack Pettigrew and David Witham. [ [http://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/climbing/bp.html Jack Pettigrew's climbing page] , including reproduced "Sydney Morning Herald " front page]There had been an earlier attempt in
1964 by another Sydney team that included adventurerDick Smith (then just 20 years old) and other members of the Scouting movement. They were forced to turn back on their fifth day running short of food and water. In1979 Smith returned to the pyramid, together with climbers John Worrall and Hugh Ward, and they successfully reached the summit. At the top they unfurled a flag ofNew South Wales provided to them by PremierNeville Wran and declared the island Australian territory (a formality which it seems had not previously been done).Rick White did an unroped free solo to the summit in 1 hour and 45 minutes.Fact|date=April 2008
Climbing was banned in
1982 under amendments to the Lord Howe Island Act, and in1986 all access to the island was banned by the Lord Howe Island Board. In1990 the policy changed to allow some climbing under strict conditions, which in recent years has required an application to the relevant state Minister (e.g. [ [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19960501045 Mr Andrew Fraser (Coffs Harbour)] in theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly ,1 May 1996 ] ).Fauna
In 2001, a team of entomologists and conservationists landed on Ball's Pyramid to chart its flora and fauna. To their surprise they rediscovered a population of the
Lord Howe Island stick insect ("Dryococelus australis") living in an area of six by 30 metres, at a height of 100 metres above the shoreline, under a singleMelaleuca shrub . The bush is growing in a small crevice where water was seeping through cracks in the underlying rocks. This moisture supported relatively lush plant growth which had, over time, resulted in a build up of plant debris, several metres deep. The population was extremely small, only 24 individuals. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s245820.htm Giant stick insect rediscovered] , science news14 February 2001 at theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation ] On the unsuccessful1964 climb, Dave Roots had brought back a photograph of the insect, which theAustralian Museum told him they thought was extinct.ee also
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Rockall
*Stac Lee
*Stac an Armin Footnotes
References
* Ian Hutton, "The Australian Geographic Book of Lord Howe Island",
Australian Geographic , 1998, ISBN 1-876276-27-4.*" [http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2005/s1343583.htm Rock of Ages] ", transcript of
Australian Broadcasting Corporation "Australian Story" TV episodeExternal links
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/mpa/lordhowe/ Lord Howe Island Marine Park]
* [http://www.hydro.gov.au/asdd/source/ANZCW0099024956.html Lord Howe Island and Ball's Pyramid Nautical Chart] issued by theAustralian Hydrographic Service
* [http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=26 World Mountain Encyclopedia - Ball's Pyramid]
* [http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/australia/balls_pyramid/balls.html Volcano World - Balls Pyramid]
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