Uluru (Ayers Rock)

25.3444°S, 131.0369°E.

Sandstone monolith in the southern Northern Territory of Australia, rising 348 metres above the surrounding desert and 863 metres above sea level. The visible rock is the eroded remnant of a much larger geological structure that extends approximately 2.5 km into the ground; the visible portion is approximately 500 million years old. Composed of arkose, a coarse-grained sandstone rich in feldspar that oxidizes to red on the surface. Sacred to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Anangu peoples, who have continuously occupied the region for at least 30,000 years and probably 60,000+. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage 1987 (natural) and 1994 (cultural). Climbing the rock was permanently banned on October 26, 2019, at the request of the Anangu, after 80 years of tourist climbing.

A mountain that goes 2.5 km underground is the visible stub of something deep — and the people who lived next to it for 30,000 years finally got to close it to climbers.