The Archway is one of the ancient lava tubes at Undara which contains the remains of the Earth’s longest flow of lava originating from a single volcano.
The lava tubes were formed when the volcano Undara expelled massive amounts of lava onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland about 190,000 years ago. Because the land was relatively flat, the lava was slow moving which allowed it to cool and solidify on the top while underneath, the molten lava continued to flow.
In total it was estimated that over 23 billion cubic metres of lava was released covering an area of 55 km2.
In this tube, most of the roof has collapsed leaving a large archway. The rocks on the ground are the remains of the roof collapse. I love the way the outside forest has changed the colour of the light.
