Ever wondered about the geological forces that created The Three Sisters?
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Paul Gorjan's book, Geology of the Blue Mountains: A Tourist's Guide, sheds light on this and other elements of the vivid evolutionary story written in the rocks of the Blue Mountains that saw this landscape given World Heritage status in 2000.
"I moved up here four years ago," he said. "My background's in geology so obviously I was interested in the rocks around here, they're a big attraction... A lot of tourists come up ... whether they know it or not, to see the geology.
My background's in geology so obviously I was interested in the rocks around here, they're a big attraction.
"I couldn't find any book that was available," he added.
"I did find a few technical reports but they're not readable for the average person."
His book offers insights into the science of the valleys in the landscape.
As Gorjan writes: "The Three Sisters was formed by the same processes that formed the rest of the Jamison Valley; softer layers of claystone were eroded and the harder sandstone on top tilted and then broke away along joint planes."
Mr Gorjan has had a research career in earth science.
He was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science to work on the study of mass extinctions at Tohoku University. He also worked as a research scientist at Washington University in St Louis.
Mr Gorjan's talents also extend to art. He was a finalist for the Gallipoli Art Prize in 2018 and did the diagrams in the book.
"Learning for me is consolidating my knowledge," he said.
Geology of the Blue Mountains: A Tourist's Guide, A Geological Guide to Echo Point, Three Sisters Walk and Giant Stairway is available at Mountains bookstores.
The book will be officially launched at Leura Uniting Church (Cnr of Grose and Megalong Streets) on Sunday August 11 with a community afternoon tea from 3-5pm.
Publisher Marilla North said the "valuable geological guide to our beautiful Upper Blue Mountains' terrain is written in clear and precise language that everyone can understand, illustrated with diagrams that will help you read the story of the land that is written in the rocks".
Email: vadmar1@bigpond.com by August 9 to RSVP.
