Mysterious fairy circles now discovered in Australia’s desert

A strange formation of grass called "Fairy Circles" which, so far, has only been seen in Africa has now appeared 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia near an Iron Ore mine. In African lore around Namibia, local legends have explained the circles as "the footsteps of the gods, burn marks from the breath of underground dragons, or even landing spots for UFOs." Fact is, no one knows what these fairy circles are.

Deep in the Australian outback, circular, grass-ringed patches of earth stretch for several hundred square kilometres across the red, ancient soil. This is the first time these “fairy circles” have been spotted outside the Namibian desert, where their formation has evaded explanation for decades. The new discovery could help resolve the long-standing mystery of how they form. “It shows that the fairy circles of Namibia do not exist on their own,” says Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany. Getzin and his team visited the site 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia, to measure the circles and analyse the conditions on the ground after an environmentalist working for an iron ore mine nearby sent them an aerial shot of the formations. “From the bird’s-eye perspective the pattern becomes clear, and you see the regular features indicative of the fairy circles,” Getzin says.

Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany and his team of scientists have a theory concerning this phenomenon. The theory goes that these "fairy circles" are created by the plants themselves in their efforts to get scant traces of water in the desert. It's just a theory but an interesting one.......plants, competing for water, develop methods to maximize water consumption! I think it's an interesting read! What says ATS?

www.newscientist.com...

a reply to: lostbook

Some perspective would be nice, like from where was this picture taken and how.

a reply to: lostbook

The theory goes that these "fairy circles" are created by the plants themselves in their efforts to get scant traces of water in the desert.

Hmm, that's interesting. Perhaps the plants are altruistic and the circular pattern is what remains of the plants trying to make room for one another..

Interesting read. S&F.

I like the theory behind what's going on, though the difference between the Namibian circles and the Australian 1's confuses me.

If I understand correctly, They're saying the circles sort of function as a way for the plants to get water. In Australia, the dirt area is not permeable, so the water flows to edges, and the plants soak it up. I'm assuming this means the soil at the circumference is more permeable, and will soak up the water. This makes sense to me.

However, they seem to be saying it is sort of the opposite with the Namibian circles. The dirt area is permeable, so the water soaks through creating a Reservoir that the plants draw from. This is where I'm slightly confused. I would have thought if this were the case, then the plants would grow in the better soil, so you would end up with a circle/mound of grass, not a ring. It seems there would still need to be some other additional reason for the circular/ring shape with regards to the Namibian circles, but I certainly have no training/knowledge in this area.


Slightly Off-Topic:
I read through that article on New Scientist, and some clickbait at the bottom caught my eye, so, assuming that New Scientist would probably only link to decent sources, I went ahead and clicked on it.

It was an article stating
"17 Science Facts that will leave you questioning everything"
LINK

I got as far as point 2 before making this post.

In the first point, they say the Tunguska Event happened in Serbia. I thought it was Siberia, and fact checking seems to back that up.

In the second point, they say that days are longer now than they were millions of years ago, and that it's due to Tidal Acceleration, which in turn, is caused by the moon getting closer to earth over time.
I thought the moon was getting further away, not closer. Fact checking that suggests an annual increase in distance of about 3.8cm.

Pretty disappointed that New Scientist would link to something that is quite clearly incorrect. I have always held the NS publication in quite high regard.

a reply to: AbdulAlhazred

Thanks for the input! Yes, this topic is very interesting. To speak to your other point(s), the Earth is indeed slowing down or will slow down. However, it not because of the Moon; it's because of melting glaciers. I did a thread on it a few weeks ago:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

originally posted by: lostbook
A strange formation of grass called "Fairy Circles" which, so far, has only been seen in Africa has now appeared 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia near an Iron Ore mine. In African lore around Namibia, local legends have explained the circles as "the footsteps of the gods, burn marks from the breath of underground dragons, or even landing spots for UFOs." Fact is, no one knows what these fairy circles are.

Deep in the Australian outback, circular, grass-ringed patches of earth stretch for several hundred square kilometres across the red, ancient soil. This is the first time these “fairy circles” have been spotted outside the Namibian desert, where their formation has evaded explanation for decades. The new discovery could help resolve the long-standing mystery of how they form. “It shows that the fairy circles of Namibia do not exist on their own,” says Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany. Getzin and his team visited the site 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia, to measure the circles and analyse the conditions on the ground after an environmentalist working for an iron ore mine nearby sent them an aerial shot of the formations. “From the bird’s-eye perspective the pattern becomes clear, and you see the regular features indicative of the fairy circles,” Getzin says.

Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany and his team of scientists have a theory concerning this phenomenon. The theory goes that these "fairy circles" are created by the plants themselves in their efforts to get scant traces of water in the desert. It's just a theory but an interesting one.......plants, competing for water, develop methods to maximize water consumption! I think it's an interesting read! What says ATS?

www.newscientist.com...

The empty circles look familiar to me after running the Conway "Game of Life" simulation many times.

I'd suspect that the circles are the result of competition for resources.

a reply to: lostbook

I worked in Newman last year, so my ears perked up when I read this.

I live half a days drive from there at the moment actually...

I had a quick look on google maps to see if I could find the area and found a spot that looks very similar.

-23.418877,119.836560

Might have to plan a trip shortly

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: lostbook

I worked in Newman last year, so my ears perked up when I read this.

I live half a days drive from there at the moment actually...

I had a quick look on google maps to see if I could find the area and found a spot that looks very similar.

-23.418877,119.836560

Might have to plan a trip shortly

Cool. Update us on what you find.

originally posted by: lostbook
A strange formation of grass called "Fairy Circles" which, so far, has only been seen in Africa has now appeared 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia near an Iron Ore mine. In African lore around Namibia, local legends have explained the circles as "the footsteps of the gods, burn marks from the breath of underground dragons, or even landing spots for UFOs." Fact is, no one knows what these fairy circles are.

Deep in the Australian outback, circular, grass-ringed patches of earth stretch for several hundred square kilometres across the red, ancient soil. This is the first time these “fairy circles” have been spotted outside the Namibian desert, where their formation has evaded explanation for decades. The new discovery could help resolve the long-standing mystery of how they form. “It shows that the fairy circles of Namibia do not exist on their own,” says Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany. Getzin and his team visited the site 15 kilometres south-east of Newman, Australia, to measure the circles and analyse the conditions on the ground after an environmentalist working for an iron ore mine nearby sent them an aerial shot of the formations. “From the bird’s-eye perspective the pattern becomes clear, and you see the regular features indicative of the fairy circles,” Getzin says.

Stephan Getzin, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany and his team of scientists have a theory concerning this phenomenon. The theory goes that these "fairy circles" are created by the plants themselves in their efforts to get scant traces of water in the desert. It's just a theory but an interesting one.......plants, competing for water, develop methods to maximize water consumption! I think it's an interesting read! What says ATS?

www.newscientist.com...

Why do they grow in a triangular shape or have the plants been post co loured for ease of identity?

BTW "Deep in the Australian outback, I think they are measuring from over on the east coast as Newman is, from memory, about 400ks (don't hang me on that) from the West Australian coast so that's about 3,000ks from the eastern states coast.

Newman is a mining town of about 4-500 people (at a guess, these days) and about 1000 +ks from Perth.

Rings of grass in many parts of the US are caused by propagation of a fungus.
Wonder if that could be at the root of this here as well.

a reply to: charlyv

In Europe they are called "witch circles", not sure if it's the same though.

a reply to: charlyv

Yeah, I was thinking either a fungus, or possibly a grub-type "pest" that somehow eats in this pattern.

Could be some sort of chemical or gas that comes up from underground, too, that inhibits growth within a certain radius from where it exits the surface.

Could be a lot of things, I guess.

ETA: Could be where the worm things from the "Tremors" movies come up to eat, too.

That is one of our military live fire ranges. The circles are caused when drop-bears 'drop in' via parachute.

It is very new and very hush hush.

P