The 12

Apostles

By, Brianna Kelly

Geography 1700
Professor: Jon Allred

The 12 apostle rocks are located in Victoria, Australia. These are

twelve rocks located on a shore and they are limestone rocks.
Over the years, a few of them have fallen. There are only 8
standing apostle rocks and the Three Sisters Formation. These
rocks are said to be caused from erosion on the limestone cliff
that started 10-20 million years ago.

According to some information that I found on Wikipedia on

these is that it use to be called Sow and Piglets until 1922. The
site then became known as The 12 Apostles for the tourist
attraction. The interesting thing is that there has never been
12 of these rocks. The big rocks that stood as considered the
12 apostles but there are only 9. There are 3 other small
stacks of rocks nearby called the Three Sisters Formation
(Wikipedia.com).

Many may ask if the 12 Apostle Rocks got their name from the
Biblical 12 apostles. From what I read on the website
visit12apostles.com, that is not how they got their name. As I said,
they use to be known as the Sow and Piglets. According to this
website, the Sow is referring to the Mutton Bird Island and the
Piglets reefer to the surrounding rocks to the East of it
(Visit12Apostles.com).

Erosion
Erosion is cause by wind and water degraded the surface
of the earth and the stones and rocks on it. This picture is
a good example of erosion. As you can see in this picture,
the lime stone has been eroded over the years by the
Southern Oceans wind and ocean water.

In this picture, these rocks were once connected to the land of

limestone by it. Parts of this limestone became rocks of limestone.
This happened because as the water and wind hit against the
rocks, it eventually made holes between the rocks and the land of
rock that we called caves. These caves eventually collapse leaving
12 stacks of rocks that stood 45meters high, which is equal to
about 147.638 feet tall.

From Tamera Frakrells ePortfolio, she stated that in 2002 a group

called the Port Campbell Professional Fishermen's Association tried
to attempt blocking the Marine National Park at the 12 Apostle
location but they failed. The government later made a decision to
not allow seismic exploration at that same site. They did this
because they believe that it would harm the marine life.

As you can see, these rocks have continued to erode and will
always be eroding. The rocks are slowly getting washed away
from the one that had fallen. You can also see in these
pictures that the limestone cliff is eroding. According to
Tameras ePortfolio, these rocks will continue to erode about 2
centimeters a year. When the base of these rocks erode, they
will eventually fall over when the base part is not stable
anymore.

2002

2012

About 2015

Conclusion
This is a place that is visited by many, so it is
a big tourist spot in Australia. It looks like a
cool place to go and see the giant rocks.

Works Cited
"12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia." Tourism Victoria Home. NP. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

"Australia Destinations." Aussie Destination Tours. NP. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

Fackrell, Tamara. "The 12 Apostles." Tamara Fackrell. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

"The Twelve Apostles (Victoria)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.

"Visit 12 Apostles | 12 Apostles Naming and Location." Visit 12 Apostles | 12 Apostles Naming and Location. Visit
12 Apostles. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.