Australia: Litchfield NP – Magnetic Termite Mounds
The biggest attraction in the Litchfield National park are the many fields of the magnetic termite mounds, a totally surreal natural feature. Magnetic termites, known as Amitermes meridionalis, are inly found in and around the Litchfield National Par and nowhere else on earth. These termites are known for their unique mound-building behavior, which aligns their mounds with the Earth’s magnetic field, along a north-south axis. Their structures are wedge-shaped and up to 4m tall, but very thin on one side and flat on the other. By aligning their mounds north to south, magnetic termites minimize exposure to the sun’s intense heat during the day and thus regulate the temperature inside their colonies – the mound is only exposed to morning and evening sun, while gets very little during the worst day heat. The mounds are usually built in low lying areas that get flooded during the rains – the fields of mounds look like a graveyard full of traditional gravestones. the mechanism of understanding the magnetism by termites is not very well understood – esearchers speculate that magnetic termites may have specialized sensory organs or cells that are sensitive to magnetic fields, an internal compass of sorts.
