The 12 Apostles are quite simply enormous limestone rocks, which stand at an impressive 45 meters high in Australia. Believed to have formed over 20 million years ago, these jaw-dropping structures rise out of the Southern Ocean, where they have slowly reduced in number due to harsh winds and battering waves.
These limestone stacks are located off the shore of Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Seven of the original eight stacks remain standing at the Twelve Apostles viewpoint, after one collapsed in July 2005. The Twelve Apostles were formed by erosion.
The ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches that eventually collapsed, leaving rock stacks up to 50 m or 160 feet high. The 12 Apostles of Australia are a stellar example of our planet’s natural transformation, which has been going on ever since its inception.
The limestone of the 12 apostles is dated between 15 to 20 million years. It is estimated that the formations we now see before us have taken shape over the last 6000 years or so.