Blanche Cup - SA

Located 4km off the Oodnadatta Track about 10km east of Coward Springs within the Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. Vehicle access within the park is limited to the entrance road to Blanche Cup and The Bubbler mound springs.

Mound springs are natural outlets for the Great Artesian Basin. Mound springs occur wherever the pressure in the aquifer is able to force water to the surface through cracks in the overlying impermeable rocks. The dramatic fall in pressure at the surface causes chemical changes in the water; magnesium, sodium and calcium carbonates are precipitated at the outlet and slowly build up to form hillocks usually several metres high.

Blanches Cup is considered a classic mound spring due to the symmetry of the mound and the large circular pool on top. Like other springs however, it has suffered from introduced grazing animals and reduced flow rates of the Great Artesian Basin - due to the many bores that have been drilled into the aquifer.

Take the time to also take a visit to the extinct mound spring of Hamilton Hill also in this area.