Since 1985, Carle Thulka is part of the lands belonging to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern branch of the Pitjantjatjara.

[2] The exposed surface of the lake normally consists of dry clay, silt or sand, covered with a salty crust.

He described the area as barren, and wrote that he and his team found no game between Lake Maurice and the Western Australian border.

Maurice, in his own expeditions, recorded information and collected specimens on the plants, animals and geology of the area.

Dozens of Aboriginal families were removed from their ancestral lands and settled in towns far to the north (Ernabella), south (Yalata and Ooldea) and west (Cundeelee and Warburton).

In the late 1940s, a single officer, Walter MacDougall, was sent to warn people in the area of the coming tests.