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The Australian desert dunefields : formation and evolution in an old, flat, dry continent

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/120441

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Title: The Australian desert dunefields : formation and evolution in an old, flat, dry continent
Related: Bishop, P. and Pillans, B.. Australian landscapes, p.141-164
DOI: 10.1144/SP346.9
Related: Geological Society special publication No. 346
Publisher: London : Geological Society Publishing House
Date: 2010
FoR/RFCD Code(s): 040606 Quaternary Environments 040601 Geomorphology and Regolith and Landscape Evolution
Author/Creator: Hesse, Paul P
Description: A new map, the first based on interpretation of satellite imagery, reveals both the complexity of Australia's dunefields and their relationships with topography, climate and substrate. Of the five main sand seas, the Mallee, Strzelecki and Simpson in eastern Australia cover Quaternary sedimentary basins whereas the Great Victoria and Great Sandy dunefields in the west are formed by reworking of valley and piedmont sediments in a non-basinal landscape of low-relief ridge and valley topography. These dunefields cover large areas of the arid zone and semi-arid zone and small areas of dunes in sub-humid areas around the margins of the continent reflecting past expansion of arid climates during glacial stages of the last several glacial cycles. Several areas of low relief stand out as being largely dune-free: the limestone Nullarbor Plain, clay plains of the Georgina Basin and floodplains of rivers in the Carpentaria, Lake Eyre and Murray–Darling drainage basins where sand is rare or not transported by diminished Late Quaternary rivers. The Yilgarn Block of southwestern Australia is also surprisingly free of dunes, possibly as a result of long, deep weathering. Everywhere the history of climate change is evident in dune morphology and distribution, including large areas where the sand dune orientations are markedly divergent from modern sand moving wind directions.
Description: 24 page(s)
Subject Keyword: 040606 Quaternary Environments
Subject Keyword: 040601 Geomorphology and Regolith and Landscape Evolution
Resource Type: book chapter
Organisation: Macquarie University. Dept. of Environment and Geography

Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/120441
Identifier: ISSN:9781862393141
Identifier: mq-rm-2010004303
Language: eng

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