Evolutionary geomorphology of Australia and Papua-New Guinea

Auteur :
OLLIER, C. D.

Description :
By means of examples it is demonstrated that much of the geomorphology of Australia dates back to early Cenozoic, Mesozoic and even Palaeozoic times. Papua-New Guinea is built of several fragments that had different histories before they collided with the Australian plate, and it is meaningless to construct a geomorphic history on the present map of the country. Despite signs of geomorphic youth, such as Pleistocene granite and gneiss domes, even Papua-New Guinea has many relic landforms. Conventional models of geomorphic evolution are evaluated and it is considered that process studies, dynamic equilibrium, and even cyclic theory and uniformitarianism, are inadequate for the time-scale involved and the many unique events recorded in landscape history. Evolutionary geomorphology, a branch of evolutionary earth science, is suggested as a more appropriate concept.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Institute of British geographers transactions London, 1979, vol. 4, n°. 4, p. 516-539, Références bibliographiques : 24réf.

Date :
1979