Continental rifting and drainage reversal : the Clarence River of eastern Australia

Auteurs :
HAWORTH, R. J.
OLLIER, C. D.

Description :
The Clarence River on Australia's east coast has an anomalous drainage pattern. Its right-bank tributaries are markedly barbed, suggesting reversal, whereas Tertiary volcanism has disrupted its left-bank drainage. Continental rifting from Late Cretaceous times onwards led to the opening of the Tasman Sea, causing the reversal and beheading of the original northwest-flowing streams and the formation of the Great Escarpment. The evolution of the Clarence River does not fit into most conventional geomorphic paradigms such as cycles, climatic geomorphology or steady-state landforms. It is the result of a succession of unique events on a very long timescale, and as such is a classic example of evolutionary geomorphology.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 1992, vol. 17, n°. 4, p. 387-397, Collation : Illustration, Références bibliographiques : 22 réf.

Date :
1992

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley