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Published February 28, 2004 | public
Journal Article

Quantitative resolution of the debate over antiquity of the central Australian landscape: implications for the tectonic and geomorphic stability of cratonic interiors

Abstract

We report the first measure of long- (∼100 Myr) and short- (∼1 Myr) term denudation rates from key geologically stable landforms in the Davenport Range, central Australia. These landforms have previously been assigned a Cambrian age, which arguably places them amongst the oldest persistent landforms on the continent, if not on Earth. Our results from combined apatite fission track thermochronology and in situ cosmogenic radionuclide analyses using ^(10)Be and ^(26)Al show that while average exhumation rates are low, the denudation history for this cratonic region is incompatible with extreme, sub-aerial longevity and long-term tectonic and geomorphic stability. Our revised model for the landscape evolution of this region is consistent with one of maximum burial prior to and during the Mesozoic, followed by a phase of kilometre-scale exhumation that was largely complete by the beginning of the Cainozoic. We suggest that a similar process of burial and exhumation has probably been responsible for the sub-aerial preservation of seemingly ancient landforms elsewhere in Australia.

Additional Information

© 2004 Elsevier B.V. Received 11 May 2003; received in revised form 7 July 2003; accepted 4 December 2003. This work was funded by the Australian Research Council, the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) and the Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre. D.X.B. was supported by an AINSE postgraduate scholarship and R.W.B. acknowledges the support of a University of Melbourne Research Career Establishment Grant. We extend our thanks to Alistair Stewart for field information and encouragement. Thanks to Derek Fabel and Kerry Gallagher for critically reviewing the manuscript.[BW]

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023