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Denudation chronology from cave and river terrace levels: the case of the Buchan Karst, southeastern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

J. A. Webb ,
D. Fabel ,
B. L. Finlayson ,
M. Ellaway ,
Li Shu  and
H.-P. Spiertz
J. A. Webb
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
D. Fabel
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Melbourne University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
B. L. Finlayson
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Melbourne University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
M. Ellaway
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Melbourne University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Li Shu
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Melbourne University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
H.-P. Spiertz
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University, 5300 Bonn, Germany
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Abstract

Detailed mapping of surface and underground karst features at Buchan, in eastern Victoria, has shown that the three river terraces along the Buchan River can be correlated with three levels of epiphreatic development in the nearby caves. Each level represents a stillstand in the denudational history of the area. Uranium series dating of speleothems and palaeomagnetic studies of cave sediments indicate that all three stilistands are more than 730 ka old. The periods of incision separating the stillstands were probably the result of active tectonic uplift. This contrasts with some northern parts of the Southeastern Highlands, which have been stable since the Eocene. The overall amount of incision and uplift at Buchan is small, indicating that the majority of scarp retreat in this section of the highlands must have occurred earlier. The denudation history of the Buchan area over the last 730 ka has seen only 2–3 m of incision, despite the major climatic and sea-level changes that have occurred in that time. Whereas most karst landscapes in the Northern Hemisphere have been extensively modified during the late Pleistocene, the Buchan karst was little affected, and its geomorphology has an older origin.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 129 , Issue 3 , May 1992 , pp. 307 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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