The outline and submerged terrace: Building the continental shelf and coastlines

Robert Henderson; David Johnson

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139923866.014

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12 - The outline and submerged terrace: Building the continental shelf and coastlines

Robert Henderson and

David Johnson

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Robert Henderson: Affiliation:
James Cook University, North Queensland

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Summary

The breakup of Gondwana determined the present setting of the Australian landmass. It also determined the disposition of continental crust beneath the shallow seas that surround the continent. Although out of sight, these submerged tracts contain significant resources and are a valuable part of the national estate. Sea level determines the extent of the landmass. It has been at its present position only for about 7 ka, and it has risen and fallen many times during the climatic cycles of the ice ages of the late Pliocene and Quaternary. As a consequence, shorelines have been in constant motion.

THE ORIGIN OF THE OUTLINE

Australia is surrounded by ocean. For most of its geological history it was embedded in the larger continents of Rodinia, Gondwana and Pangea. Now, Australia is floating free, with a much-enlarged continental margin. The mainland coastline measures 35 877 km, with another 23 859 km contributed by the 8222 adjacent islands, which range from Tasmania, big enough to contribute a state to the Commonwealth, to tiny interruptions in the sweep of ocean. Most are solid rock, but some are sand. Fraser Island covers 1653 km2 and is the largest sand island in the world.

The main outline of Australia derives from the dismemberment of the southern sector of Pangea, which had previously been separate, as Gondwana, and is referred to here by that name. The curve of the Great Australian Bight mirrors the circular outline of Antarctica to which it was formerly joined. The angular shape of the Western Australian coast, the general trends of the southeastern margin and the northwestward trend of northeastern Queensland follow the orientation of the major lines of spreading that fractured the ancient landmass. The original outline after rifting, where Australia previously joined to other parts of Gondwana, lies close to the outer edge of the continental shelf rather than near the present coastline. To the north, the outline of Australia reflects very extensive drowning of the continental margin with shallow seas, like that forming the Gulf of Carpentaria, extending hundreds of kilometres beyond the shoreline.

Type: Chapter
Information: The Geology of Australia , pp. 273 - 304

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139923866.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2016

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