The Geology of AustraliaThe Geology of Australia provides a vivid and informative account of the evolution of the Australian continent over the past 4400 million years. Starting with the Precambrian rocks which hold clues to the origins of life and the development of an oxygenated atmosphere, it then covers the warms seas, volcanism and multiple orogenies of the Palaeozoic, which built the eastern third of the Australian continent. This illuminating history then details the breakup of Gondwana and the development of the continental shelves and coastlines. Separate chapters cover the origin of the Great Barrier Reef, the basalts in Eastern Australia and the geology of the Solar System. From Uluru to the Great Dividing Range, from sapphires to the stars, The Geology of Australia is a comprehensive exploration of the timeless forces that have shaped this continent and that continue to do so. |
Contents
AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE | 3 |
Box 11 Radiometric dating of rocks | 5 |
Box 12 What is geology? | 15 |
Australian geology | 16 |
THE EARTH A GEOLOGY PRIMER | 21 |
Plate tectonics | 23 |
Box 21 Agedating the rocks | 24 |
Minerals | 32 |
Development of inland seas | 133 |
BIRTH OF MODERN AUSTRALIA FLOWERING PLANTS MAMMALS AND DESERTS | 141 |
Box 71 Pollen data from brown coal and other Tertiary deposits | 151 |
cooling and growth of the icecaps | 153 |
Box 72 Evidence for climate change | 156 |
Australias arid interior | 157 |
EASTERN HIGHLANDS AND VOLCANOES BARELY EXTINCT | 166 |
Box 81 Basalts as a source of gemstones | 175 |
Types of rocks | 34 |
Box 22 Metamorphism | 41 |
Shaping of the landscape | 43 |
Box 23 The Australian regolith and soils | 45 |
Coastal and offshore areas | 48 |
Orogenic cycle | 50 |
Geological time scale | 51 |
BUILDING THE CORE OF PRECAMBRIAN ROCKS | 54 |
Archaean | 57 |
Proterozoic | 62 |
Box 31 Geology of Uluru and KataTjuta | 69 |
Origin of life | 70 |
Box 32 Wilpena Pound and the Ediacaran fauna | 73 |
Rodinia and Gondwana | 75 |
WARM TIMES TROPICAL CORALS AND ARID LANDS | 81 |
Explosive radiation of life | 82 |
Fossils | 84 |
Box 41 How are fossils preserved? | 88 |
Warm seas with arid plains volcanic arcs and deep troughs | 90 |
Late Devonian upheaval | 96 |
Granites | 97 |
Box 42 Cooma granite emplacement and metamorphism 435433 Ma | 98 |
ICEHOUSE CARBONIFEROUS AND PERMIAN GLACIATION | 101 |
The volcanic arc | 108 |
Development of the coal basins | 110 |
Box 51 Glossopteris and the vegetation of the coldclimate peatlands in Gondwana | 112 |
Mount Wingen | 115 |
MESOZOIC WARMING THE GREAT INLAND PLAINS AND SEAS | 120 |
Box 61 The great extinction of life 251 Ma ago | 121 |
The great inland plains | 122 |
Box 62 The Sydney Basin | 130 |
Seamount chain offshore | 178 |
Origins of the volcanics and the Great Divide | 179 |
BUILDING THE CONTINENTAL SHELF AND COASTLINES | 184 |
Box 91 Australias Exclusive Economic Zone | 188 |
Sea levels | 190 |
Types of coasts | 192 |
Box 92 Tsunamis | 196 |
Box 93 Coastal erosion problems | 199 |
The Australian coastline | 202 |
Box 94 Comparison of Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip Bay | 209 |
GREAT BARRIER REEF | 215 |
Box 101 Effects of cyclones on the Great Barrier Reef | 216 |
Reef types | 219 |
Reef deposits | 223 |
Formation of the Great Barrier Reef | 225 |
Box 102 Extent of terrigenous sediment in the Great Barrier Reef | 229 |
231 | |
PLANETS MOONS METEORITES AND IMPACT CRATERS | 234 |
The planets | 235 |
Earths Moon | 238 |
Meteorites | 242 |
Impact craters | 243 |
Eltanin and Chicxulub | 248 |
Past and future of Earth in the Solar System | 250 |
CYCLES IN A CONTINENTAL JOURNEY | 254 |
Cycles of deformation | 257 |
Cycles of climates | 261 |
Evolution and extinctions | 269 |
Epilogue lessons of geological perspective | 271 |
275 | |
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Common terms and phrases
000 years ago accumulated Antarctica Archaean atmosphere Barrier Reef basalts beach Cambrian carbonate central Australia climate coal coast coastal coastline continent continental shelf cooling coral core craters craton Cretaceous crust dating DAVID JOHNSON deep deformation deposits Devonian dunes Earth earthquakes east eastern edge eroded erosion eruptions evidence evolution extended extinction faults Figure flow formed fossils Geoscience Australia glacial Gondwana granite heat ice sheets igneous impact Island kilometres komatiites Lake land mass landscape lava layers limestones magma magnetic major mantle marine metamorphism meteorite metres million minerals modern Moon mountain northwards occur ocean offshore peatlands Permian PHOTO Pilbara plants plate Plateau Precambrian present Proterozoic Queensland range region river Rodinia sand sandstones sea level seabed sedimentary rocks sediments sequences shallow shoreline Solar South Australia South Wales southeastern southern supercontinent surface Sydney Basin Tasman Tasmania tectonic temperature uplift valleys Victoria Western Australia Yilgarn craton zone
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Page 274 - ... stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed ; And on the pedestal these words appear : ' My name is Ozymandias, king of kings : Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair !