Alluvial fans, landslides and Late Quaternary climatic change in the wet tropics of northeast Queensland

Abstract

Extensive alluvial‐fan and debris‐flow deposits occur along the base of the escarpment of the east Australian highlands in the wet tropics of northeast Queensland. Luminescence and radiocarbon dating show that these deposits accumulated between 27 ka and 14 ka, which was the driest phase of climate during the last full glacial cycle. Climatic desiccation and reduced plant cover, along with a continuation of discrete high‐magnitude rainfall events, were the principle causes of this phase of enhanced slope instability. Landslide activity and alluvial‐fan development have continued throughout the Holocene, but probably to a lesser extent and magnitude because of the amelioration of climate and the re‐establishment of forests throughout the region.