PERSISTENT AND ANCIENT RIVERS–SOME AUSTRALIAN EXAMPLES

Abstract

Rivers are positive feedback systems and, once established and dominant, tend to maintain and enhance that dominance. Thus, major rivers ought to persist. Rivers, some 60 m.y. old (Eocene), that are extant and have been continuously active since initiation have been identified in Australia. Other rivers of equal or even greater antiquity, but with slightly checkered chronologies, also persist in the landscape, as do the ghosts of others. Rivers of similar antiquity occur in other Gondwanan landscapes. [Key words: rivers, antiquity, persistence, drainage anomalies, Australia.]