The late Cainozoic sequence of southeast South Australia and Pleistocene sea-level changes

Created 21/12/2025

Updated 21/12/2025

A recent drilling program in southeast South Australia has provided new insight into the late Cainozoic sequence of that area. Uplift of the region occurred during the Pleistocene, related in part to volcanic activity in the Mount Gambier-Mount Burr area. This, together with eustatic sea-level changes, resulted in the development of a regressive sequence, which over a period of 690 000 years or less, led to a 100 km seaward progradation of the shore-line between Naracoorte and Robe. The sequence is made up of a ridge-forming sandy facies comprising beach and very shallow marine sands at the base, and aeolian sands at the top. These sediments are separated by a fine-grained interdunal facies deposited initially under bay or estuarine conditions, grading into lagoonal and finally saline lacustrine conditions at the top. The sequence between Naracoorte and Robe holds great promise as a location for establishing Pleistocene sea-level changes. The current program suggests at least 20 major high sea-level stands during the past 690 000 years.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title The late Cainozoic sequence of southeast South Australia and Pleistocene sea-level changes
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/3303493a-720b-409d-9ade-34785312fb67
Contact Point
Australian Ocean Data Network
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 20/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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  "coordinates": [
    [
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      ],
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      ],
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      ],
      [
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      ],
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    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Australian Oceans Data Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Australian Oceans Data Network "The late Cainozoic sequence of southeast South Australia and Pleistocene sea-level changes". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://catalogue.aodn.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/the-late-cainozoic-sequence-of-southeast-south-australia-and-pleistocene-sea-level-changes1