Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Lake Torrenns - a salina    see Tectonic Landforms                                                           

Lake Torrens if a D-shaped salina abut 200 km form north to south, and about 40 km across, east to west, and has an area of about 5830 km². It is about 34 m above sea level. On its western side its edge is at a fault where it is adjacent to the Arcoona Plateau, which is made up of dissected flat-lying sandstone. About 70 Ma, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, the block on the eastern side of the fracture zone sagged. Sediments were dumped in the resulting fault angle valley. Eventually they resulted in saline clays and sands with a halite crust that now forms the lake bed. Near the fracture zone on the western side mound springs are prominent. Early in 1989 the lake was full when tropical rains spread into the region. In a very rare event Motpena Station received 280 mm in 24 hours.

Sources & Further reading

Mary E White, Running Down, Water in a Changing Land, Kangaroo Press, 2000