The geological history and development of the terrain at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area during the middle tertiary [thesis]

Derrick A. Arena
2004
Table of contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Aims and structure of this work 2. Regional and geological context of Riversleigh 2.1 Description of study area at Riversleigh 2.2 Previous study of Riversleigh geology 2.3 Tertiary global and regional processes: climatic cycles and the northward drift of the Australian continent 3. Materials and methods used in research undertaken during this project 4. Review of concepts, processes and geology 4.1 Terminology and definitions 4.2 Terrestrial carbonates:
more » ... gins and diagnosis 4.3 Karst systems: development, depositional processes and environments, landforms and terrain evolution 4.4 Tufagenic systems: formation and diagnosis of tufa and travertine 5. Riversleigh middle Tertiary lithotypes, facies and assemblages 5.1 Broad divisions of facies 5.2 Riversleigh primary heterogeneous carbonate host facies 5.3 Riversleigh middle Tertiary cave facies 5.4 The presence of faults at Riversleigh 6. The 4-phase model of geological development of the Riversleigh terrain during the middle Tertiary 6.1 Distinction and timing of depositional phases 6.2 Riversleigh Depositional Phase 1: late Oligocene 6.3 Riversleigh Depositional Phase 2: early Miocene karst terrain development and cave deposition 6.4 Riversleigh Depositional Phase 3: middle Miocene fluvial barrage deposition in a karst terrain 6.5 Riversleigh Depositional Phase 4: middle Miocene to early late Miocene 7. Discussion of the Riversleigh 4-phase depositional model 7.1 Palaeoclimatic implications of depositional models and correlation with the middle Tertiary record in Australia 7.2 Pattern of karst terrain development at Riversleigh during the middle Tertiary 7.3 Effects of karst landforms and development patterns on palaeoenvironments and the accumulation of fossil faunas: the karst environment mosaic model 7.4 Differences between Riversleigh depositional environments that may affect faunal assemblages 7.5 Stratigraphic concepts in the Riversleigh karst system 8. Revised interpretation of the Carl Creek Limestone 9. Weaknesses of interpretations and models in this work 9.1 Restrictions of field conditions 9.2 Vertebrate biocorrelation 9.3 Fluvial barrage structures not observed 10. Conclusions 11. Some recommendations for further research References Appendices A Supplementary petrography of representative Riversleigh middle Tertiary deposits. B Supplementary faunal lists from Riversleigh.
doi:10.26190/unsworks/5354 fatcat:losfcmnqpncvriqwk5bffbu6ty