The Hoddle Ranges (maximum elevation of ~. 750. m above sea level) lie along the southeastern Australian passive margin. Detailed geological/geomorphological studies of the southern margin of the ranges, focusing on a fault block of Oligocene-Miocene sedimentary rocks, have constrained the landscape evolution. In the mid-Cretaceous, this area changed from a subduction zone accumulating volcanogenic sediments to a passive, low-relief margin, which was crossed by north-flowing rivers. In the Paleocene, the eruption of basaltic volcanics formed a low divide which diverted these rivers towards the northeast, so that sediments deposited on either side of the divide contain different heavy mineral assemblages. In the middle Late Miocene-Early Pliocene the area was subjected to a period of relatively rapid mountain building, the Kosciuszko Uplift, as broadly NW-SE oriented compression created the Hoddle Ranges at an uplift rate of ~. 0.15. mm/a. Uplift was not uniform; a small southern block was uplifted only ~. 200. m, and its surface has acted as a local base level for the Agnes River which flows across it, with a major knickpoint on the southern side. The Southeastern Highlands to the north were uplifted by up to 700-1000. m during the Kosciuszko Uplift, similar to the maximum increase in elevation of the Hoddle Ranges (~. 600. m). The Kosciuszko Uplift tectonism occurred at rates greater than typical of passive margins, and belies Australia's reputation as a tectonically stable continent. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.
CITATION STYLE
Webb, J. A., Gardner, T. W., Kapostasy, D., Bremar, K. A., & Fabel, D. (2011). Mountain building along a passive margin: Late Neogene tectonism in southeastern Victoria, Australia. Geomorphology, 125(2), 253–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.09.022
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