Playas of inland Australia
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Playas of inland AustraliaDate
2010Citation
Cadernos do laboratorio xeolóxico de Laxe, 2010, 35: 71-97. ISSN: 0213-4497
Abstract
[Abstract] Playas, mostly in the form of salinas, are characteristic of the Australian arid zone. Many are
associated with lunettes in sebkha complexes or assemblages and can be attributed to the deflation
of bare alluvial flats. Many playas are structurally controlled. Lake Eyre, for example, occupies
a downfaulted segment of the crust, and many other playas large and small are associated with
faults. Lakes Frome, Callabonna, Blanche, and Gregory each displays a linear shoreline, but also
and arguably, all are located on a regional structural arc. Lake Gairdner occupies a valley probably
blocked by faulting. Others may be caused by preferential weathering along fracture zones, some
linear but others arcuate. Many salinas are developed in dismembered rivers channels, the position
and pattern of which are structurally determined. But many owe their existence to the interaction
of several of these factors. The various salts precipitated in playas constitute a significant resource,
regional and local, past, present and future.
Keywords
Playa
Salina
Sebkha
Lunette
Australia
Salina
Sebkha
Lunette
Australia
ISSN
0213-4497