The geomorphology and Late Cenozoic geomorphological evolution of the Cape Range - Exmouth Gulf region

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Abstract: The paper provides an overview of the geomorphology and Late Cenozoic geomorphological development of the Cape Range region. The broad scale geomorphology of the region is directly controlled by the structural geology and uplift history. The open anticline which forms the range has been deeply dissected on the flanking margins. The pervasive development of karst terrains and dissolution forms, at a variety of scales, reflect the dominance of carbonate lithologies. A series of emergent reef-complexes are striking elements of the gcomorphology of the western side of the Cape Range. From these, new palaeontological evidence is presented which suggests that uplift in the area is likely to have been a feature of the late Tertiary, and that it did not extend into the Quaternary, as was previously thought. The coastal margin of Cape Range has seen the development of extensive alluvial fans. These interfinger and are associated with a series of marine-nearshore morphostratigraphic units of Middle (?)- Late Quaternary age. Deposits of Last Interglacial age are especially prominent elements of the geomorphology of the coastal margin.