| Abstract: | As a continent, Australia is unusual. It has a long history of habitation by a relatively small population of Aboriginals
with a low technology culture. Just over 200 years ago, in 1788, it was invaded by a technological society from the UK, and
the settlers brought with them an understanding of rivers and the landscapes in which they were situated which was quite at
odds with the reality of the Australian continent. Australia is a piece of old continental crust derived from the break-up
of Gondwana that, unlike other Gondwana continents, has experienced little tectonic modification since the break-up. It is
a low relief continent dominated by arid and semi arid climates. Australian river systems have poor slope-channel coupling
and poor hydrological connectivity and are characterized by low rates of sediment delivery. The flow of Australian rivers
has high interannual variability, two to three times that of comparable rivers elsewhere, and highly variable flood behavior.
In this paper, examples are given of particular Australian rivers to illustrate the manner in which the morphological and
climatic characteristics of the continent combine to produce some distinctive river systems. |
