Late Quaternary landscape evolution in the Keep River region, northwestern Australia

Abstract

This paper evaluates the Late Quaternary chronostratigraphic context of archaeological sites in the Keep River region, Northern Territory, Australia. Cosmogenic dating, luminescence dating and sediment characterisation reveal sedimentary processes commencing from erosion of the escarpment and plateaux source through temporary storage in sand sheets, to final deposition in alluvial floodplains. Erosion of the sandstone plateaux (∼5 mm ka-1) and escarpment faces (probably ∼50-100 mm ka-1) provide the main sediment source for the adjacent sand sheets which have evolved over the past 100,000 years as the product of ongoing cycles of accumulation and denudation. The rate of sediment accumulation ..