326 THE LAKE GEORGE SENKUNGSFELD, 



by the late Mr. H. C. Russell, little research— certainly none of 

 a physiographic nature — has been carried out in this district. 



The following statement embodies the current opinion as to 

 the lake's environment, and is in itself sufficient to indicate a 

 very promising field of research on the lines of modern physio- 

 graphy. The quotation runs as follows: — "Lake George occupies 

 the southern portion of a depression in the Cullarin 

 Range, called the Lake George Basin, 490 square miles in extent, 

 and (is) the solitary exataple in the colony of a j)urely inland 

 drainage area, watered as it is by several small screams, but 

 having no visible outlet."^' 



Paradoxical as it may sound, a lake is to a certain extent an 

 unnatural natural feature. At any rate, especially in mountainous 

 regions, its presence often implies abnormal conditions. Thus the 

 great lakes of America are due to the somewhat erratic arrange- 

 ment of the drifts of the Ice Age. The great lakes of Africa 

 are due to a huge crustal rift. The small lakes of Kosciusko 

 are geologically ephemeral, and the moraine barriers which clam 

 back the waters are rapidly vanishing as the streams cut down to 

 base level, vfhich. is indeed their "aim in life." Any complete 

 interruption of a large drainage area, such as obtains in the case 

 of the Lake George Basin, points to important late geological 

 changes; which changes will, it is hoped, be clearly demonstrated 

 in the succeeding account of the Lake George Senkungsfeld 

 (^suhside7ice area). 



ii. General Topography. 



A reference to the stereogram (Plate viii.) will convey a clear 

 idea of the topography of Lake George. The lake proper extends 

 about 15 miles in a north and south direction, and may be closely 

 €ompared in outline to a how (variety Cupid's); the string sym- 

 bolising the straight, even western shore, while the double-curved 

 eastern boundary resembles the wooden bow. This contrast of 



* Geography of New South Wales, 3rd Ed., by J. M. Taylor, p. 81. (The 

 italics are mine. — T.G.T. ). 



