326 REPORTS OF RESEARCH COMMITTEES. 



The Murray River Basin, which embraces all the south-eastern 

 part of the State, is a region of low relief (5, 12). There are, near 

 the western margin, a few outcrops of pre-Tertiary rocks which 

 lepresent islands in the Tertiary gulf, but these are not promi- 

 nent (5). The gradual uplift of the region (10) in Recent time 

 has been marked by the entrenchment af the River Murray and 

 the stranding of a great series of coastal sand dunes in the far 

 south, with a trend parallel to the coast (5, 8). Volcanic action 

 in Pleistocene or later lime has resulted in the building up of a 

 few ash cones at and near Mt. Gambier (5, 14). 



E.^ — ^A Summary of the Contributions to the Study of the 



Physiography of Western Austraha during the Period 



1913-1920. 



(By J. T. Jutson, B.Sc). 



1. Introductory. — It may be said that the systematic stu-dy 

 of Western Australian physiography on modern lines practically 

 began during the period (1913-1920) here dealt with, although 

 much valuable information in a scattered form had previously 

 bsen published. Jutson's I'li i/siayrd phi/ of Western Aiixfralia 

 (14)* was published in 1914, and Ireated for the first time of 

 the physiography of the State as a. whole- in a systematic manner. 

 It was written as a basis for and to stimulate further research. 



As it is incumbent that these notes should be as brief as 

 possible, the writer has decided to select the salient points of the 

 various physiographic features from the published literature of 

 the period, giving at the same time his authority for the statements 

 made, instead of summarizing each publication separately, as was 

 originally intended. This enables the subject to be treated in a 

 c'oncise way under various headings. 



2. Physiographic Subdivisions. — Jutson (14) divides Western 

 Australia into six physiographic divisions, which practically 

 correspond with those previously made for administrative purposes. 

 The divisions are the Northern or Kimberley, the North-West, the 

 South- W^est, the South-East or Eucla, the Central or Salt Lake, 

 and the Eastern. Taylor (38) has named the Soutli-West 

 Division ''Swanland." 



3. Arid Erosion and the "Dry" Lakes. — These related 

 subjects may be treated in the following subdivisions: — 



(a) Old and New Plateaux. — Jutsoai (14) showed their 

 occurrence as high plains of erosion, the old plateau being 

 represented by me-sas and buttes on the slightly lower present- 

 forming new plateau. Such plateaux had been previously 



* The numbers in brackets refer to the bibliography (which comprises only the publications 

 of the iieriod) at the, end of this summary. 



