IIQ J. T. Jntson : 



Goongariie, thus partly severing the lake, the northern portion of 

 which may be termed the northern, or Comet Vale, section, and the- 

 southern portion, the southern, or Goongarrie, section. The Comet 

 Vale section is much wider, is less indented, has a much less area of 

 rock floors, has fcAver islands, arms, quartz reefs and " blows," and 

 is better defined as a whole than the Goongarrie section, with which, 

 however, this paper chiefly deals. 



The lake is mostly dry, and then pi-esents a vast, smooth, bare- 

 surface, frequently white owing to a film of salt. Wide sheets of" 

 water a few inches deep may accumulate on the surface after a 

 moderate amount of rain. So far as known, the bedrocks of the- 

 Goongarrie section of the lake consist of porphyritic epidiorite and 

 altered shales, grits and conglomerates with thin bands of porphyry,, 

 most of the rocks being 'much decomposed. 



The drainage into the lake from the country to the south and east 

 of the lake is almost negligible, and from that to the north is prob- 

 ably also scanty, on account in all three areas of the sandy nature- 

 of the country. On the west the small valleys of the '' high " lands 

 and the ill-defined watercourses of the ''lowlands" all ultimately 

 find their way eastward to Lake Goongarrie. 



Vegetation. 



The vegetation as a Avhole is scanty and stunted, consisting of 

 dwarfed trees and moderate-sized and small shrubs. Grass only 

 grows in places after rain, and most of the year it is absent. As 

 regards the sand ridges, the vegetation consists largely of small 

 acacia trees (*' mulga ") and various sprawling and small shrubs, 

 with much '' spinifex " (Triodia) in places. Mallee and other euca- 

 lypts are generally scarce on these ridges. Bare spaces between the 

 plants on the sand ridges and elsewhere are common, so that the 

 wind can act on the surface of the ground in proportion to the 

 nature and quantity of the vegetation and the position of any par- 

 ticular surface. 



In places along the sandy flat borders of the lake, the plants: 

 commonly known as samphire predominate. They are typical, salt- 

 loving plants. 



Detrital Deposits other than the Sand Ridges and 



Lake Silts. 



These may be divided into (1) Gully deposits, (2) Piedmont 

 plains deposits, (3) Deposits on gentle slopes, (4) Samphire flat 

 deposits. 



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