Physiogrcqihy of Werrihee Area. 201> 



This leads to the conclusion that the completion of the peneplain 

 (the commencement of the uplift), must have been very close in 

 time to the extrusion of the older basalts. R. A. Daly (ref. 14, p. 

 193, etc.), suggests that lava floAvs tend to follow the initiation 

 of movements of uplift and instances the pliocene and postpliocene 

 basaltic sheets of Syria, Great Basin (U.S.A.), Idaho and Iceland. 



We shall assume that the older basalt flows were closely associated 

 in time with the first uplift of the great planed blocks that form 

 our Victorian highlands. 



Now the older basalts are closely associated with richly fossilif- 

 erous beds : — 



(1) They overlie the plant-l>earing de^p leads of the Dargo 



High Plains, etc. 



(2) They underlie the thick " Cinnamon and Laurel " leaf 



beds at Bacchus Marsh and Parwan. 

 (.3) They underlie the rich marine beds at Royal Park and 



Keilor (Melbourne). 

 (4) They are interbedded with marine limestones at Maude, 

 and other places in the lower Moorabool. 



Unfortunately in all these cases) they are associated with the beds 

 concerning which essential dift'erences of opinion exist between 

 our palaeontologists. It is agreed, however, that these deposits 

 are mainly of middle to lower tertiary age; eocene (Hall and 

 Pritchard, Tate and Dennant), or miocene (McCoy, Chapman, 

 Gregory, Newton, etc.). Following this line of argument, the 

 initiation of the great uplift would certainly not be younger than, 

 say, Miocene. The chain has many weak links but under present 

 circumstances is as near as we can approach to the truth. 



Moreover, since the writing of the preceding argument some few 

 months ago, two very interesting cases of strong corroborative 

 evidence have come to light — one of them following on personal 

 observations in the field, and the other published by Mr. F. Chap- 

 man. These will be referred to later. 



In New South Wales the general opinion (Sussmilch, Geology of 

 N.S.W.), seems to be that a great epeirogenic uplift took place, and 

 '' ushered in the Tertiary period." Then followed the older basalts 

 and a cycle of erosion which formed the " Great East Australian 

 Peneplain." Then a small uplift, followed by the outpouring of the 

 newer basalts, and, finally, in what is called the '' Kosciusko 

 epoch," another great epeirogenic uplift, with block faulting, and 

 immediately followed by the Pleistocene period (ref. 48, pp. 208 et 

 seq.). 



