Mem. Nar. Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949 
THE PHYSIOGRAPHY AND PALAEOGEOGRAPHY OF 
THE RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 
By Edmund D. Gill, B.A., B.D., 
Palaeontologist, National Museum of Victoria. 
Figs. 1-8. 
(Received for publication August 4, 1947.) 
INTRODUCTION 
The normal drainage in Victoria is northwards from the Great Dividing 
Range to the River Murray, and southwards from the Range to the sea. The 
River Yarra flows from east to west, and it was early recognized that this 
paradox was due to a complicated history. Gregory (1903) maintained that the 
predecessor of the Yarra flowed southwards through the Gembrook Gap to the 
sea. Keble (1918) developed Gregory's idea. Edwards (1940) and the present 
writer (Gill, 1942) showed that the ancestor of the Yarra (the Wurunjerri 
River) flowed northwards on the east side of the Mt. Dandenong igneous complex, 
rounded this large monadnock at its northerly limit, then flowed southwards 
through Lilydale to the sea. 
NOMENCLATURE 
It is suggested that the following natural divisions of the course of the Yarra 
be adopted: 
1. Upper Yarra—from source to the commencement of the Warburton Gorge 
(see Fig. 1). 
2. Middle Yarra—Warburton Gorge to the commencement of the Warran- 
dyte Gorge. 
3. Lower Yarra—Warrandyte Gorge to the sea. 
These are terms originated by Gregory, but they are now given precise 
definition. 
UPPER YARRA 
The River Yarra has its source in the Great Dividing Range on 
the remnants of a 4,000-ft. plateau. The surrounding prominences 
are Mt. Matlock 4,140 ft, Mt. Gregory 4,000 ft., Mt. Horsfall 
4,000 ft., Mt. Observation 3,800 ft., and Mt. Donna Buang 4,080 ft. 
From its source to MeMahon’s Creek, the river flows approxi- 
mately in a westerly direction. In this area the Yarra is carving 
out an intramontane basin. From the accompanying map (Fig. 
1) it can be seen that the river flows through a valley bordered 
by more or less parallel mountain ridges (divides). The valley 
is almost mountain-locked, the river escaping through what I 
suggest be called the MeMahon Gorge, between Reefton and Me- 
Mahon's Creek. The flow of the river is at about right angles 
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