11 research outputs found
Alluvial fans, landslides and Late Quaternary climatic change in the wet tropics of northeast Queensland
Extensive alluvialâfan and debrisâflow deposits occur along the base of the escarpment of the east Australian highlands in the wet tropics of northeast Queensland. Luminescence and radiocarbon dating show that these deposits accumulated between 27 ka and 14 ka, which was the driest phase of climate during the last full glacial cycle. Climatic desiccation and reduced plant cover, along with a continuation of discrete highâmagnitude rainfall events, were the principle causes of this phase of enhanced slope instability. Landslide activity and alluvialâfan development have continued throughout the Holocene, but probably to a lesser extent and magnitude because of the amelioration of climate and the reâestablishment of forests throughout the region