The Geology of Australia

by David Johnson

• ISBN13: 9780521767415
• ISBN10: 0521767415
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Geology of Australia provides a vivid and informative account of the evolution of the Australian continent over the last 4400 million years. Starting with the Precambrian rocks that hold clues to the origins of life and the development of an oxygenated atmosphere, it goes on to cover the warm seas, volcanism and episodes of mountain building, which formed the eastern third of the Australian continent. This illuminating history details the breakup of the supercontinents Rodinia and Gondwana, the times of previous glaciations, the development of climates and landscapes in modern Australia, and the creation of the continental shelves and coastlines. Separate chapters cover the origin of the Great Barrier Reef, the basalts in Eastern Australia, and the geology of the Solar System. This second edition features two new chapters, covering the evolution of life on Earth while emphasising the fossil record in Australia, and providing a geological perspective on climate change. From Uluru to the Great Dividing Range, from earthquakes to dinosaurs, from sapphires to the stars The Geology of Australia is a comprehensive exploration of the timeless forces that have shaped this continent.

Table of Contents

Preface

An Australian perspective

The Earth: a geology primer

Building the core of Precambrian rocks

Warm times: tropical corals and arid lands

Icehouse: Carboniferous and Permian glaciation

Mesozoic warming: the great inland plains and seas

Birth of modern Australia: flowering plants, mammals and deserts

History and Evolution of Life on Earth

Eastern highlands and volcanoes barely extinct

Building the continental shelf and coastlines

Great Barrier Reef

Planets, moons, meteorites and impact craters

A Geological perspective on climate change

Cycles in a continental journey

Index

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