Australia, Coastal Paleolakes of “Swanland”

Definition

Very strong seasonality is a feature of Southwestern Australia, as well as parts of South Australia and some other areas of the continent. This means that many large rivers tend to be greatly reduced in discharge during dry seasons when rainfall in their interior basins may be as little as zero. The southwestern and southern coasts are subject to almost continued swells set up by storms in the Southern Ocean. As a result, regardless of local meteorological systems, there is almost constant heavy wave action from the southwest. On the west coast, the beach sands migrate from south to north, and on the south coast, they migrate from west to east. In this way, even major estuaries are seasonally blocked and become lakes.

In addition, during dry seasons, with onshore winds aided by the diurnal sea breeze, major dune accumulations are observed. Furthermore, during the Holocene, major climate cycles introduce wetter and dryer intervals at 1,500–3,000-year periodicities. The...