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Thanks Adrian
This information about Lake Carpentaria (which was obviously fed by the =
Fly and other large rivers from PNG as well as Australian rivers from =
the Jardine and right around the Gulf and the Top End) explains the =
large number of shared species between the two countries and some of the =
apparently disjunctive distributions.=20
All very interesting stuff ---
Regards, =20
Bruce ( Hansen )
vicepresident - ANGFA Inc (www.angfa.org.au)
- ANGFA (Qld) Inc (www.angfaqld.org.au)
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Adrian Tappin=20
To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au=20
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 7:14 AM
Subject: Re: [RML] New fishes
That makes sense to me - you might be interested in the following:
Global sea levels are currently higher than at anytime during the =
last 120,000 years, separating Australia and New Guinea by sea. However, =
Torres Strait has been acting almost consistently as a land-bridge since =
the last interglacial about 118,000 years ago up until 5-6,000 years =
ago, when marine transgression closed the bridge (Chapell 1983; Chapell =
1994).=20
About 12,000 years ago, sea levels were low enough that the Arafura =
Sill, 53 m below current sea level, was exposed, and 20,000 years ago, =
sea levels were 120 m below present levels (Chapell 1994). The Arafura =
Sill is a broad feature nearly 100 km wide, with a total relief of less =
that 2 m (Torgersen et al. 1983) that extends from the north-eastern =
extent of Arnhem Land to New Guinea east of Pulau Dolak and west of the =
mouth of the Fly. Between 12,000 and 55,000 years ago, the Gulf of =
Carpentaria was large inland lake (Chapell 1994) (Figure 12). The mighty =
Fly River flowed into the lake before being diverted to the east (est. =
27,000 years ago, Blake and Ollier, 1971; 35-40,000 years ago, Torgersen =
et al., 1988; McCulloch et al., 1989). Pollen studies have shown that =
the vegetation surrounding the lake was very much as it is today in the =
open savannah country. The lake would have been fresh or brackish for =
much of its existence. If it connected to the sea, and no channel is =
evident from bathometry, then it would have done so to the west.
.=20
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