Publication Name: Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference 2018
Authors: Gilles Brocard, Sabin Zahirovic, Tristan Salles, Patrice Rey
Date Published: February 2018
Number of Pages: 6
Abstract:
The drainage of New Guinea has evolved rapidly since Pliocene time. Relief growth initiated in accreted oceanic terranes in the north and migrated into the Australian margin interior over time. The present-day drainage retains inherited elements of an ancient fluvial system that routed sediments from these northern terranes through the Central Highlands into foreland flexural basins, epicontinental seas, and deep oceanic basins. The rise of the Highlands and of the Papuan Peninsula spurred drainage reorganization, such that today little of the oceanic terranes still drains through the mountain range. This evolution has strongly affected the composition of the clastic sediments delivered to the shelves.