The Lake Eyre Basin

How it was formed

When it was formed​

About 60 million years ago, Lake Eyre Basin began to form. South-eastern South Australia started to sink and rivers started to deposit sediment into the large, shallow basin. The basin is still gradually sinking, and still gradually accumulating sediment. For many millions of years, the Lake Eyre Basin was well supplied with water and largely forested. About 20-10 million years ago, the area was taken up by large shallow lakes which had formed. Australia drifted further north and the climate became gradually more arid so the lakes and floodplains started to dry. Only in the last 2.6 million years did the happenings of the ice ages bring about the present climatic conditions and the desertification of the area is a result of this.