The origin, age, and conservation, of an ‘elevated platform’, Yarwondutta Rock, north-western Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

Abstract

Yarwondutta Rock is a dimpled platform that was shaped at ground level by soil moisture but subsequently elevated, not because of local tectonism, but by the erosional lowering of the surrounding pedimented plains. Concave or flared slopes fashioned in the erstwhile piedmont were revealed during this erosional phase which took place in the earlier Pleistocene. The elevated platform is now buttressed against dissection by the calcreted surrounding pediments. It is concluded that in technical terms, Yarwondutta Rock appropriately can be referred to as an ‘elevated platform’. ‘Criticism and testing are the essence of our work.’ Remark by Herman Bondi on the occasion of Karl Popper’s 90th birthday anniversary (But with a reminder that a ‘criticism’ is an assessment or evaluation, and is neither implicitly, nor of necessity, adverse. C.R.T.).