Ancient History
The Murray River became dammed by uplift of over 250 metres (820 ft) in the Grampians in Victoria during the Pleistocene about 2.5 Mya. The dam formed Lake Bungunnia, which reached 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi) and deposited the Blanchetown Clay therein. Higher rainfall of at least 500 millimetres (20 inches) per year kept the lake filled at first, but during later times, rainfall was insufficient, and saline lakes formed, depositing dolomite. Even today, some saline lakes remain as a remnant of the vast lake. The Murray River carved out a new path to the sea via Murray Bridge, replacing its previous exit at Portland, Victoria. The lake was gone by about 0.7 Mya.
Read more about this topic: Murray Mouth
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