Prior Streams
The river followed a different route prior to the events related to the uplifting of the Cadell fault. Prior streams refer to channels that were present prior to the Murray Rivers current course. After the Cadell fault moved the Murray River created a new course, leaving abandoned streams to dry up (prior streams). Prior streams are still evident today and tend to have sandy beds and red brown earths (Rutherford & Kenyon, 2005). When they were active, the channel widths were ‘more than three times larger than present streams’ (Rutherford & Kenyon. 2005). Today prior or ancestral streams tend to be dry, however they often carry water in floods, moving excess floodwater into the floodplain.
As seen in Figure P below, the Murray river underwent a large change from around 25,000 years before present when the Cadell fault rose, changing the course of the river to divert south towards Echuca. Prior streams are highlighted in Figure P in pictures 1 to 3, such as Green Gully.
As seen in Figure P below, the Murray river underwent a large change from around 25,000 years before present when the Cadell fault rose, changing the course of the river to divert south towards Echuca. Prior streams are highlighted in Figure P in pictures 1 to 3, such as Green Gully.