Border Rivers Karst - karren

The Border Rivers Karst Region

The Border Rivers Karst Region is a group of small impounded karst areas that straddles the Queensland - New South Wales border. The hostrock is steep-dipping lenses of Palaeozoic limestone. The best known cave area, known as the Texas Caves, includes the Glenlyon stream cave (4GL), which is a meander cutoff of Pike Creek, and the adjoining caves of Viator Hill (4VR). The Ashford Cave (2AS) lies about 60 km to the southwest. Both Glenlyon and Viator Hill have been drowned by an irrigation dam.

The climate is warm temperate (Cfa in the Koppen classification) but verging on the semi-arid (BSh). Mean annual rainfall (at the town of Texas) is 644 mm and mean annual temperature is 18.5 degrees Centigrade.

Further Reading

Grimes, K.G., 1976: The Border Rivers Karst Region, Qld & NSW. in Spate, AP., Brush, J., and Coggan, M., [eds] Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Conference; Canberra. Aust. Speleological Federation, Broadway, NSW. pp. 131-134.

Grimes, KG., 1978: The Geology and Geomorphology of the Texas Caves, southeastern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 19(1): 17-59.

This page shows photos of the surface karren.
See also...
Etching on cave walls
Subsoil karren

Selected photographs and diagrams

To view full size images, click on the displayed thumbnail image.
Texasmap.png Map of the Texas caves area, South East Queensland.
Showing geology, suface karst & caves.
This area is now flooded by a dam and inaccessible!
File: Texasmap.png
B750402.jpg Old stream cliffs of Viator Hill, with an alluvial terrace in the foreground.
File: B750402.jpg
B750408.jpg Grikes and clints on Viator Hill.
Pike Creek in background.
File: B750408.jpg
B750409.jpg B750410.jpg Limestone pavement with solution pipes and rillenkarren. Viator Hill.
Stereo-pair - view cross-eyed.
File: B750409.jpg
B750411.jpg Karst pavement with thin grikes and rillenkarren.
Viator Hill.
File: B750411.jpg
B750407.jpg Veins, with an offset along a fault. And solution slot.
On a pavement on Viator Hill.
File: B750407.jpg
B750405.jpg Rillenkarren on clints, Viator Hill.
File: B750405.jpg
B750406.jpg Rillenkarren on a clint, Viator Hill.
File: B750406.jpg
S730127.jpg S730128.jpg Rillenkarren and steps, with horizontal subsoil(?) ripples exposed at base.
Stereopair: View cross-eyed.
File: S730127.jpg
B730206.jpg Rillenkarren and a solution step, on Viator Hill.
File: B730206.jpg
B730207.jpg Runnels on a gentle slope, Viator Hill.
File: B730207.jpg
B730210.jpg Runnels and pans on a gentle slope, Viator Hill.
File: B730210.jpg
B730211x.jpg Solution pan, with outlet. Viator Hill.
File: B730211x.jpg
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