澳大利亚南部陆缘为离散、被动陆缘 ,是在白垩纪导致澳大利亚与南极分离的拉伸和断裂时期形成的。现代陆架为无沉积物补偿陆架 ,这是因为虽然相邻的陆缘有很高的沉积速率 ,但是陆架区几乎没有沉积物堆积且晚第三纪晚期的岩石在地表出露。陆架的浅深度说明更新世时期陆架曾多次 The continental margin in southern Australia is a discrete, passive continental margin formed during the Cretaceous extensional and fault periods that led to the separation of Australia from the Antarctic. Modern shelves compensate for shelfless sediments because there is little sediment accumulation in the shelf area and late Late Tertiary rocks are exposed at the surface although the adjacent margins have high deposition rates. The shallow depth of shelf indicates that the Pleistocene shelf had multiple times