Cretaceous sedimentary units lie in grabens and intermontane basins on the west and to the north of the Flinders Range, as well as around Lake Frome. The present-day structurally controlled ridges, monadnocks, and other topographic prominences in the Flinders Range result from differential erosion that leaves quartzites, sandstones, and granites as resistant high hills in the form of linear ridges and curvilinear noses. Escarpments are developed along the Paralana fault east of Mt. Painter and to the west. Around the Flinders Range, traces remain of a low-relief erosion surface predating the later Mesozoic units. Both Lake Frome and Lake Torrens are now ephemeral and saline as the result of high evaporation rates in the semiarid climate.
Major drainage is inherited with river channels superimposed on the structure.
Figure T-57.3 Overall, the prominently exposed pattern of metasedimentary units discloses that these rocks were folded and then refolded along different trends. Despite this complicated structural history, the rocks are neither tightly folded nor complexly thrusted, which suggests that this area may have been some distance from an actual suture zone. Landsat 22144-23514, December 5, 1980.