Cadell Fault

The Cadell Fault is a north-south trending intra-plate geological fault in the Riverina area of New South Wales and Victoria within Australia. It straddles the Murray River and in quite recent prehistoric times has impacted its course, as well as the courses of the Edward River, Wakool River, Goulburn River and Campaspe River. The Cadell Fault is notable due to this impact and has been described as one of the most significant examples of seismic activity changing the course of rivers. The fault is visible as a continuous earthen ridge along the Cobb Highway between Deniliquin and Echuca, and extending further south into Victoria. The fault is likely named after Francis Cadell, an early pioneer of the Murray River and river trader.

The Australian Continental Plate is generally considered to be one tectonic plate, and is classified as a Stable Continental Region. Within the plate, however, there are a number of fault lines. These lines are relatively stable compared to the external plate boundaries, but do have the potential to generate significant earthquakes. The Cadell fault is an example of this.

The uplifted Cadell fault forms a bifurcated scarp, the northern part of which extends for 55 kilometres from Deniliquin to Echuca with a height of 12–15 metres, and the southern part which extends for 13 kilometres south of Echuca with a height of about 3–4 metres. The split between the two elements has been formed by the erosion caused by historic Lake Kanyapella (refer to the Goulburn section below). The fault deforms a 200- to 250-metre-thick section of sedimentary rock, which overlies a granitic base rock. To the west, the Cadell Tilt Block was formed subsequent to the uplift

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