Lake Frome is a playa (or largely dry salt lake) located east of the northern Flinders Ranges, on the southwestern margin of the Strzelecki Desert in South Australia (Figure 1). It lies within the large, shallow Frome Embayment, which forms a southerly extension of the Eyre Basin (Devogel et al., 2004). The Strzelecki Desert is primarily a longitudinal dunefield, dominated by aeolian ridges oriented parallel to the direction of the sand shifting winds, although transverse dunes (oriented perpendicularly to the prevailing wind direction), small salt lakes and claypans also occur. Longitudinal dune orientation varies across the continent in response to wind direction, with the overall distribution pattern resembling a giant whorl (Jennings, 1968). The longitudinal dunes immediately east of Lake Frome are oriented southwest to northeast.
Figure 1. Location map.
Location map.
Map displaying the location of the study area within the Strzelecki Desert, relative to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.