Current Affairs - Environment - Discussion

The Finke River, located in Australia’s Northern Territory and parts of South Australia, is recognised as the world’s oldest surviving river system, with origins dating back 300–400 million years. Flowing through the MacDonnell Ranges, it provides unique insights into Earth’s geological history. Despite its intermittent flow, the river maintains a continuous ancient course, cutting through hard quartzite mountains due to the geological phenomenon of antecedence. Its survival over hundreds of millions of years highlights slow geological changes in central Australia and its role as a rare natural archive of deep-time erosion patterns, sediments, and climate history.