The Late Pleistocene evolution of palaeo megalake Bungunnia, southeastern Australia: A sedimentary record of fluctuating lake dynamics, climate change and the formation of the modern Murray River

► Murray Basin sediments record dramatic palaeogeographic and climatic change. ► The onset of aridity in southeastern Australia was stepwise and gradual. ► The demise of Lake Bungunnia was due to both gorge cutting and increasing aridity. ► Australia's main drainage, the Murray River, is a very young geomorphic feature.