Fig. 1.4.

In the beginning of the Cretaceous period (144 mya) there was no Indian Ocean yet. The rift had only just occurred and the ocean took millions of years to ‘grow’ to its current dimensions and to spread a seabed around Australia. Seabeds around western Australia: current outline of Australia and Antarctica drawn in. Numbers indicate the expansion of seabeds to the west of Australia and around Antarctica. Numbers (1–5 from earliest to latest) refer to periods of water/seabed formations 1: 154.3 mya; 2: 136 mya; 3- 4- 5: only 99 mya sea floors from east of Africa, from the Antarctic and Western Australian finally meet. (Adapted from Müller et al.)16