Radiocarbon dates were measured from non-marine shelly fossils and from calcareous paleosols in the Lake Frome area of South Australia (Tarkarooloo Basin, Callen and Tedford, 1976), mainly in an attempt to establish the sequence of late Quaternary phases of sedimentation (alluvial and aeolian) in the southern Strzelecki Desert, and partly also to determine the history of lake water levels in Lake Frome. Ultimately it is hoped to have an understanding of the detailed climatic history of the region, and to establish regional mapping units and their chronology as part of the South Australian Department of Mines and Energy 1:250 000 geological atlas programme.