Digital Commons Network^™

The Geomorphic Impacts Of Two Weirs On Their Fluvial Systems In The Illawarra Region Of New South Wales, Australia, Adam P. Skorulis

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

A project aimed at determining the geomorphic impacts of the weirs at Mullet Creek and Macquarie Rivulet was conducted in the Illawarra Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dams are known to cause disruptions to sediment and water flow, with the effects of large impoundment dams on fluvial geomorphology well researched. It has also been previously hypothesised that the weirs in this study may be acting as sediment traps and limiting the sedimentation rate of the deltas where both streams flow in to Lake Illawarra. The removal of small run-of-river dams and weirs has been recently emphasised both locally and …

The Shifting Sands Of Stockyard Creek: The G Eomorphic Response To Large Wood Reintroduction In A Sand-Bed Stream, Rhiannon Hughes

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

In April 2002, 24 Engineered Log Jams (ELJs) were built within a 2 km treatment reach of what was a degraded ephemeral sand-bed stream at Stockyard Creek, Wollombi, NSW. Coupled with ~ 20 years of ongoing native revegetation this project aimed to increase the geomorphic diversity and ecological characteristics of the ephemeral stream. Commencing in 2002, the experiment was set up as a standard BACI design, with a control reach situated in the upstream limit of the study site. This thesis aims to assess the geomorphic response to the re-introduction of wood by comparing treatment and control reaches. Since construction, …

Analysis Of Water Level And Water Quality Trends Within Shallow Groundwater Systems Of Monitoring Sites Within The Southern Sydney Basin’S Camden Gas Project., Erik Bartrop

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

AGL Energy Pty Ltd owns and operates the Camden Gas Project in the Southern Sydney Macarthur region and are currently extracting water and methane from the underlying Illawarra Coal Measures. Within the Macarthur region are two groundwater monitoring sites located at Menangle Park and Denham Court. At each site has four monitoring bores established to monitor the groundwater levels and allow water quality testing. These monitoring bores enable the characterisation of the local groundwater system and an assessment of impacts from coal seam gas extraction on the groundwater system. The Menangle Park monitoring bores are within 100 metres of active …

The Influence Of The El Niño Southern Oscillation On The Entrance Regime Of Icolls, Sarah Perry

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Intermittently closed and open lakes and lagoons (ICOLLs) are coastal environments that are prominent features of the NSW coastline. On the south coast ICOLLs are often extensively developed environments, resulting in ICOLL processes being of significance not only ecologically but also for the surrounding community. Consequently ICOLLs are the focus of extensive management, including artificial entrance openings. The natural entrance regime of ICOLLs represents a balance between rainfall, stream-flow and wave processes, which are themselves driven by dominant climatological processes including the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Changes in the entrance regime of ICOLLs due to artificial management and increases in …

Analysis Of The Weathering Profile Associated With The Near Surface 2 Lens & B Lode Of The Giant Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag Orebody, Perilya Limited's Southern Operation, Broken Hill Nsw, Luke Michael Graham

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

The Southern Operations (CML 8) is situated within the Curnamona Province of Western New South Wales, along the southern extent of the Giant Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag orebody. Previous estimates of the near surface reserves of both 2 Lens and B Lode between sections 10 – 30 have been calculated to consist of 705 kT of ore at 81 kT combined Pb/Zn. However the metallurgical recovery (floatability) of these reserves may be substantially lower than previously estimated due to the oxidation of hypogene ore following climatic adjustment (prevailing arid regime) during the last glacial maximum. Therefore whilst the identification of a …

Soil Phosphorus-Proton Coadsorption Studies And The Implications For Fertiliser Recommendations, Paul Taglieri

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Despite extensive research, the behaviour of phosphorus (P) in soils, a crucial element in plant production, is not yet fully understood. This study focussed on one of the outstanding issues, the co-adsorption of protons with phosphate in soils. Previous work on the co-adsorption of protons with P (as H₂PO₄^-) on goethite observed an accumulation of solution acidity from a sub-stoichiometric H⁺:P sorption ratio. If these results also occur in soils, this could lead to accelerated acidification and present a significant challenge for sustainable agriculture. This highlights the need for congruent H⁺:P …

Long Term Dune Morphological And Shoreline Change For Beaches In Wollongong, Letara Judd

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Management of coastal dunes is becoming a major focus in modern coastal management. The dunes along the Illawarra coastline provide the first line of defence against wave erosion during storms or act as a sand reservoir for long term recession in response to sea-level rise. This study of Woonona Beach and City Beach in the Wollongong LGA examined changes of long term dune morphological and the implication for future of dune management. Long term changes in morphology and vegetation on local dunes as well as the changes in beach volume over time were analysed. Detailed analysis of photogrammetric and LiDAR …

Ethnic Diversity In Picture Books Through The Eyes Of Librarians And Parents, Lorelle Metusela

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

This thesis examines the factors and priorities that are taken into account when parents and librarians select picture books for preschool aged children. In particular, it examines whether the ethnicity of characters and children are considered in the selection process. In doing so, it also considers how picture books are valued as part of the material culture of library and home spaces. Data were collected through semi- structured interviews with parents and librarians, along with home and library tours during which photographs of picture book collections were taken. The results chapters demonstrate that parents and librarians valued quality picture books …

Hydrogeological Role Of Narrabeen Group Fractures Following Coal Seam Gas Extraction In The Southern Coalfields Of Nsw., Kieran Jay Lowe

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Coal seam gas extraction is a relatively young and rapidly developing industry. Many members of Government and the general public have expressed concern about the potential negative environmental impacts of coal seam gas extraction and its associated processes. Gaps in knowledge, such as the role of fractures in facilitating fluid flow, and their potential to impact groundwater, need to be further investigated in order to properly assess the risks associated with coal seam gas extraction.

With this in mind, this study was conducted to determine the ability of fractures within the Narrabeen Group in the Southern Coalfields of New South …

Sulfide Inclusions In Zircon And Their Significance To Understanding The Evolution Of Copper Porphyries In The Macquarie Arc, New South Wales, Ruslan Simpson

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Zircons are best known as effective U-Pb geochronometers and more recently for their application to igneous and metamorphic inclusion suite petrology. A wide range of phosphate, oxide and silicate mineral inclusions in zircon have been studied but for reasons unknown, sulfide inclusions have been scarcely documented. This thesis explores the capacity of sulfide inclusions in zircon to preserve the metallogenic evolution of copper porphyry deposits, applied to porphyries in the Macquarie Arc, New South Wales. Zircons were extracted from the copper porphyries of Cadia Hill (Cadia), Endeavour 26 (Northparkes) and Copper Hill and observed by optical and electron microscopy techniques.. …

Toxicity Of Aluminium In Seawater: Diatom Sensitivity, Megan Gillmore

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Although recognised as a nonessential metal, aluminium was long considered virtually innocuous to marine organisms, largely because of the very low concentrations of aluminium naturally occurring in the marine environment. It is now clear however, that human activities are contributing to elevated concentrations of aluminium in industrialized harbours and coastal waters of Australia, which have the potential for adverse impacts on marine organisms. Toxicity testing recently conducted on a suite of marine algae, invertebrates and fish to derive a new ANZECC water quality guideline trigger value for the protection of organisms from aluminium identified marine diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) were amongst the …

Soil Seed Banks Of Estuarine Vegetation Communities On The Nsw Coast, Australia, Bess E A Murphy

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Soil seed banks act as reservoirs of diversity for plant communities and can be vital to the re-establishment of habitats post disturbance. Whilst terrestrial seed banks have been well studied, relatively little is known about seed banks of estuarine plant communities across the coastal landscape. Despite this, coastal ecosystems are among the most threatened in the world and a detailed understanding of seed bank dynamics could play a critical role in their restoration. The aim of this study was to quantify the composition of seed banks, and determine how they are related to the composition of above ground vegetation, in …

From Past To Present: Hydrological And Morphological Characteristics Of Wangi Creek, Northern Territory, Aidan B. Soper

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Flooding in the tropical Northern Australia is under researched relative to other regions of the continent yet the entire northern portion of the continent is affected by Australia’s most significant climatic phenomena, the Australian Indo Monsoon. This study of Wangi Creek (13° 09' 49" S, 130° 41' 07" E) in the Litchfield National Park investigates flood dynamics during the 2013-14 wet season. Wangi Falls cascades off an ungauged catchment on the Tabletop Plateau in the Litchfield National Park. The study reach extends from the plunge pool 3.1 km downstream, a key site investigated in previous paleohydrological studies due to the …

The Age And Tectonometallogenic Setting Of The Fifield “Alaskan-Type” Intrusive Suite, Lachlan Orogen, Nsw., Keira Webb

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

The Fifield suite of ultramafic-mafic intrusions occur as an N-S linear belt within the Lachlan Orogen extending from north of Condobolin to south of Bourke, NSW and are associated with Australia’s only significant platinum production from nearby placer deposits. These Alaskan-type or ankaramitic plutons intrude the highly deformed quartz-rich turbidites of the Middle to Late Ordovician Girilambone Group, which were deformed during the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian Benambran Orogeny. The lack of any internal fabric or significant alteration indicates the Fifield intrusive suite is a post-Benambran phase of extension related magmatism. U-Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons extracted from a hornblende gabbro …

The Age And Provenance Of Carboniferous Accretionary Complex At Crescent Head And Point Plomer, Southern New England Orogen, Nsw., Alexandra Becker

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

The Deep-marine turbidites at Crescent Head and Point Plomer on the mid north coast, New South Wales form part of the Carboniferous-Permian Tablelands complex of the southern New England Orogen. To date, sedimentary sequences have received scant attention and no reliable age dating. Standard petrographic, geochronological and geochemical techniques (field mapping, stratigraphic logging, petrography, point counting, detrital zircon age dating and whole rock geochemistry) were undertaken to provide the first detailed descriptions and age constraints for these turbidite sequences. Stratigraphic data shows a maturation trend from juvenile, mafic-derived sediment of the Point Plomer sequence to mature, quartz-rich sediment of the …

The Geochemistry, Distribution And Mobility Of Metals About An Abandoned Cu-Pb-Zn Mine At Mount Bulga, Orange, Nsw: Implications For Acid Rock Drainage, Daniel Knight

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Mining activities at the abandoned Mount Bulga Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag deposit resulted in large amounts of previously buried sulfides being brought to the surface causing the potential of acid mine drainage to be a problem or concern. The pH values measured in the surface soils range from strongly acidic to neutral (3.6-7.9) but averaging mildly acidic (5.2). The distribution of metals in the soils show a distinct zonation between the different geological units clearly defining fault contacts between these units. The XRF analysis using the portable XRF was compared to a laboratory XRF instrument and most metals correlated well except for vanadium, …

Baseline Studies Of Plutonium And Caesium Deposition In The Sydney Region, Brodie S. Smith

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

This study presents an examination of fallout derived radioactivity in soil and alluvial sediment samples from the Sydney Basin. This work was undertaken to add to the growing dataset of published values on radioactivity from sites across Australia and to provide baseline data for the Sydney region. Such data provides further information on fallout patterns in Australia, and enables baseline values of radionuclides such as ^240+239Pu and ¹³⁷Cs to be established for the Sydney Basin in which Australia’s major nuclear facility, with an associated legacy low-level waste site is located.

Samples were collected in an east-west transect across …