Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Diatom Community Response To Climate Variability Over The Past 37,000 Years In The Sub-Tropics Of The Southern Hemisphere, Sarah Hembrow, Kathryn Taffs, Pia Atahan, Jeffrey Parr, Atun Zawadzki, Henk Heijnis

Jeffrey Parr

Climate change is impacting global surface water resources, increasing the need for a deeper understanding of the interaction between climate and biological diversity. This is particularly the case in the Southern Hemisphere sub-tropics, where little information exists on the aquatic biota response to climate variations. Palaeolimnological techniques, in particular the use of diatoms, are well established and can significantly contribute to the understanding of climatic variability and the impacts that change in climate have on aquatic ecosystems. A sediment core from Lake McKenzie, Fraser Island (Australia), was used to investigate interactions between climate influences and aquatic ecosystems. This study utilises …

Occluded C In Rice Phytoliths: Implications To Biogeochemical Carbon Sequestration, Zimin Li, Zhaoliang Song, Jeffrey Parr, Hailong Wang

Jeffrey Parr

Aims: Carbon (C) bio-sequestration within the phytoliths of plants, a mechanism of long-term biogeochemical C sequestration, may play a major role in the global C cycle and climate change. In this study, we explored the potential of C bio-sequestration within phytoliths produced in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), a well known silicon accumulator.

Methods: The rice phytolith extraction was undertaken with microwave digestion procedures and the determination of occluded C in phytoliths was based on dissolution methods of phytolith-Si.

Results: Chemical analysis indicates that the phytolith-occluded C (PhytOC) contents of the different organs (leaf, stem, sheath and grains) on …

The Evolution Of A Coastal Peatland At Byron Bay, Australia: Multi-Proxy Evidence From The Microfossil Record, Kathryn Taffs, Brendan Logan, Jeffrey Parr, Geraldine Jacobsen

Jeffrey Parr

This impressive collection celebrates the work of Peter Kershaw, a key figure in the field of Australian palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Over almost half a century his research helped reconceptualize ecology in Australia, creating a detailed understanding of environmental change in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Within a biogeographic framework one of his exceptional contributions was to explore the ways that Aboriginal people may have modified the landscape through the effects of anthropogenic burning. These ideas have had significant impacts on thinking within the fields of geomorphology, biogeography, archaeology, anthropology and history. Papers presented here continue to explore the dynamism of landscape …

Ams Dating Of Ancient Plant Residues From Experimental Stone Tools: A Pilot Study, Andrea Yates, Andrew Smith, Jeffrey Parr, Anja Scheffers, Renaud Joannes-Boyau

Jeffrey Parr

Residue analyses on stone artefacts have contributed to resolving functional questions in stone tool research. Although identifying the function of tools through the analysis of their micro-residues is possible, the establishment of a sound numerical chronology for stone tools lacking a clear stratigraphic sequence, such as surface scatters, remains a challenge. While radiocarbon dating of blood residue on stone artefacts has been published previously (Loy 1987, 1990, 1993; Loy et al., 1990; Nelson et al.1986), this paper reports on an experiment designed to assess the possibility of directly dating residues on stone artefacts by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) based radiocarbon …