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Articles 121 - 145 of 145

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Geomorphological Evolution Of A Wave-Dominated Barrier Estuary: Burrill Lake, New South Wales, Australia, Brian G. Jones, Craig R. Sloss, David M. Price, C.E. Mcclennen, John De Carli Jan 2006

The Geomorphological Evolution Of A Wave-Dominated Barrier Estuary: Burrill Lake, New South Wales, Australia, Brian G. Jones, Craig R. Sloss, David M. Price, C.E. Mcclennen, John De Carli

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The geomorphological evolution of the Holocene wave-dominated barrier estuary at Burrill Lake on the New South Wales coast, Australia, has been delineated using a combination of seismic stratigraphy and the lithostratigraphic analysis of vibracores collected from the back-barrier estuarine environment. A combination of radiocarbon and aspartic acid racemisation-derived ages obtained on Holocene fossil molluscs, and the thermoluminescent signal in remnant Last Interglacial barrier sediments provides the chronological framework for this investigation. Results from this paper show that the barrier estuary occupies a relatively narrow (<1.5 km wide) and shallow (<40 m deep) incised bedrock valley formed during sea-level lowstands. Late Pleistocene sedimentary successions and remnants of the Last Interglacial barrier have been preserved within the incised valley axis and the mouth of the incised valley. These sediments, deposited during the Last Interglacial sea-level highstand, have subsequently been partially removed during the last glacial maximum. Overlying the antecedent late Pleistocene landsurface is a near basin-wide basal marine sand deposited in response to rising sea level associated with the most recent post-glacial marine transgression, which inundated the shallow incised valley ca.7800 years ago. More open marine conditions, with a diverse assemblage of estuarine and marine mollusc species, persisted until ca. 4500 years ago when the stabilizing Holocene barrier resulted in the development of a lowenergy back-barrier lagoonal environment. A late Holocene 1-2 m regression of sea level ca. 3000 years ago further restricted oceanic circulation, increased the rate of fluvial bay-head delta progradation and the extension of the backbarrier central basin mud facies. This evolutionary model of barrier estuary evolution developed for Burrill Lake is consistent with recent research conducted in Lake Illawarra and St Georges Basin and can be applied to other estuaries that have formed in relatively shallow and narrow incised bedrock valleys on tectonically stable, wave-dominated coastlines.


Aeolian-Fluvial Interaction: Evidence For Late Quaternary Channel Change And Wind-Rift Linear Dune Formation In The Northwestern Simpson Desert, Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, Brian G. Jones, David M. Price, Tim Pietsch, C Bristow, Cameron B. Hollands Jan 2006

Aeolian-Fluvial Interaction: Evidence For Late Quaternary Channel Change And Wind-Rift Linear Dune Formation In The Northwestern Simpson Desert, Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, Brian G. Jones, David M. Price, Tim Pietsch, C Bristow, Cameron B. Hollands

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

In central Australia the most easterly extent of the MacDonnell Ranges borders the northwestern Simpson Desert where widely spaced strike ridges intercept the regional linear dunefield. Topographic basins have disrupted regional drainage lines and isolated dune sets from the main dunefield. In the western part of Camel Flat basin large, red coloured linear dunes of fine sand, ~ 74 ka and older, are oriented almost due north. Through gaps in the ranges the Todd River traversed the eastern part of the basin until ~25 ka when it apparently avulsed ~25 km eastwards to its present position. Subsequently, linear dunes, smaller, …


Dust Deposition Rates In The Wollongong-Port Kembla Area, New South Wales, Australia, R J. Morrison, Bandar A. Fadhel, K Goss Jan 2006

Dust Deposition Rates In The Wollongong-Port Kembla Area, New South Wales, Australia, R J. Morrison, Bandar A. Fadhel, K Goss

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Dust deposition in the Wollongong-Port Kembla region, New South Wales, Australia, arising from local industrial and mining activities, has been of major concern since the early 1960s. Reports dealing with dust deposition rates in the region have been published by different organisations where the data have been averaged for the region. This provides a general trend for the deposition rates for the whole region without considering the trends occurring in specific locations. This study was the first to examine the trends observed at 35 individual gauges to identify more localised trends in dust deposition rates in the Wollongong-Port Kembla region, …


Living With Trees – Perspectives From The Suburbs, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir Dec 2005

Living With Trees – Perspectives From The Suburbs, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A study of suburban backyards and backyarders in Sydney and Wollongong revealed evidence of attitudes and behaviours in relation to trees. Attitudes are characterised under themes that indicate conditions of tolerance and belonging. They include attachment/risk, order/freedom and nativeness/alienness. While love is common, high levels of suspicion and intolerance towards trees in the suburban context are more common. Our findings confirm and throw further light on previous work indicating that many Australians have very partitioned views of the world in relationto where humans and nonhuman lifeforms belong. This partitioning must be understood in conceptual as well as spatial terms.


Culture As Concept And Influence In Environmental Research And Management, Lesley M. Head, D. Trigger, J. Mulcock Dec 2005

Culture As Concept And Influence In Environmental Research And Management, Lesley M. Head, D. Trigger, J. Mulcock

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Given that human activities have been implicated in the vast majority of contemporary environmental problems, it might be expected that research effort into those activities and the attitudes from which they stem would be both strongly supported by funding agencies, and of central interest to environmental scientists and land managers. In this paper we focus on an undervalued area of environmental humanities research—cultural analysis of the beliefs, practices and often unarticulated assumptions which underlie human–environmental relations. In discussing how cultural processes are central to environmental attitudes and behaviours, and how qualitative research methods can be used to understand them in …


The History Of Aridity In Australia: Chronological Developments, Ed Rhodes, John Chappell, Toshiyuki Fujioka, Kat Fitzsimmons, John Magee, Max Aubert, Dolan Hewitt Jan 2005

The History Of Aridity In Australia: Chronological Developments, Ed Rhodes, John Chappell, Toshiyuki Fujioka, Kat Fitzsimmons, John Magee, Max Aubert, Dolan Hewitt

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Desert dune-fields are quintessential features of arid landscapes. During arid phases in the recent geological past, such as the global last glacial maximum (LGM) at around 20,000 years ago, many parts of Australia experienced significant sand movement, with sand migrating down-wind and forming linear dunes. Sand entrainment and deposition is controlled by vegetative surface stabilisation, wind speed and direction, which in turn are controlled by regional climate and local factors including ground-water levels. Climate also affects sand supply, through its effects on erosion in the source areas and transport to the dune-building areas.


'Murphy, Do You Want To Delete This?' Hidden Histories And Hidden Landscapes In The Murchison And Davenport Ranges, Northern Territory, Australia., N. J. Gill, A. Paterson, M. Kennedy Jan 2005

'Murphy, Do You Want To Delete This?' Hidden Histories And Hidden Landscapes In The Murchison And Davenport Ranges, Northern Territory, Australia., N. J. Gill, A. Paterson, M. Kennedy

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

[Extract] During Easter in 2000 we (AP and NG) were in Central Australia during heavy rainfalls and flooding. Roads were cut and we were stuck in Tennant Creek. We decided to review documents held by the local museum. This included material used in the late 1970s to compile a general history of Tennant Creek, the only such work of which we are aware. It was interesting to note that in one case the author had written to a pastoralist they had recently visited, and included a section describing the role of Aboriginal people at their station. In brackets after this …


Beyond Yellowstone? Conservation And Indigenous Rights In Australia And Sweden, Michael Adams Jan 2005

Beyond Yellowstone? Conservation And Indigenous Rights In Australia And Sweden, Michael Adams

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Faced with the paradox of a large global increase in conservation reserves and a simultaneous global decrease in actual effective protection for biodiversity, conservation scientists and others are questioning established conservation theory and practice. Conservation is largely a ‘residual’ landuse, which often conflicts with another residual landuse, the remaining lands owned or accessed by Indigenous peoples. I argue that the Western conservation model has created this situation, and that engaging with Indigenous ways of relating to ‘nature’ could lead to improved outcomes. From the basis that environmental problems are fundamentally social problems, and using case studies from Australia and Sweden, …


Planning For Natural Hazards — How Can We Mitigate The Impacts?, Edward A. Bryant, Lesley M. Head, J. Morrison Jan 2005

Planning For Natural Hazards — How Can We Mitigate The Impacts?, Edward A. Bryant, Lesley M. Head, J. Morrison

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Australia has the same frequency of natural hazards as any other continent; however, the types and impact of hazards are very different. Globally, the deadliest hazards are floods, earthquakes, tropical storms and tsunami. In Australia, the deadliest hazards are heat waves, floods, tropical cyclones and bushfires. Similarly, while the most expensive hazards ranked globally are also floods, earthquakes and tropical cyclones, in Australia, the costliest hazards are tropical storms, floods, wind and bushfires. Our isolated population distribution, together with rugged topography along the eastern and southern coastal fringe where the bulk of the population is concentrated, has lead to a …


Fractionation Of Sedimentary Arsenic From Port Kembla Harbour, Nsw, Australia, Glennys A. O'Brien, William E. Price, Bryan E. Chenhall, Muhammad Damris Jan 2005

Fractionation Of Sedimentary Arsenic From Port Kembla Harbour, Nsw, Australia, Glennys A. O'Brien, William E. Price, Bryan E. Chenhall, Muhammad Damris

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The binding of arsenic in sediments of the heavily industrialised Port Kembla Harbour, NSW, Australia, has been investigated. Both dredge and core samples have been used to develop a sieving/sequential extraction (SE) procedure. Dredge samples included oxic surficial and deeper anoxic sediment. The main core sample analysed was 18 cm deep, sliced at 2 cm intervals. Sediment was sieved to three size ranges (250 microm) and each of these was then subjected to a four step SE, sequentially solubilizing arsenic as ion exchangeable, 1 M HCl soluble, NH(2)OH.HCl soluble, and strong oxidising acid soluble. Concentrations of 50-500 mg As kg(-1) …


Development Of Watershed Management In New South Wales, Australia: A Coastal Perspective, Pedro I. J Fidelman, Robert John Morrison, Ron J. West Jan 2005

Development Of Watershed Management In New South Wales, Australia: A Coastal Perspective, Pedro I. J Fidelman, Robert John Morrison, Ron J. West

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Watershed management has become a prominent approach to natural resource management (NRM) in Australia and elsewhere. In the Australian State ofNew South Wales (NSW), catchment management - the NSW watershed management initiative - has been in place both in coastal and non-coastal areas for nearly two decades. In coastal areas, it is suggested that catchment management could play an important role in coastal and marine issues (NSW Coastcare et aI., 2004; Zann, 1996), as the Australia's coastal and marine environments have, in general, been affected by watershed-based activities (see e.g., Zann, 1996). Such a role would, however, require institutional changes, …


Nativeness, Invasiveness And Nation In Australian Plants, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir Apr 2004

Nativeness, Invasiveness And Nation In Australian Plants, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The conceptualization of alien invasive species conflates two axes of variability that have become unhelpfully blurred. The nativeness/alienness axis refers to the presumed belonging of a species in ecological or social space. Invasiveness refers to the behavior of the species in question, particularly in relation to other species. The overlay of nation introduces further variability. Teasing these axes apart is important for more effective environmental management. We examine these concepts using two influential forms of ecological knowledge: the biogeographical and ecological literature and the vernacular experiences of suburban backyarders. Three case studes, the invasive native Pittosporum undulatum and two invasive …


Changing Ecological Concerns In Rock-Art Subject Matter Of North Australia's Keep River Region, Paul Tacon, Ken Mulvaney, Sven Ouzman, Richard L. Fullagar, Lesley M. Head, Paddy Carlton Jan 2003

Changing Ecological Concerns In Rock-Art Subject Matter Of North Australia's Keep River Region, Paul Tacon, Ken Mulvaney, Sven Ouzman, Richard L. Fullagar, Lesley M. Head, Paddy Carlton

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The Keep River region has a complex body of engraved and painted rock-art, distinct from but with links to regions to the east, west and south. At least four major periods of figurative rock-art have been identified with differing subject matters and ages. Significant changes in depictions of human figures and animals are evident, reflecting shifts in emphasis associated with ecological concerns and environmental change. We flesh out the relative rock-art chronology by highlighting these changes, from worlds dominated by humans to those dominated by mammals and birds, and finally to a recent world of reptiles and humans. Symbolic aspects …


Environmental (Re)Education And Local Environmental Knowledge: Statutory Ground-Based Monitoring And Pastoral Culture In Central Australia, Nicholas J. Gill Jan 2003

Environmental (Re)Education And Local Environmental Knowledge: Statutory Ground-Based Monitoring And Pastoral Culture In Central Australia, Nicholas J. Gill

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Ground-based monitoring of rangeland condition is common in Australian pastoral administration systems. In the Northern Territory, such monitoring is officially seen as a key plank of sustainable pastoral land use. In the NT and elsewhere, these monitoring schemes have sought to increase participation by pastoralists. Involvement of pastoralists in monitoring is theoretically an educative process that will cause pastoralists to more critically examine their management practices. Critical perspectives on the relationship between rangelands science/extension and pastoralist knowledge systems and concerns, however, suggest that pastoralists’ reception of such monitoring schemes will be influenced by a range of social contexts, including the …


Thermoluminescence Evidence For The Deposition Of Coastal Sediments By Tsunami Wave Action, D. M. Price, Edward A. Bryant, R. W. Young May 1999

Thermoluminescence Evidence For The Deposition Of Coastal Sediments By Tsunami Wave Action, D. M. Price, Edward A. Bryant, R. W. Young

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Changes in our coastline take on various forms and are the product of differing wave and aeolian processes. Of all these processes tsunami action surely represents the most rapid and violent agent wreaking devastation not only along the immediate shoreline but also extending many kilometres inland. Until now the main line of evidence supporting the deposition of sediments by this means has lain in the careful examination of the sedimentological record. This process is painstaking, costly and time consuming and then not necessarily conclusive. Thermoluminescence may offer an alternative line of evidence which may be taken as either confirmatory or, …


Chronology Of Holocene Tsunamis On The Southeastern Coast Of Australia, R. W. Young, Edward A. Bryant, David M. Price, S. Y. Dilek, D. J. Wheeler Jan 1997

Chronology Of Holocene Tsunamis On The Southeastern Coast Of Australia, R. W. Young, Edward A. Bryant, David M. Price, S. Y. Dilek, D. J. Wheeler

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Recent research has revealed much geomorphological evidence for major tsunamis on the southeastern coast of Australia prior to British settlement in 1788. This discovery is important because this tectonically very stable coast was believed to be safe from the hazard of tsunamis because no major tsunami has occurred here in the last 200 years. But high level marine deposits of Holocene age along the coast south of Sydney show that tsunamis ran up to heights of >30 m, and at one site to heights probably >100 m. Developing a chronology for these catastrophic events is of great importance to the …


The Impact Of Tsunami On The Coastline Of Jervis Bay, Southeastern Australia, Edward A. Bryant, R. W. Young, D. M. Price, D. J. Wheeler, M. I. Pease Jan 1997

The Impact Of Tsunami On The Coastline Of Jervis Bay, Southeastern Australia, Edward A. Bryant, R. W. Young, D. M. Price, D. J. Wheeler, M. I. Pease

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The Jervis Bay area offers а diversity of landforms that do not fit within con¬temporary views of coastal evolution. Field evidence indicates that catastrophic tsunami have had а significant impact on the coast and its hinterland both within and outside the embayment. Runup has overtopped cliffs 80 m above sea level and deposited chevron-shaped ridges to elevations of 130 m on the southern headland. Boulders, up to 6 m in diameter, have been deposited in an imbricated fashion against cliffs, on clifftops, and along shoreline ramps. Bedform features and the size of transported material indicate flow depths up tо 10 …


The Imprint Of Tsunami In Quaternary Coastal Sediments Of Southeastern Australia, R. W. Young, Edward A. Bryant, David M. Price, E. Spassov Jan 1995

The Imprint Of Tsunami In Quaternary Coastal Sediments Of Southeastern Australia, R. W. Young, Edward A. Bryant, David M. Price, E. Spassov

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

TL and 14C dating has revealed anomalous chronostratigraphies at two sites on the coast of southern New South Wales, Australia, where Pleistocene sands have been driven onshore over Holocene estuarine deposits. Lack of solar bleaching of the TL component which occurs in normal swash zones, an identical TL age obtained from pumice incorporated in the Pleistocene deposit, and boulders scattered through the sand are indicative of tsunami impact. These observations prompt reassessment of the strictly uniformitarian models of barrier emplacement during the Holocene transgression both in eastern Australia and elsewhere in the world where tsunami are a possibility.


Last Interglacial And Holocene Trends In Sea-Level Maxima Around Australia: Implications For Modern Rates, Edward A. Bryant Oct 1992

Last Interglacial And Holocene Trends In Sea-Level Maxima Around Australia: Implications For Modern Rates, Edward A. Bryant

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper defines the spatial trend in sea-level around Australia at 3 timescales, namely at the time of the maximum of the last interglacial around 125000 yr BP, during the Holocene maximum between 5-6000 yr BP and over the last 20 years. Last interglacial elevations range from -2m around the Great Barrier Reef to +32m in northeast Tasmania. Trend surface analysis shows that over 77% of the noise in these sea-level elevations can be accounted for by a pattern evidencing tectonic uplift towards the southern edge of the continent. Assuming a eustatic sea-level at this time of +4 to 6m, …


Storminess And High Tide Beach Change, Stanwell Park, Australia 1943-1978, Edward A. Bryant Mar 1988

Storminess And High Tide Beach Change, Stanwell Park, Australia 1943-1978, Edward A. Bryant

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Coastal storms have been considered significant agents in transporting sediment, modifying morphology and causing recent beach erosion. Along the New South Wales coast, the concomitance of storms, warmer sea surface temperatures and poleward movement of the Hadley cell was linked to beach erosion on Stanwell Park beach between 1943 and 1978. This result was defined using an accurately constructed compilation of coastal storms and a precisely measured time series of high tide positions taken from 105 oblique photographs. The two data sets are amongst the best of their kind in the world. Indices of storm magnitude, representing cumulative significant wave …


Australia—An Unstable Platform For Tide-Gauge Measurements Of Changing Sea Levels: A Discussion, Edward A. Bryant, P. S. Roy, B. G. Thom Jan 1988

Australia—An Unstable Platform For Tide-Gauge Measurements Of Changing Sea Levels: A Discussion, Edward A. Bryant, P. S. Roy, B. G. Thom

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The recent detailed analyses by Aubrey and Emery (1986) of Australian sea level trends continues their efforts to define tectonic and climatic factors worldwide that dominate long- and short-term fluctuations respectively in sea level records. These factors have included sediment and water loading on the adjacent shelf, the tectonic behaviour of plates, fluctuations in the Southern Oscillation, behaviour of currents impinging on the shelf, and river runoff. We do not object to these efforts; however we are disturbed by misrepresentations in their recent paper on Australian sea levels regarding (1) the interpretation of the nature of sea-level records, (2) the …


Rainfall And Beach Erosion Relationships, Stanwell Park, Australia, 1895-1980: Worldwide Implications For Coastal Erosion, Edward A. Bryant Jan 1985

Rainfall And Beach Erosion Relationships, Stanwell Park, Australia, 1895-1980: Worldwide Implications For Coastal Erosion, Edward A. Bryant

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Beach erosion is often associated with sea-level rise, sediment depletion or variation in wave conditions; however above-normal rainfall can cause beach retreat by increasing water-table elevation on the foreshore. On Stanwell Park beach, New South Wales, Australia annual rainfall accounts for 12.4% of the variance in the long-term, high-ride position measured accurately to ±2.5 m for the whole beach using 135 oblique photographs dated between 1895-1980. Sea-level changes account for an additional 4.6%. A 100 mm increase in annual rainfall or a 1 cm rise in sea-level results in 0.79 or 0.44 m retreat respectively of the average high-tide position …


Sunspot And Mn Tidal Effects On Stanwell Park, Nsw, Beach Change, 1895-1980, Edward A. Bryant Jan 1984

Sunspot And Mn Tidal Effects On Stanwell Park, Nsw, Beach Change, 1895-1980, Edward A. Bryant

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Beach change on Stanwell Park beach has been linked to sea-level fluctuations and annual rainfall such that a 1-cm rise in sea-level and a 100-mm increase in rainfall results respectively in 0.45m and 0.8m of beach retreat. Both variables are related to the Southern Oscillation, which has worldwide climatic teleconnections. Research in NSW and elsewhere indicates that the 11- and 22-year sunspot cycles and 18.6-year MN lunar cycle may affect some sea-level and rainfall records. None of these astronomical variables was found to relate to beach retreat at Stanwell Park more than any of the meteorological or oceanographic variables.


Regional Sea Level, Southern Oscillation And Beach Change, New South Wales, Australia, Edward A. Bryant Sep 1983

Regional Sea Level, Southern Oscillation And Beach Change, New South Wales, Australia, Edward A. Bryant

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Coastal erosion is a problem of increasing concern that affects 60% of the world's sandy coastline. This erosion has been attributed to increased storminess, tectonic subsidence, eustatic sea-level rise, decreased shoreward sediment movement from the shelf, permanent longshore leakage of sediment from beach compartments, shifts in global pressure belts resulting in changes in the directional component of wave climates, and human interference. No one explanation has worldwide applicability because all factors vary in importance regionally. Evaluation of factors is complicated by a lack of accurate, continuous, long-term erosional data. Historical map evidence spanning 100-1,000 yr has been used in a …


Geography Picture Booklet - 1948 (Western Australia) Issued In Conjunction With The School Broadcast, Australian Broadcasting Commission Jan 1948

Geography Picture Booklet - 1948 (Western Australia) Issued In Conjunction With The School Broadcast, Australian Broadcasting Commission

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