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Physical Sciences and Mathematics

University of Wollongong

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Australia

Articles 31 - 60 of 75

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Prediction Of The Probability Of Large Fires In The Sydney Region Of South-Eastern Australia Using Components Of Fire Weather., R A. Bradstock, J S. Cohn, A M. Gill, M Bedward, C Lucas Jan 2009

Prediction Of The Probability Of Large Fires In The Sydney Region Of South-Eastern Australia Using Components Of Fire Weather., R A. Bradstock, J S. Cohn, A M. Gill, M Bedward, C Lucas

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The probability of large-fire (>= 1000 ha) ignition days, in the Sydney region, was examined using historical records. Relative influences of the ambient and drought components of the Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) on large fire ignition probability were explored using Bayesian logistic regression. The preferred models for two areas (Blue Mountains and Central Coast) were composed of the sum of FFDI (Drought Factor, DF = 1) (ambient component) and DF as predictors. Both drought and ambient weather positively affected the chance of large fire ignitions, with large fires more probable on the Central Coast than in the Blue …


Aboriginal Settlement During The Lgm At Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia, Michael Slack, Melanie Fillios, Richard L. Fullagar Jan 2009

Aboriginal Settlement During The Lgm At Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia, Michael Slack, Melanie Fillios, Richard L. Fullagar

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the results and implications of recent excavations on the Hamersley Iron Brockman 4 tenement, near Torn Price, Western Australia. Results concentrate on two rock shelters with Aboriginal occupation starting at least 32,000 years ago and extending throughout the Last Glacial period. Preliminary observations are proposed concerning the nature of Aboriginal foraging patterns as displayed in the flaked stone and faunal records for the Brockman region.


Reconstructing Annual Inflows To The Headwater Catchments Of The Murray River, Australia, Using The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Hamish A. Mcgowan, Samuel K. Marx, John Denholm, Joshua Soderholm, Balz S. Kamber Jan 2009

Reconstructing Annual Inflows To The Headwater Catchments Of The Murray River, Australia, Using The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Hamish A. Mcgowan, Samuel K. Marx, John Denholm, Joshua Soderholm, Balz S. Kamber

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a major forcing of inter-decadal to quasi-centennial variability of the hydroclimatology of the Pacific Basin. Its effects are most pronounced in the extra-tropical regions, while it modulates the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the largest forcing of global inter-annual climate variability. PalaeoPDO indices are now available for at least the past 500 years. Here we show that the >500 year PDO index of Shen et al. (2006) is highly correlated with inflows to the headwaters of Australia's longest river system, the Murray-Darling. We then use the PDO to reconstruct annual inflows to the Murray …


Late Neoproterozoic Passive Margin Of East Gondwana: Geochemical Constraints From The Anakie Inlier, Central Queensland, Australia, Christopher L. Fergusson, R Offler, T Green Jan 2009

Late Neoproterozoic Passive Margin Of East Gondwana: Geochemical Constraints From The Anakie Inlier, Central Queensland, Australia, Christopher L. Fergusson, R Offler, T Green

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Development of the East Gondwana passive margin and when it occurred are constrained by the composition of low grade mafic schists and U-Pb ages of detrital zircons in psammitic schists from the Bathampton Metamorphics in the Anakie Inlier of central Queensland. These rocks show considerable variation in light lithophile elements due to post-magmatic processes. They have flat heavy rare earth element patterns, low-TiO2 (<2 wt%) contents and their immobile element Ti, V, Y, La, Nb, Th and Zr values, indicate that they have an NMORB- like magmatic affinity. However, they differ from N-MORB in that they show light rare earth depleted patterns and lower incompatible trace element contents. Their relative low abundance and association with metasediments suggest they formed in a magma-poor rifted margin setting. They are associated with psammitic rocks with detrital zircon ages indicating probable deposition in the late Neoproterozoic at ca 600 Ma. A magma-poor rifted margin in northeastern Australia differs from the volcanic passive setting that occurred in southeastern Australia at this time. These findings support development of the East Gondwana margin at 600 Ma that may have been related to rifting of a microcontinent off East Gondwana well after the breakup of Rodinia at ca 750 Ma.


Molecular And Morphological Description Of A Hepatozoon Species In Reptiles And Their Ticks In The Northern Territory, Australia, Inger-Marie E. Vilcins, Beata Ujvari, Julie M. Old, Elizabeth Deane Jan 2009

Molecular And Morphological Description Of A Hepatozoon Species In Reptiles And Their Ticks In The Northern Territory, Australia, Inger-Marie E. Vilcins, Beata Ujvari, Julie M. Old, Elizabeth Deane

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Ticks, representing 3 species of Amblyomma, were collected from the water python (Liasis fuscus) and 3 additional reptile species in the Northern Territory, Australia, and tested for the presence of Hepatozoon sp., the most common blood parasites of snakes. In addition, blood smears were collected from 5 reptiles, including the water python, and examined for the presence of the parasite. Hepatozoon sp. DNA was detected in all tick and reptile species, with 57.7% of tick samples (n = 187) and 35.6% of blood smears (n = 35) showing evidence of infection. Phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA gene demonstrated that …


Climate Change In The Dead Heart Of Australia, Joshua Larsen, Gerald C. Nanson, Timothy J. Cohen, Brian G. Jones, John D. Jansen, Jan-Hendrik May Jan 2009

Climate Change In The Dead Heart Of Australia, Joshua Larsen, Gerald C. Nanson, Timothy J. Cohen, Brian G. Jones, John D. Jansen, Jan-Hendrik May

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Despite the absence of large-scale glaciation, the Australian continent has experienced substantial environmental change throughout the Quaternary period. This is especially pronounced in central Australia, where one seventh of the continent is drained internally to the depocentre, and lowest point in Australia, Lake Eyre (Figure 1). Research has shown that at one time, large sandy braided and meandering rivers carried water through dunefields to a large freshwater lake system. Today, the rivers are hostage to the dunefield, and floodwaters might only reach Lake Eyre once every ten years or so. In order to understand the development of this arid desert …


Fruit Availability And Utilisation By Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (Pteropodidae: Pteropus Poliocephalus) In A Human-Modified Environment On The South Coast Of New South Wales, Australia, Kerryn Parry-Jones, Kristine O. French, Emily Schmelitschek Jan 2009

Fruit Availability And Utilisation By Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (Pteropodidae: Pteropus Poliocephalus) In A Human-Modified Environment On The South Coast Of New South Wales, Australia, Kerryn Parry-Jones, Kristine O. French, Emily Schmelitschek

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Context. Extensive clearing and modi. cation of habitat is likely to change many facets of the environment including climate and regional food resources. Such changes may result in changes in behaviour in highly mobile fauna, such as flying foxes. Aims. The availability of fruit resources was examined to determine whether grey-headed flying foxes ( Pteropus poliocephalus) have feeding preferences related to habitat or dietary items, and whether human usage of the land around the colony site has affected the resources available. Methods. Fruit availability around a colony was monitored from December 2004 to March 2005. Night surveys and faecal analyses …


Spatial Ecology Of Hatchling Water Pythons (Liasis Fuscus) In Tropical Australia, Richard Shine, Thomas R. Madsen, Ligia Pizzatto, Gregory P. Brown Jan 2009

Spatial Ecology Of Hatchling Water Pythons (Liasis Fuscus) In Tropical Australia, Richard Shine, Thomas R. Madsen, Ligia Pizzatto, Gregory P. Brown

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Young snakes are rarely seen in the field and little is known about their habits. mostly because they are too small for radio-telemetry (the primary method for Studying snake spatial ecology). However, the offspring or some larger species can be fitted with transmitters and we investigated the spatial ecology and habitat use of ten hatchling water pythons (Liasis fuscus: Pythonidae) in the floodplain of the Adelaide River, tropical Australia. Patterns of habitat use in the late wet season and during the dry season were similar to those of adults tracked in the same vicinity in an earlier study. Soon after …


Predicting Avian Distributions To Evaluate Spatiotemporal Overlap With Locust Control Operations In Eastern Australia, Judit K. Szabo, Pamela J. Davy, Michael Hooper, Lee Astheimer Jan 2009

Predicting Avian Distributions To Evaluate Spatiotemporal Overlap With Locust Control Operations In Eastern Australia, Judit K. Szabo, Pamela J. Davy, Michael Hooper, Lee Astheimer

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Locusts and grasshoppers cause considerable economic damage to agriculture worldwide. The Australian Plague Locust Commission uses multiple pesticides to control locusts in eastern Australia. Avian exposure to agricultural pesticides is of conservation concern, especially in the case of rare and threatened species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the probability of pesticide exposure of native avian species during operational locust control based on knowledge of species occurrence in areas and times of application. Using presence-absence data provided by the Birds Australia Atlas for 1998 to 2002, we developed a series of generalized linear models to predict avian occurrences …


Using Lidar To Assess The Effect Of Fire And Floods On Upland Peat Bogs, Waterfall Gully, Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, Javier Leon Patino, Solomon Buckman, Robert P. Bourman, Rowena Morris, Katherine C. Brownlie Jan 2009

Using Lidar To Assess The Effect Of Fire And Floods On Upland Peat Bogs, Waterfall Gully, Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia, Javier Leon Patino, Solomon Buckman, Robert P. Bourman, Rowena Morris, Katherine C. Brownlie

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A flood exceeding the 100 year average recurrence interval in November 2005 led to the failure of an upland peat bog in Waterfall Gully. The area is prone to severe bushfire and flood events and the control dam at the base of First Falls was filled with sediment sourced from Wilson Bog. A resistant quartzite bar at Fourth Falls has formed a natural constriction point against which burnt logs and debris have collected following previous fire events forming a natural dam resulting in sediment/peat accumulation upstream. The failure of the bog was inevitable as the vegetative material in the log-jam …


So, Where Is Queer? A Critical Geography Of Queer Exhibitions In Australia, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray Jan 2008

So, Where Is Queer? A Critical Geography Of Queer Exhibitions In Australia, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper interrogates the geography of queer exhibitions in museums and galleries in Australia. The analysis draws on data from Museums Australia's database of queer exhibitions (1982-2005), which are cross-tabulated with geographical variables such as location, scale and state/territory population. The findings show an uneven geographical distribution of exhibitions, how geography also frames the themes of queer exhibitions, and an imbalanced geography, in which regional histories are few, national and state scale histories are prevalent, and minimal exhibitions occur outside metropolitan areas. This is problematic because queer identities, communities and histories vary across scales and between places. Appreciation of geography …


Nearshore Wave Environments Around A Sandy Cay On A Platform Reef, Torres Strait, Australia, Colin D. Woodroffe, Bongkoch Samosorn Jan 2008

Nearshore Wave Environments Around A Sandy Cay On A Platform Reef, Torres Strait, Australia, Colin D. Woodroffe, Bongkoch Samosorn

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Waves are the primary factor affecting reef-island morphology. This study examines spatial and temporal variations of wave characteristics in the nearshore around Warraber Island, a sandy cay on a platform reef in Torres Strait Australia, based on field measurements during the predominant southeasterly wind season. Water pressure was recorded simultaneously, and transformed to water surface wave spectra, at a location close to the reef edge and across the nearshore at different locations around the island. Wave environments off the reef were estimated based on wave characteristics measured at the reef-edge location and found to be primarily dominated by sea. Low …


Applying Seed Germination Studies In Fire Management For Biodiversity Conservation In South-Eastern Australia., Tony D. Auld, Mark K.J Ooi Jan 2008

Applying Seed Germination Studies In Fire Management For Biodiversity Conservation In South-Eastern Australia., Tony D. Auld, Mark K.J Ooi

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

We examine the patterns of germination response to fire in the fire-prone flora of the Sydney basin, south-eastern Australia, using examples from several decades of research. The flora shows a strong response to fire-related germination cues. Most species show an interaction between heat and smoke, a number respond only to heat, whilst a few are likely to respond only to smoke. Many recruit in the first 12 months after fire and show no obvious seasonal patterns of recruitment, whilst several species have a strong seasonal germination requirement, even in this essentially aseasonal rainfall region. Key challenges remaining include designing future …


Cosmogenic Mega-Tsunami In The Australia Region: Are They Supported By Aboriginal And Maori Legends?, Edward A. Bryant, G. Walsh, D. Abbott Feb 2007

Cosmogenic Mega-Tsunami In The Australia Region: Are They Supported By Aboriginal And Maori Legends?, Edward A. Bryant, G. Walsh, D. Abbott

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Mega-tsunami have affected much of the coastline of Australia over the past millennium. Such catastrophic waves have left an imprint consisting predominently of bedrock sculpturing of the rocky coastline and deposition of marine sediments to elevations reaching 130 mabove sea level. One of the largest of these events occurred in eastern Australia in the fifteenth century. This event may be related to the Mahuika impact crater found at 48.38 S, 166.48 E on the continental shelf 250 km south of New Zealand. A comet at least 500 m in diameter formed the crater. Maori and Aboriginal legends allude to significant …


Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Abundance And Recruitment Of Ghost Shrimp Trypaea Australiensis Across Hierarchical Scales In South-Eastern Australia, Douglas Rotherham, R. J. West Jan 2007

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Abundance And Recruitment Of Ghost Shrimp Trypaea Australiensis Across Hierarchical Scales In South-Eastern Australia, Douglas Rotherham, R. J. West

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Spatial and temporal variation in abundance and recruitment of burrowing ghost shrimp Trypaea australiensis was examined across 3 south-eastern Australian estuaries using a hierarchical sampling design, over a 2 yr period. We tested the hypothesis that abundances of shrimp were different between plots (10s to 100s of metres apart), sites within estuaries (kilometres apart), estuaries (100s of kilometres apart) and through time. More frequent sampling at 1 site also examined temporal variation at scales of months, seasons and years. Another aim was to investigate the reliability of using counts of burrow openings to indirectly measure the relative abundance of T, …


Structural, Metamorphic, And Geochronological Constraints On Alternating Compression And Extension In The Early Paleozoic Gondwanan Pacific Margin, Northeastern Australia, Christopher L. Fergusson, R A Henderson, I. W. Withnall, C M Fanning, D. Phillips, K. J. Lewthwaite Jan 2007

Structural, Metamorphic, And Geochronological Constraints On Alternating Compression And Extension In The Early Paleozoic Gondwanan Pacific Margin, Northeastern Australia, Christopher L. Fergusson, R A Henderson, I. W. Withnall, C M Fanning, D. Phillips, K. J. Lewthwaite

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The Ross-Delamerian orogenic belt formed along the early Paleozoic active Pacific margin of the newly merged Gondwana supercontinent. In its northern-most segment in the Townsville region of northeastern Australia, we have identified a short contractional phase of the Delamerian orogeny in the Argentine Metamorphics postdating formation of a mafic breccia with a U-Pb zircon age of 500 ± 4 Ma. Contraction was followed by widespread inferred extensional deformation with formation of flat-lying foliation, domal features, and amphibolite grade and greenschist retrograde metamorphism all synchronous with latest Cambrian to Early Ordovician extensional backarc volcanism, sedimentation and intrusions. One of these intrusions …


Detrital Zircon Ages In Neoproterozoic To Ordovician Siliciclastic Rocks, Northeastern Australia: Implications For The Tectonic History Of The East Gondwana Continental Margin, Christopher L. Fergusson, Robert A. Henderson, C Mark Fanning, Ian W. Withnall Jan 2007

Detrital Zircon Ages In Neoproterozoic To Ordovician Siliciclastic Rocks, Northeastern Australia: Implications For The Tectonic History Of The East Gondwana Continental Margin, Christopher L. Fergusson, Robert A. Henderson, C Mark Fanning, Ian W. Withnall

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

U–Pb detrital zircon ages in variably metamorphosed, dominantly fine-grained clastic successions are used in northeastern Australia to identify two major successions along the East Gondwana margin. The older succession is of probable Late Neoproterozoic age and is considered part of a passive margin associated with rifting at c. 600 Ma. Most detrital zircons have ages in the range 1000–1300 Ma and were probably derived from an extension of a Late Mesoproterozoic (1050–1200 Ma) orogenic belt from the central Australian Musgrave Complex located 1500 km to the west. No evidence has been found for 600–800 Ma rifting of a Rodinian supercontinent …


Water Quality In The Illawarra-South Coast Region Of New South Wales, Australia, Robert John Morrison, Mark R. O'Donnell Jan 2007

Water Quality In The Illawarra-South Coast Region Of New South Wales, Australia, Robert John Morrison, Mark R. O'Donnell

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Water quality is a serious environmental concern in the South Coast region of New South Wales as many aspects of human ecology and the economy are dependant on good water quality. Apart from drinking water for residents and visitors, tourism and agricultural productivity rely on good quality water. This paper presents an overview of general issues with regard to the development of water quality assessment procedures and programs, and discusses a number of issues considered important for the region. These include the impacts of increasing urbanisation, industrial activity (including mining), the potential wider use of groundwater and the improved management …


Suburban Life And The Boundaries Of Nature: Resilience And Rupture In Australian Backyard Gardens, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir Jul 2006

Suburban Life And The Boundaries Of Nature: Resilience And Rupture In Australian Backyard Gardens, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Despite an academic shift from dualistic to hybrid frameworks of culture/nature relations, separationist paradigms of environmental management have great resilience and vernacular appeal. The conditions under which they are reinforced, maintained or ruptured need more detailed attention because of the urgent environmental challenges of a humanly transformed earth. We draw on research in 265 Australian backyard gardens, focusing on two themes where conceptual and material bounding practices intertwine; spatial boundary-making and native plants. We trace the resilience of separationist approaches in the Australian context to the overlay of indigeneity/ non-indigeneity atop other dualisms, and their rupture to situations of close …


Sampling Patchily Distributed Taxa: A Case Study Using Cost-Benefit Analyses For Sponges And Ascidians In Coastal Lakes Of New South Wales, Australia, P. B. Barnes, A. R. Davis, D. E. Roberts Jan 2006

Sampling Patchily Distributed Taxa: A Case Study Using Cost-Benefit Analyses For Sponges And Ascidians In Coastal Lakes Of New South Wales, Australia, P. B. Barnes, A. R. Davis, D. E. Roberts

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Estuaries worldwide are under increasing threat from human impacts. Because much of their fauna remains unstudied and in many cases undescribed, these systems present real challenges for effective management. In eastern Australia the study of estuarine fauna is often further complicated by its patchy distributions. This is particularly the case for assemblages of sessile invertebrates in coastal saline lakes. This study quantified distributions of sponges and ascidians at a hierarchy of spatial scales in the seagrass meadows of 2 coastal saline lakes in New South Wales, Australia. Nine species of sponge, many of which were undescribed, and 3 species of …


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, …


Cyclicity In The Nearshore Marine To Coastal, Lower Permian, Pebbley Beach Formation, Southern Sydney Basin, Australia: A Record Of Relative Sea-Level Fluctuations At The Close Of The Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan Ice Age, Brian G. Jones, Stuart C. Tye, James A. Maceachern, Kerrie L. Bann, Christopher R. Fielding Jan 2006

Cyclicity In The Nearshore Marine To Coastal, Lower Permian, Pebbley Beach Formation, Southern Sydney Basin, Australia: A Record Of Relative Sea-Level Fluctuations At The Close Of The Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan Ice Age, Brian G. Jones, Stuart C. Tye, James A. Maceachern, Kerrie L. Bann, Christopher R. Fielding

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The Lower Permian (Artinskian to Sakmarian) Pebbley Beach Formation of the southernmost Sydney Basin in New South Wales, Australia, records sediment accumulation in shallow marine to coastal environments at the close of the Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan ice age. This paper presents a sequence stratigraphic re-evaluation of the upper half of the unit based on the integration of sedimentology and ichnology. Ten facies are recognized, separated into two facies associations. Facies Association A (7 facies) comprises variably bioturbated siltstones and sandstones with marine body fossils, interpreted to record sediment accumulation in open marine environments ranging from lower offshore to middle shoreface …


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.


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 …


'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, …


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, …