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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The History Of Aridity In Australia: Chronological Developments, Ed Rhodes, John Chappell, Toshiyuki Fujioka, Kat Fitzsimmons, John Magee, Max Aubert, Dolan Hewitt
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.
Planning For Natural Hazards — How Can We Mitigate The Impacts?, Edward A. Bryant, Lesley M. Head, J. Morrison
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 …
Nativeness, Invasiveness And Nation In Australian Plants, Lesley M. Head, Pat Muir
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 …
Environmental (Re)Education And Local Environmental Knowledge: Statutory Ground-Based Monitoring And Pastoral Culture In Central Australia, Nicholas J. Gill
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 …
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
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 …
Thermoluminescence Evidence For The Deposition Of Coastal Sediments By Tsunami Wave Action, D. M. Price, Edward A. Bryant, R. W. Young
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 …