Browsing by Author "Mather, C"

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    129 Holocene records of environment and freshwater availability from tufa archives: implications for human occupation at Murujuga, NW WA
    (Australasian Quaternary Association, 2022-12-06) Mather, C; Tucker, M; Leopold, M; Levchenko, VA; O'Leary, M; Morrison, P; McDonald, J
    Murujuga in NW Western Australia is the world’s largest rock art province, with over 1 million engravings. The art and other archaeological evidence in this landscape are an important record of human response to the changing climate following the last ice-age. 130 m of sea level rise following Last Glacial Maximum (LGM ~22 kya) transformed Murujuga from an inland range to a coastal archipelago. We discuss the potential of freshwater tufa as multi-proxy archives to inform on the local environmental and climatic change that impacted this region during the Holocene. Tufa, which are calcium carbonate deposits that form from freshwater springs and seeps in river channels, provide a proxy of past freshwater availability. Establishing the age and rate of tufa formation will enhance our understanding of the presence and permanence of water holes that would have been important for human occupation. Outcomes of this work will provide context to the extraordinary archaeological record documented in Murujuga rock art.
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    Holocene records of environment and freshwater availability from tufa archives: implications for human occupation at Murujuga, NW WA
    (Australasian Quaternary Association Inc., 2022-12-06) Mather, C; Tucker, M; Leopold, MD; Levchenko, VA; O'Leary, M; Morrison, P; McDonald, J
    Murujuga in NW Western Australia is the world’s largest rock art province, with over 1 million engravings. The art and other archaeological evidence in this landscape are an important record of human response to the changing climate following the last ice-age. 130 m of sea level rise following Last Glacial Maximum (LGM ~22 kya) transformed Murujuga from an inland range to a coastal archipelago. We discuss the potential of freshwater tufa as multi-proxy archives to inform on the local environmental and climatic change that impacted this region during the Holocene. Tufa, which are calcium carbonate deposits that form from freshwater springs and seeps in river channels, provide a proxy of past freshwater availability. Establishing the age and rate of tufa formation will enhance our understanding of the presence and permanence of water holes that would have been important for human occupation. Outcomes of this work will provide context to the extraordinary archaeological record documented in Murujuga rock art.
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    New knowledge of Holocene hydroclimate and freshwater availability at Murujuga
    (Australian Archaeological Association, 2024-12-03) Mather, C; Tucker, M; Leopold, M; Levchenko, VA; Skrzypek, G; O'Leary, M; McDonald, J
    Extensive rock art engravings and archaeological evidence of human occupation are documented around waterholes at Murujuga, highlighting their cultural significance and importance as sources of freshwater. Frequently, these waterholes have thick deposits of tufa (carbonate): evidence of the past environment and climatic conditions under which the carbonate precipitated. Here we discuss how we have refined our knowledge of the hydrology and water permanence of the waterholes at Murujuga using tufa as geo-archives of environmental and hydroclimatic change over time. Rainfall, surface water levels and geochemistry demonstrate that some waterholes are long-lasting (semi-permanent) and fed by perched seepage after large recharge events: other ephemeral waterholes evaporate quickly after rainfall events. Semi-permanent waterholes on Murujuga’s islands would be important for supporting humans as well as plant and animal life. The formation of tufa is dependent on moderate to large rainfall events that recharge the landscape and can generate significant surface water flows and allow for precipitation of calcium carbonate. Radiocarbon ages of Murujuga tufas range from 0.5 to 9.7 cal ka BP and constrain tufa formation to the Holocene. The initiation of tufa formation in the early- to mid-Holocene coincides with changing hydroclimatic conditions, following sea level rise and formation of the archipelago since the Last Glacial Maximum. Further insights from stable isotope and geochemical data from tufa will enhance our knowledge of hydroclimatic variability throughout the Holocene. This tufa palaeoenvironmental proxy record allows us to understand at what times during the Holocene water resources were abundant or sparse, meaning we can better contextualise the archaeological record at Murujuga. © The Authors