Continental aridification and the vanishing of Australia's megalakes

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dc.contributor.authorCohen, TJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorNanson, GCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJansen, JDen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJones, BGen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJacobs, Zen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTreble, PCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorPrice, DMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMay, JHen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSmith, AMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorAyliffe, LKen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHellstrom, JCen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2011-03-03T05:00:55Zen_AU
dc.date.available2011-03-03T05:00:55Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2011-02en_AU
dc.date.statistics2011-02en_AU
dc.description.abstractThe nature of the Australian climate at about the time of rapid megafaunal extinctions and humans arriving in Australia is poorly understood and is an important element in the contentious debate as to whether humans or climate caused the extinctions. Here we present a new paleoshoreline chronology that extends over the past 100 k.y. for Lake Mega-Frome, the coalescence of Lakes Frome, Blanche, Callabonna and Gregory, in the southern latitudes of central Australia. We show that Lake Mega-Frome was connected for the last time to adjacent Lake Eyre at 50–47 ka, forming the largest remaining interconnected system of paleolakes on the Australian continent. The final disconnection and a progressive drop in the level of Lake Mega-Frome represents a major climate shift to aridification that coincided with the arrival of humans and the demise of the megafauna. The supply of moisture to the Australian continent at various times in the Quaternary has commonly been ascribed to an enhanced monsoon. This study, in combination with other paleoclimate data, provides reliable evidence for periods of enhanced tropical and enhanced Southern Ocean sources of water filling these lakes at different times during the last full glacial cycle. © 2011, Geological Society of Americaen_AU
dc.identifier.citationCohen, T. J., Nanson, G. C., Jansen, J. D., Jones, B. G., Jacobs, Z., Treble, P., Price, D.M., May, J. H., Smith, A. M., Ayliffe, L. K., Hellstrom, J. C. (2011). Continental aridification and the vanishing of Australia's megalakes. Geology, 39(2), 167-170. doi:10.1130/G31518.1en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc3255en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0091-7613en_AU
dc.identifier.issue2en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleGeologyen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination167-170en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1130/G31518.1en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/3103en_AU
dc.identifier.volume39en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherGeological Society of Americaen_AU
dc.subjectLakesen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectClimatesen_AU
dc.subjectQuaternary perioden_AU
dc.subjectHuman populationsen_AU
dc.subjectBiological extinctionen_AU
dc.titleContinental aridification and the vanishing of Australia's megalakesen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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