Late quaternary palaeoenvironmental change in the Australian drylands

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dc.contributor.authorFitzsimmons, KEen_AU
dc.contributor.authorCohen, TJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHesse, PPen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJansen, JDen_AU
dc.contributor.authorNanson, GCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMay, JHen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBarrows, TTen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHaberlah, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorHilgers, Aen_AU
dc.contributor.authorKelly, Ten_AU
dc.contributor.authorLarsen, JRen_AU
dc.contributor.authorLomax, Jen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTreble, PCen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-25T02:23:37Zen_AU
dc.date.available2020-05-25T02:23:37Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2013-08-15en_AU
dc.date.statistics2020-05-25en_AU
dc.description.abstractIn this paper we synthesise existing palaeoenvironmental data from the arid and semi-arid interior of the Australian continent for the period 40–0 ka. Moisture is the predominant variable controlling environmental change in the arid zone. Landscapes in this region respond more noticeably to changes in precipitation than to temperature. Depending on their location, arid zone records broadly respond to tropical monsoon-influenced climate regimes, the temperate latitude westerly systems, or a combination of both. The timing and extent of relatively arid and humid phases vary across the continent, in particular between the westerly wind-controlled temperate latitudes, and the interior and north which are influenced by tropically sourced precipitation. Relatively humid phases in the Murray-Darling Basin on the semi-arid margins, which were characterised by large rivers most likely fed by snow melt, prevailed from 40 ka to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), and from the deglacial to the mid Holocene. By contrast, the Lake Eyre basin in central Australia remained relatively dry throughout the last 40 ka, with lake high stands at Lake Frome around 35–30 ka, and parts of the deglacial period and the mid-Holocene. The LGM was characterised by widespread relative aridity and colder conditions, as evidenced by extensive desert dune activity and dust transport, lake level fall, and reduced but episodic fluvial activity. The climate of the deglacial period was spatially divergent. The southern part of the continent experienced a brief humid phase around ∼17–15 ka, followed by increased dune activity around ∼14–10 ka. This contrasts with the post-LGM persistence of arid conditions in the north, associated with a lapsed monsoon and reflected in lake level lows and reduced fluvial activity, followed by intensification of the monsoon and increasingly effective precipitation from ∼14 ka. Palaeoenvironmental change during the Holocene was also spatially variable. The early to mid-Holocene was, however, generally characterised by moderately humid conditions, demonstrated by lake level rise, source-bordering dune activity, and speleothem growth, persisting at different times across the continent. Increasingly arid conditions developed into the late Holocene, particularly in the central arid zone. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationFitzsimmons, K. E., Cohen, T. J., Hesse, P. P., Jansen, J., Nanson, G. C., May, J. H., Barrows, T. T., Haberlah, D., Hilgers, A., Kelly, T., Larsen, J., Lomax, J., Treble, P. (2013). Late quaternary palaeoenvironmental change in the Australian drylands. Quaternary Science Reviews, 74, 78-96. doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.09.00en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc9546en_AU
dc.identifier.issn1873-457Xen_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleQuaternary Science Reviewsen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination78-96en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.09.007en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/9479en_AU
dc.identifier.volume74en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevieren_AU
dc.subjectArid landsen_AU
dc.subjectSanden_AU
dc.subjectDesertsen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectQuaternary perioden_AU
dc.subjectMonsoonsen_AU
dc.subjectHumidityen_AU
dc.subjectMoistureen_AU
dc.titleLate quaternary palaeoenvironmental change in the Australian drylandsen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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