Widespread late Quaternary aridity in Western Australia

Wyrwoll, Karl-Heinz; Milton, D.

doi:10.1038/264429a0

Cited by 30 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Much of the work that has been undertaken is speculative (Wyrwoll, 1979;Williams, 1984), and where field evidence has been addressed (Fairbridge, 1964;Jennings, 1975;Wyrwoll and Milton, 1976;Bowler, 1983) it suffers from an ill defined chronological base. More recently a number of cores have been obtained from swamps in the Great Sandy Desert of northwestern Australia which provide a more reliable, but still tentative, guide to Holocene paleoclimatic events (Wyrwoll et al, 1986).…”

Section: The Regional Climatic Setting Of the Field Area And The Presmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holocene paleohydrology and climatic history of the northern great sandy desert - fitzroy trough: With special reference to the history of the northwest Australian monsoon

Wyrwoll

Hopwood

McKenzie³

1992

Climatic Change

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The Holocene history of the northwest Australian monsoon is considered in the light of new stratigraphic findings from the southern margin of the monsoon regime. A discussion of the present-day climatology of northwestern Australia and synoptic controls on precipitation in the areas at the southern margin of the monsoon regime is given as background information for the interpretation of stratigraphic findings from swamp and alluvial sequences. The stratigraphic findings point to little change in the intensity of the northwest Australian monsoon since ca. 6.5 ka. A more tentative inference drawn from the field evidence is that the monsoon activity may well have been reduced in this region during the Early Holocene; during this time insolation levels were also reduced. The possible relationship of the northwest Australian monsoon to insolation levels is explored. It is clear that monsoon behavior cannot be accounted for as a simple linear response of monsoon intensity to variations in insolation. Possible controls are discussed with particular emphasis on the plausibility of changes in the damping of convective motions providing the mechanism. Gill's model of heatinduced circulation is used to provide some evidence in favour of this conjecture.

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Section: The Regional Climatic Setting Of the Field Area And The Presmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Holocene paleohydrology and climatic history of the northern great sandy desert - fitzroy trough: With special reference to the history of the northwest Australian monsoon

Wyrwoll

Hopwood

McKenzie³

1992

Climatic Change

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“…, Most striking is the geomorphological evidence for Pleistocene arid zone advances (Figure 8). This is a theme which has long been an issue in Quaternary work in Western Australia (1954; Veevers and Wells, 1961;Fairbridge, 1964;Jennings, 1975;Bowler, 1976;Glassford and Killigrew, 1976;Wyrwoll, 1979;Wyrwoll and Milton, 1976;Wyrwoll and King, 1984;Wyrwoll et al, 1986). There is a widely held view that the last arid zone advance was generally coincident with the Last Glacial Maximum.…”

Section: At Present It Is Unclear If the Emergent Pleistocene Marine mentioning

confidence: 95%

“…But the control on this age estimate is poor (Bowler, 1976) and other more speculative support is often sought. This comes from two directions: (1) rather speculative palaeoclimatic reconstructions (Wyrwoll and Milton, 1976;Wyrwoll, 1979); and (2) strong elements of a reinforcement syndrome in which the Western Australian evidence is linked to the much better known southeast Australian record (Jones and Bowler, 1980). The fundamental importance to historical geomorphology of a secure chronology has been eloquently discussed by Vita-Finzi (1973).…”

Section: At Present It Is Unclear If the Emergent Pleistocene Marine mentioning

confidence: 98%

Time in the geomorphology of Western Australia

Wyrwoll

1988

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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A distinctive regional problem facing a geomorphologist in Western Australia is the inordinate length of time during which the geomorphology has developed without interruptions by major tectonic or glacial events. This has led to the development of a land-surface consisting of an amalgam of depositional units and erosional forms of a great variety of ages. While the high degree of historical imprint in the geomorphology of Western Australia has been generally recognized (Mulcahy and Bettenay, 1971;Finkl, 1982;Twidale et al., 1985), geomorphological studies are few. At present only scattered indications can be obtained, and when an attempt is made to integrate these into a more complete scheme of events more wide-ranging problems soon emerge.The task of the historical geomorphologist is not made easy when his(her) primary concern is with explanation, rather than simply taxonomy, and the development of nomothetic themes. These are also the aims which have been pursued in many process studies, but in work with a historical emphasis, in which the explanation is presented by way of a narrative, the manner in which this can be achieved is less clear.A history-bound view brings with it quite specific problems which hinder explanation. Most immediate is the fact that the long-term evolutionary framework makes it inevitable that geomorphology is equated with historical geology. But unlike historical geology, which has a long rock sequence for study, the geomorphological record of events is often largely erosional, and so by definition more incomplete. This could be partly overcome if more attention was given to the long-term stratigraphic record. But even if the depositional record received more attention, the evidence would still be fragmentary and linked in a rather tenuous manner.The general substance of the geomorphological development of an area is the recognition of individual landforms and geomorphological events. These are important in their own right, even when considered at only a descriptive level. But the ultimate aim of historical geomorphology is to incorporate these into a nomothetic scheme of land-surface development.

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“…28 More certain is that a late Quaternary period of aridity ending about 4500 BP, was probably responsible for the accumulation of much of the salts which are now being leached and redistributed in the landscape. 29 In these drier, more easterly areas, hardpans now form a base for post-clearing accumulation of saline, perched soil-water tables. This is particularly well demonstrated by the broad, flat, waterlogged valley systems in the Dalwallinu area, where the piezometric heads of groundwaters confined beneath the hardpan are well below the saturated valley floors.…”

Section: Causes Of the Salinity Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water quality and forests in Southwestern Australia: review and evaluation

Conacher

1979

Australian Geographer

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Widespread late Quaternary aridity in Western Australia

Cited by 30 publications

References 5 publications

The Holocene paleohydrology and climatic history of the northern great sandy desert - fitzroy trough: With special reference to the history of the northwest Australian monsoon

The Holocene paleohydrology and climatic history of the northern great sandy desert - fitzroy trough: With special reference to the history of the northwest Australian monsoon

Time in the geomorphology of Western Australia

Water quality and forests in Southwestern Australia: review and evaluation

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