Climatic records over the past 30 ka from temperate Australia – a synthesis from the Oz-INTIMATE workgroup

Petherick, Lynda; Bostock, Helen C.; Cohen, Tim J; Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.; Tibby, John; Fletcher, Michael‐Shawn; Moss, Patrick; Reeves, Jessica; Mooney, Scott; Barrows, Timothy T.; Kemp, Justine; Jansen, John D.; Nanson, Gerald C.; Dosseto, Anthony

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.12.012

Cited by 119 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 201 publications

(373 reference statements)

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“…These have been included to allow direct correlations with the OZ-INTIMATE works, but more detailed analysis of spatial patterns is presented in Williams et al (2013, in press). Temporal analysis comes from our interpretation of syntheses presented in Bostock et al (2013), Fitzsimmons et al (2013), Petherick et al (2013), Reeves et al (2013b), and Lewis et al (2013). All locations discussed in Section 6 are presented by Interim Bioregions of Australia after (Supplementary data provides information on the location of all sites and bioregions).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mooney et al, 2011;Williams et al, 2015). This has culminated in a series of publications by Aus-INTIMATE that provide an agreement on the nature of palaeoclimates across Australasia over the last 35,000 years Bostock et al, 2013;Fitzsimmons et al, 2013;Petherick et al, 2013;Reeves et al, 2013aReeves et al, , 2013b). …”

Section: Archaeology and Palaeoclimate In Australiamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The Australian region was considered to span from 10 o N to 60 o S and 110 o E to 160 o E to encompass the entire Sahul shelf, much of the Sunda shelf and the Australian section of the Southern Ocean, as these regions have direct influence on the climate of the Australian continent (Reeves et al, 2013a). This region was then divided into the Tropical region (north of 20 o S) (Reeves et al, 2013b), the Southern Ocean region (south of 40 o S) and the remaining Temperate region, including the east coast of Australia, Tasmania and southwestern Western Australia (Petherick et al, 2013). The project developed climate syntheses for each of these regions independently, and then an overall composite for the Australian region (Reeves et al, 2013a).…”

Section: Aus-intimate and Oz-intimatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These parameters have been shown to be significant in studies of hunter-gatherers and populations (see Foley and Lahr, 2011). There are gaps in parts of the palaeoclimatic record in some sectorsthe temperate sector, for example, has a greater focus on temperature than precipitation (Petherick et al, 2013), while the Southern Ocean sector has little information on precipitation through the Holocene, due in part to the dependence on marine records with poor Holocene recovery . Furthermore, in several sectors, there is contradictory palaeoclimatic information, which is not always resolved, such as for the last few thousand years in the interior .…”

Section: The Continental Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A continental narrative: Human settlement patterns and Australian climate change over the last 35,000 years

Williams

Veth

Steffen

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

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, we consider the effects of climate systems on past human settlement patterns and inferred demography. We use 5,044 radiocarbon dates from ~1,750 archaeological sites to develop regional timeseries curves for different regions defined in the OZ-INTIMATE compilation as the temperate, tropics, interior and Southern Ocean sectors to explore human-climate relationships in Australia over the last 35,000 years. Correlations undertaken with improved palaeoclimatic data and archaeological records indicate that the regional time-series curves are robust, and can be used as a proxy for human behaviour. However, interrogation of the datasets is essential with artificial peaks and taphonomic over-correction being critical considerations. The time-series curves are interpreted as reflecting population growth, stasis and even decline in phase with terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene climatic fluctuations. This coupling, however, decreases during the last 5,000 years, most likely due to increased population levels, greater territoriality, technological solutions to stress, and social and ideational innovation. Curves from all sectors show exponential population growth over the last 5,000 years. We identify future research priorities, highlighting the paucity of archaeological records across several parts of Australia (<1 dated site/4,000km 2 ), especially around the fringes of the arid zone, and the need for improved taphonomic correction techniques. Finally, we discuss how these time-series curves represent a first-order framework, not dissimilar to global climate models, which researchers can continue to test and refine with local, regional and continental records. KeywordsTime-series analysis, archaeological radiocarbon data, hunter-gatherer behaviour, Aus-INTIMATE, OZ-INTIMATE, human-environment interaction, palaeoenvironment Highlights  Comparison of radiocarbon time-series techniques with other archaeological indices  We demonstrate robust relationship between radiocarbon data and demographic change  Our results suggest past demography was coupled with climate until mid-Holocene  Mid-Holocene social/technological innovation effected a de-coupling of relationship  We provide future directions for Australian archaeological and time-series research 3

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Archaeology and Palaeoclimate In Australiamentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Aus-intimate and Oz-intimatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Continental Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A continental narrative: Human settlement patterns and Australian climate change over the last 35,000 years

Williams

Veth

Steffen

et al. 2015

Quaternary Science Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The method is applied to late Quaternary sedimentary records from the subtropics to cool mid-latitudes to generate mean annual and summer temperature reconstructions. (Alloway et al, 2007;Turney et al, 2007;Reeves et al, 2013;Petherick et al, 2013 Geographically, the distribution of proxy based records is rather sparse and non-uniform in Australia. However, studies Turney et al, 2007;Williams et al, 2009) suggested that Australia can provide high quality information on likely patterns and directions of the future changes in the Southern Hemisphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and application of subfossil chironomid-based methods for late Quaternary climate reconstructions in eastern Australia

Chang¹

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The lack of tools to quantify past climate has hindered the development of our knowledge of climate change in the late Quaternary in eastern Australia. This thesis developed two methods using subfossil remains of non-biting midge larvae (Chironomid, Diptera: Chironomidae) preserved in lake sediments to reconstruct past changes in the Australian climate system during and since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Firstly a transfer function model for reconstructing past summer temperatures based on the temperature tolerance of modern Australian chironomid taxa was created. Secondly the stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope composition (δ 18 O, δ 2 H) of the chitinous head capsules was used to determine temperature changes from chironomids from the same lakes.Both techniques were tested and the complexities of applying these methods as independent temperature proxies in Australia were explored.In order to develop the transfer function, forty-five lakes were examined in eastern Australia for eighteen physical and chemical parameters. The physical and chemical analysis of the lakes suggests that sub-humid and semi-arid sites are naturally eutrophic, whereas high altitude and actively managed sites were mostly mesotrophic. Thirty-four lakes were subsequently used in the transfer function. The transfer function first axis was Mean February Temperature which explains 9.5% of the variance and the secondary axis is pH which also explains 9.5% of the variance. iii | P a g e

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Death of a palaeochannel: Slow abandonment of an avulsed channel on the Riverine Plains, SE Australia

Kemp,

Pietsch

2023

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Avulsion of rivers can be a gradual process that is associated with a metamorphosis of channel pattern or changed channel characteristics. The processes controlling avulsion, and hence anastomosis, often operate too slowly to study by measuring active river systems, and hence well preserved Late Quaternary rivers offer one of the best ways to study the long‐term development of avulsive systems. The modern and ancient channels of the Murrumbidgee River provide a classic example of long‐lived, semi‐static anastomosis, operating on timescales that include stadial and interstadial climate cycles. Over the last glacial cycle, regional avulsions have occurred every ~12 ka while maintaining an anastomosing pattern through the slow infill of abandoned channels. The Yanco Creek Palaeochannel System emerged from a period of high discharge linked to snowmelt in the terminal Pleistocene. Here, geomorphological mapping of the Yanco System was conducted together with single‐grain, optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments in the channel belt. Since the main phase of channel construction during the Last Glacial Maximum, the Yanco system has functioned as a flood conduit and minor anabranch of the Murrumbidgee River, with reworking of ancient channel sediments by an underfit stream that is ongoing to the present day. Our new ages of ~13–14 ka are interpreted as channel sedimentation during an underfit phase following avulsion. The prevalence of full and partial avulsion in this environment may be complicating palaeohydrological interpretations of ages for channel activity, and reworking has gone unrecognised. We contend that some previous interpretations of the significance of ages for sediments collected from palaeochannels in the Riverine Plain may need revision.

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Climatic records over the past 30 ka from temperate Australia – a synthesis from the Oz-INTIMATE workgroup

Cited by 119 publications

References 201 publications

A continental narrative: Human settlement patterns and Australian climate change over the last 35,000 years

A continental narrative: Human settlement patterns and Australian climate change over the last 35,000 years

Development and application of subfossil chironomid-based methods for late Quaternary climate reconstructions in eastern Australia

Death of a palaeochannel: Slow abandonment of an avulsed channel on the Riverine Plains, SE Australia

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