Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:19:11.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary Palaeoecology of Wyrie Swamp, Southeastern South Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John Dodson
John Dodson*
Affiliation:
Geography Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Pollen analysis of two radiocarbon-dated cores provides a history of Wyrie Swamp and the surrounding vegetation, and the result compares with other palynological data from southeastern South Australia. Eucalypt (Eucalyptus) forest or woodland with a scrub understory was the major element before about 50,000 years BP, between ca. 40,000 and 30,000 BP, and after ca. 11,000 BP. More open woodland prevailed between ca. 50,000 and 40,000 BP, and between ca. 26,000 and 11,000 BP. Casuarina stricta, common on sand dunes, migrated to the area about 10,500 years ago and remained as a dominant species until the time of European settlement at about 1840 ad . Postglacial expansion of this species implies that the climate since 10,500 years ago has been warmer than in the preceding period. It probably was drier during the period from 50,000 to 10,500 BP than in the Holocene. The driest period was from 26,000 to 11,000 BP, perhaps corresponding to the time of the last glaciation in Australia. The site is archaeologically important, as a number of wood and stone artifacts that date between 10,200 and 8000 BP have been recovered from the swamp sediments.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , July 1977 , pp. 97 - 114
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alhonen, P., Ristiluoma, P., (1973). On the occurrence of subfossil Pediastrum algae in a Flandrian core at Kirkkunummi, southern Finland. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland. 45, 73-77.Google Scholar
Bowler, J.M., (1974). Deglacial events in southern Australia: their age, nature, and palaeoclimatic significance. Proceedings IXth INQUA Congress. Christchurch, December 1973 .Google Scholar
Bowler, J.M., Hope, G.S., Jennings, J.N., Singh, G., Walker, D., (1976). Late Quaternary climates of Australia and New Guinea. Quaternary Research. 6, 359-394.Google Scholar
Crocker, R.L., (1944). Soil and vegetation relationships in the lower South-east of South Australia. A study in ecology. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 68, 144-171.Google Scholar
Davis, M.B., Brubaker, L.B., Beiswenger, J.M., (1971). Pollen grains in lake sediments: Pollen percentages in surface sediments from southern Michigan. Quaternary Research. 1, 450-467.Google Scholar
Dodson, J.R., (1972). Computer programs for the pollen analyst. Pollen et Spores. 14, 455-465.Google Scholar
Dodson, J.R., (1974). Vegetation history and water fluctuations at Lake Leake, south-eastern Australia. I. 10,000 BP to present. Australian Journal of Botany. 22, 719-741.Google Scholar
Dodson, J.R., (1975). Vegetation history and water fluctuations at Lake Leake, south-eastern South Australia. II. 50,000 BP to 10,000 BP. Australian Journal of Botany. 23, 815-831.Google Scholar
Dodson, J.R., Wilson, I.B., (1975). The past and present vegetation of Marshes Swamp in south-eastern South Australia. Australian Journal of Botany. 23, 123-150.Google Scholar
Galloway, R.W., (1965). Late Quaternary climates in Australia. Journal of Geology. 73, 603-618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hossfeld, P., (1950). The late Cainozoic history of the South-East of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 73, 232-279.Google Scholar
Kershaw, A.P., (1974). A long continuous pollen sequence from north-eastern Australia. Nature (London). 251, 222-223.Google Scholar
Luebbers, R.A., (1975). Ancient boomerangs discovered in South Australia. Nature (London). 253, 39.Google Scholar
Martin, H.A., (1973). Palynology and historical ecology of some cave excavations in the Australian Nullarbor. Australian Journal of Botany. 21, 283-316.Google Scholar
Polach, H.A., Golson, J., (1966) Collection of Archaeological Specimens for Radiocarbon Age Determination and Interpretation of Results. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Publication, Canberra. Google Scholar
Specht, R.L., (1972) 2nd ed. The Vegetation of South Australia. Government Printer, Adelaide. Google Scholar
Sprigg, R.C., (1952) The Geology of the South-East Province, South Australia, with Special Reference to Quaternary Coastline, Migrations and Modern Beach Developments. Geological Survey of South Australia Bulletin No. 29.Google Scholar