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Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene aeolian deposits of Tasmania and their climatic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2020

Peter D. McIntosh*
Affiliation:
Forest Practices Authority, 30 Patrick Street, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
Christina Neudorf
Affiliation:
Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV, 89512, USA
Olav B. Lian
Affiliation:
School of Land Use and Environmental Change, University of the Fraser Valley, 33844 King Road, Abbotsford, BC V2S 7M8, Canada
Adrian J. Slee
Affiliation:
Forest Practices Authority, 30 Patrick Street, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
Brianna Walker
Affiliation:
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Churchill Avenue, Hobart, TAS 7005, Australia
Rolan Eberhard
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment, 134 Macquarie St., Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
Richard Doyle
Affiliation:
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Churchill Avenue, Hobart, TAS 7005, Australia
Grant Dixon
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment, 134 Macquarie St., Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
*
*Corresponding author at: Forest Practices Authority, 30 Patrick Street, Hobart, TAS, 7000 Australia E-mail address: peter.mcintosh@fpa.tas.gov.au (P. McIntosh)

Abstract

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene aeolian deposits in Tasmania are extensive in the present subhumid climate zone but also occur in areas receiving >1000 mm of rain annually. Thermoluminescence, optically stimulated luminescence, and radiocarbon ages indicate that most of the deposits formed during periods of cold climate. Some dunes are remnants of longitudinal desert dunes sourced from now-inundated continental shelves which were previously semi-arid. Others formed near source, often in the form of lunettes east of seasonally-dry lagoons in the previously semi-arid Midlands and southeast of Tasmania, or as accumulations close to floodplains of major rivers, or as sandsheets in exposed areas. Burning of vegetation by the Aboriginal population after 40 ka is likely to have influenced sediment supply. A key site for determining climate variability in southern Tasmania is Maynes Junction which records three periods of aeolian deposition (at ca. 90, 32 and 20 ka), interspersed with periods of hillslope instability. Whether wind speeds were higher than at present during the last glacial period is uncertain, but shells in the Mary Ann Bay sandsheet near Hobart and particle size analysis of the Ainslie dunes in northeast Tasmania suggest stronger winds during the last glacial period than at present.

Information

Type
Thematic Set: Southern Hemisphere Last Glacial Maximum (SHeMax)
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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