Salt source for dryland salinity - evidence from an upland catchment on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales

Soil Research ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. I. Acworth ◽  
J. Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Dryland Salinity ◽  
Heterogeneous Distribution ◽  
Small Catchment ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Bedrock Weathering ◽  
Salt Distribution ◽  
The Last Glacial

A detailed study involving drilling, geophysics, hydrogeochemistry, and groundwater monitoring over a 10-year period has been carried out at a small catchment south-east of Yass on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales to investigate the source of salt causing dryland salinity. The catchment is within 2 km of the top of a regional groundwater and surface water divide and remains substantially tree covered. The investigations have found a highly heterogeneous distribution of salt, most of which is associated with swelling clay. Dispersion of this clay causes the surface features commonly associated with dryland salinity. There is no hydrogeochemical evidence to suggest evaporative or transpirative concentration of salt in the groundwater. The short flow path from the top of the catchment cannot provide a significant source of salt from bedrock weathering. An alternative model of salt accumulation is proposed with the salt imported into the catchment with silt during dust storms in the arid and windy conditions during the last glacial. The management implications of this model of salt distribution and the associated dryland salinity development are discussed.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

scholarly journals Phylogenetic placement of a recently discovered population of the threatened alpine she-oak skink Cyclodomorphus praealtus (Squamata: Scincidae) in Victoria

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-157
Author(s):  
Joanna Sumner ◽  
Margaret L. Haines ◽  
Peter Lawrence ◽  
Jenny Lawrence ◽  
Nick Clemann
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
National Park ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Evolutionarily Significant Units ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Disjunct Populations ◽  
The Last Glacial

The alpine she-oak skink Cyclodomorphus praealtus is a threatened alpine endemic lizard from the mainland of Australia. The species is previously known from disjunct populations in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales and three isolated localities in the Victorian Alps. The New South Wales and Victorian populations represent separate evolutionarily significant units. In 2011, a fourth Victorian population was discovered. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis and determined that the newly discovered population is discrete and may have been separated from other populations since the end of the last glacial maxima. This population requires separate management.

scholarly journals A Clean Air Plan for Sydney: An Overview of the Special Issue on Air Quality in New South Wales

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Paton-Walsh ◽  
Peter Rayner ◽  
Jack Simmons ◽  
Sonya L. Fiddes ◽  
Robyn Schofield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Clean Air

This paper presents a summary of the key findings of the special issue of Atmosphere on Air Quality in New South Wales and discusses the implications of the work for policy makers and individuals. This special edition presents new air quality research in Australia undertaken by (or in association with) the Clean Air and Urban Landscapes hub, which is funded by the National Environmental Science Program on behalf of the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy. Air pollution in Australian cities is generally low, with typical concentrations of key pollutants at much lower levels than experienced in comparable cities in many other parts of the world. Australian cities do experience occasional exceedances in ozone and PM2.5 (above air pollution guidelines), as well as extreme pollution events, often as a result of bushfires, dust storms, or heatwaves. Even in the absence of extreme events, natural emissions play a significant role in influencing the Australian urban environment, due to the remoteness from large regional anthropogenic emission sources. By studying air quality in Australia, we can gain a greater understanding of the underlying atmospheric chemistry and health risks in less polluted atmospheric environments, and the health benefits of continued reduction in air pollution. These conditions may be representative of future air quality scenarios for parts of the Northern Hemisphere, as legislation and cleaner technologies reduce anthropogenic air pollution in European, American, and Asian cities. However, in many instances, current legislation regarding emissions in Australia is significantly more lax than in other developed countries, making Australia vulnerable to worsening air pollution in association with future population growth. The need to avoid complacency is highlighted by recent epidemiological research, reporting associations between air pollution and adverse health outcomes even at air pollutant concentrations that are lower than Australia’s national air quality standards. Improving air quality is expected to improve health outcomes at any pollution level, with specific benefits projected for reductions in long-term exposure to average PM2.5 concentrations.

Age of loess deposits in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales

Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul P. Hesse ◽  
Geoff S. Humphreys ◽  
Barton L. Smith ◽  
James Campbell ◽  
Elizabeth K. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Basal optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of more than 50 000 years in loessic (parna) mantles on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales indicate significant aeolian silt (c. 30 μm mode) deposition commenced well before the onset of the last glacial maximum. Each mantle consists of >1 m of reddish silty clay loam–silty clay with an earthy fabric which sits atop manganese and iron pans and saprolite. Mixing of saprolite-derived material into the pans and also into the silty layer indicates a site history of steady accumulation of aeolian loess and continual pedogenesis. No palaeosols are found. The OSL chronology of both sites, while low resolution, indicates an almost constant mass accumulation rate from 50 000 years ago through the last glacial maximum and into the Holocene. Local factors affecting retention of deposited dust may be responsible for the apparent passivity of the sites.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document