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Palaeoecology of the South Wellesley Archipelago. a History of Human Occupation and Environmental Change

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Palaeoecology of the South Wellesley Archipelago. a History of Human Occupation and Environmental Change Palaeoecology of the South Wellesley Archipelago. A history of human occupation and environmental change. Lydia Lattin Mackenzie Hons., Geographical Science, The University of Queensland, 2010 B.Sc., Ecology, The University of Queensland, 2008 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2016 The School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management Abstract A wealth of palaeoecological studies from the Australasian region identify periods of significant environmental change during the Holocene. However, relatively few studies have focused on the coastal lowlands of tropical northern Australia, limiting our ability to accurately reconstruct this vast bioregion’s history. This study addresses the gap in spatially distributed paleoenvironmental research in northern Australia by producing the first reconstructions from the South Wellesley Islands in the Southern Gulf of Carpentaria. Radioisotope analysis of lead (210Pb), plutonium (239/240Pu) and radiocarbon (14C) provide robust geochronologies. Chronologies are combined with loss on ignition, particle size and micro X-ray fluorescence analyses to identify site formation and development through time. Pollen and macroscopic and microscopic charcoal records were used to examine vegetation change and fire regimes throughout the late Holocene. This research shows coastal wetlands developed during the late Holocene in the South Wellesley Islands. Combined multi-proxy results indicate environmental change initially drove vegetation succession, but that human occupation and abandonment of the islands significantly affected vegetation composition and fire regimes. Radioisotope and geochemical analyses were conducted in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. 210Pb alpha spectrometry analysis of 18 samples provide sedimentation rates and a chronology of the last 150 years across three key sites. This period is significant as traditional owners were removed in 1948, leaving the South Wellesley Islands unoccupied for the first time in 2,000 years. This research attempted to calibrate 210Pb results using the anthropogenic radioisotope plutonium by analysing 10 samples using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Results of 239/240Pu isotope analysis found the site’s stratigraphy was insufficiently laminated to accurately pick peaks in fallout. However, levels of 239/240Pu indicate fallout occurred across far northern Australia and the technique has the potential to validate 210Pb results in appropriate sedimentary settings. Geochronologies combined 210Pb dates and bulk sediment 14C AMS dates. This research examined seven sediment profiles using micro X-ray fluorescence geochemical data and particle size analysis. 210Pb and 14C dates provide age-depth chronologies, identifying local and island-wide trends. Elemental analysis of coastal wetlands through time identified key phases of development including open coastal environments, mangrove establishment, hypersaline mudflat expansion and brackish/freshwater wetland development. An open coastal environment was present 1,250 cal. yr BP on the southeast coast of Bentinck Island, with fluvial deposition of detrital ii elements from the eroding lateritic bedrock. A prograding shoreline, dune development and tributary diversion created a series of swales parallel to the coast by 800 cal. yr BP, forming the extensive Marralda Wetlands. Saline mudflats developed at sites on the north and west coast at 500 and 450 cal. yr BP, respectively. Geochemical and grain size analyses provide evidence that wetlands formed as accreting supratidal environments or coastal swales intercepting groundwater. The timing of coastal environments transitioning to saline mudflats and eventual wetland development indicates localised late Holocene sea-level regression, stabilisation and coastal plain development in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. Elemental data identified phases of wetland development across Bentinck Island, highlighting the value of geochemical analysis as a proxy of past environments in tropical northern Australia. Palynological and charcoal analysis of four key wetlands across Bentinck Island were used to reconstruct vegetation succession and fire regimes in the late Holocene. This thesis conducted the first comprehensive floristic surveys and modern pollen profiles of the islands, supporting the interpretation of fossil pollen assemblages. An initial study of the Marralda Swamp wetlands found a protected coastal setting from 2,400-500 cal. yr BP, transitioning to a supratidal environment dominated by a mixed mangrove community. Mangroves declined and transitioned to freshwater swamp taxa only in the last 60 years. Analysis of a site 1km inland of the preliminary study found a diverse mangrove community was present between 1,250 and 850 cal. yr BP, with particle size analysis indicating a high-energy environment associated with a tributary. These results are further supported by the geochemical data. Palynological results suggest that mangrove species declined, woodland and savanna species increased and freshwater aquatic taxa increased by 800 cal. yr BP indicating a brackish/freshwater wetland developed. Further freshwater expansion occurred on the southeast coast by 400 cal. yr BP, reaching its maximum extent in the last 200 years. Palynological investigations from the north and west coast of Bentinck Island span the last 550 cal. yr. On the west coast an open savanna landscape was replaced by a mixed woodland and aquatic taxa significantly increased suggesting wetland expansion in the last 200 years. On the north coast the salt-tolerant Chenopodiaceae dominated, suggesting a hypersaline mudflat developed at 450 cal. yr BP. The increasing presence of Pandanus and the appearance of aquatic taxa suggest this site remained an ephemeral source of freshwater during the monsoon season, with the water table below the surface for the majority of the year. This research reconstructed vegetation and fire regimes during periods of human occupation and abandonment, separating anthropogenic and natural drivers of change during the Holocene. iii Macroscopic charcoal results analysed using CharAnalysis show that interpolated charcoal accumulation increased between 350-200 cal. yr BP on the southeast and west coast of Bentinck Island. Charcoal results correlated well with archaeological evidence of population increase on Bentinck Island in the late Holocene. Peak charcoal and magnitude significantly increased across all sites after AD 1950. Results indicate that the removal of Kaiadilt people in AD 1948 interrupted traditional burning practices and caused the area burned and severity of fire events to increase. iv Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. v Publications during candidature Peer reviewed papers: Mackenzie L, Heijnis H, Gadd P, Moss P, Shulmeister J. (accepted). Geochemical investigations of the South Wellesley Island wetlands: insight into wetland development during the Holocene in tropical northern Australia. The Holocene. Moss P, Mackenzie L, Ulm S, Sloss C, Rosendahl D, Petherick L, Steinberger L, Wallis L, Heijnis H, Petchey F, Jacobsen G. 2015. Environmental context for late Holocene human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. Quaternary International 385: 136-144. Conference abstracts: Mackenzie L, Moss P, Ulm S, Sloss C, Rosendahl D, Petherick L. 2015. A multi proxy approach to understanding late Holocene wetland development in tropical northern Australia. XIX INQUA-Congress, P19-03, 2015, Nagoya, Japan. Mackenzie L, Moss P, Ulm S, Sloss C, Heijnis H, Jacobsen G. 2016. Fire regimes and vegetation change in tropical northern Australia during the late Holocene. Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 18, EGU2016-11049, 2016, Vienna, Austria. Mackenzie L, Moss P, Sloss C, Ulm S, Rosendahl D, Wallis L. 2014. Late Holocene swamp development and human occupation across the Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria,
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