A Physical-And-Social Basis for Rehabilitation
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Sociogeomorphic evolution of an Australian upland river: A physical-and-social basis for rehabilitation Simon Mould Department of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science and Engineering Macquarie University Submitted 9th October 2015 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis has not been previously submitted to any other institution or university for a higher degree. Except where otherwise acknowledged, this thesis is comprised entirely of my own work. Ethical aspects of this thesis have been approved by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee (Reference No. 5201500083). Simon Mould October 9th 2015 i Acknowledgments First I’d like to thank my supervisor, Kirstie Fryirs, for the guidance and mentorship she provided throughout this research project. I’ve learned a lot from her work ethic and passion for rivers. My co- supervisor, Richie Howitt, was a great source of wisdom and encouragement and I’d like to thank him for sharing some of his vast experience with me. To the MRes office crew, thanks for all the high quality comradery, advice and baked goods. That means you, Zacc Larkin, Jamie Lobb, Luke Stone, Kat Macsween and Shaun Grumley. Thanks to all the kind people who were tricked into helping me with fieldwork: Luke Stone, Rory Williams, Peyton Lisenby, Anna Mould, Lani Barnes and Loretta Visintin. Thanks to the tiger snakes for leaving us alone. For sharing their insights with me, I’d like to thank the research participants from the Pejar Local Aboriginal Land Council, NSW Local Land Services Southeast and Veolia Environmental Services, as well as David Pockley, for helping me to understand Crisp’s Creek through their diverse experiences. Local Land Services and Veolia both provided resources that made this research possible. Thanks also to Uncle Lexodious Dadd, Elder-in-Residence at Macquarie University, who provided guidance in my first research engagement with Indigenous people. Finally I’d like to thank my family for their support throughout this thesis, for patiently enduring and even feigning interest on occasion when all I could think or talk about was my thesis. This research was made possible by a linkage grant from the Australian Research Council (LP130100120; CIs K. Fryirs and G. Hose) and funding from the Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University. ii Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ ii Contents .............................................................................................................................................. iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ v 1 Introduction, literature review and thesis aims ............................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sustainable river management............................................................................................... 2 1.3 Place, history and people in geomorphology ........................................................................ 3 1.3.1 A sense of place and history .......................................................................................... 3 1.3.2 Critical geomorphologies ............................................................................................... 4 1.4 Chains of ponds ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.4.1 Holocene formation and evolution ................................................................................. 8 1.4.2 Post-European changes .................................................................................................. 9 1.5 Aims of this thesis ............................................................................................................... 10 2 Regional setting and methods .................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Regional setting ................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Geology and climate .................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Key actors in river management .................................................................................. 13 2.1.3 Rehabilitation work at Crisp’s Creek ........................................................................... 13 2.2 Geomorphology ................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 Topographic surveys ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Sedimentology ..................................................................................................................... 14 2.5 Organic matter content ........................................................................................................ 15 2.6 Radiocarbon dating.............................................................................................................. 15 2.7 Surface and subsurface hydrology ...................................................................................... 16 2.8 Historical, archival research ................................................................................................ 17 2.9 Social research ..................................................................................................................... 17 3 Results ........................................................................................................................................ 20 3.1 Contemporary morphology and hydrology ......................................................................... 20 3.1.1 Morphology .................................................................................................................. 20 3.1.2 Isotopic analysis of water ............................................................................................. 23 3.2 Sedimentology and age structure ........................................................................................ 25 3.2.1 Major sedimentary units............................................................................................... 25 iii 3.2.2 Age structure of valley fill ........................................................................................... 26 3.2.3 Detailed sedimentology by transect ............................................................................. 28 3.3 Analysis of parish maps and aerial photographs ................................................................. 34 3.4 Contemporary environmental management context............................................................ 39 3.4.1 Role in river management as perceived by participants .............................................. 39 3.4.2 Goals for river management and rehabilitation ............................................................ 41 3.4.3 Knowledge transfer and recognition of chains of ponds .............................................. 41 4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................. 44 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 44 4.2 Interpretation of Holocene evolution and post-European environmental history ............... 44 4.2.1 Late Pleistocene: A gravel bed river ............................................................................ 47 4.2.2 Late Holocene: Transition to suspended load and chain of ponds ............................... 47 4.2.3 Post-European arrival: Incision and sedimentation ..................................................... 49 4.2.4 Present day: River recovery and rehabilitation ............................................................ 50 4.3 Sociogeomorphology of Crisp’s Creek ............................................................................... 51 4.4 Contemporary river management setting ............................................................................ 53 4.4.1 Participation from Indigenous voices .......................................................................... 54 4.5 A physical-and-social research basis for river rehabilitation .............................................. 56 4.5.1 Sociogeomorphology: Connecting people and place through geomorphology ........... 56 4.5.2 Doing river rehabilitation through relational research ................................................. 57 5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 60 6 References .................................................................................................................................. 61 7 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................