DOCSLIB.ORG

Potential Geoheritage Values of Australian Desert Landscapes (Edn 1)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Potential Geoheritage Values of Australian Desert Landscapes (Edn 1) Potential Geoheritage Values of Landscapes in the Australian Drylands A report to the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities 2nd Edition, March 2016 (replaces 1st Edition, June 2011) Gresley A. Wakelin-King, Susan Q. White Wakelin Associates Pty. Ltd Wakelin Associates Pty Ltd. ABN 11 002 971 262 PO Box 271, Clifton Hill Victoria, Australia 3068. Ph 03 9482 4584 www.wakelinassociates.com.au ii DISCLAIMER Information contained in this report is correct as far as possible within the scope of the project and at the time of writing. It can be used to inform management practice or project design criteria, but is not intended for specific engineering design. This report may be cited as: Wakelin-King, G.A. and White, S. 2016. Potential geoheritage values of landscapes in the Australian drylands (2nd Edn). A report by Wakelin Associates to the Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Cover picture: A waterhole in the Neales River, Lake Eyre Basin. Photo: Gresley Wakelin-King, 2010. Figure Credits: unless otherwise noted, photos are by Gresley Wakelin-King and images are by Wakelin Associates. © Wakelin Associates 2015 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Wakelin Associates: Geoheritage in Australian Drylands (2nd edn; 2016) iii Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 7 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Boundary of the Study Area .......................................................................... 11 1.2 National Heritage List: Criteria and Thresholds ............................................ 13 1.3 Assessment Methodology ............................................................................. 17 2 Drivers of Australia’s Drylands Landscapes .................................................... 23 3 Themes and Sites .......................................................................................... 27 3.1 Astroblemes .................................................................................................. 28 3.2 Sand Deserts .................................................................................................. 34 3.3 Karst ............................................................................................................... 48 3.4 Arid Coasts ..................................................................................................... 56 3.5 Tectonics ........................................................................................................ 65 3.6 Uplands .......................................................................................................... 77 3.7 Regolith .......................................................................................................... 91 3.8 Watercourses ............................................................................................... 110 4 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 149 5 Bibliography ................................................................................................. 152 Acknowledgements We would like to thank Pauline English, Cameron Grant, Paul Hesse, Ron Hacker, John Magee, Gerald Nanson, and Lisa Worrall for generously making available their time, experience, and photographs. We would also like to acknowledge the work of the Cooperative Research Centre for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration, whose long-term research focus on regolith geology has provided much new information, particularly for remote and difficult areas. This second edition (2016) of our report has benefited greatly from the reviews of the papers (White and Wakelin-King 2014, Wakelin-King and White 2015) we published subsequent to the release of this report’s 1st edition (2011); we thank the reviewers for their care and suggestions. Wakelin Associates: Geoheritage in Australian Drylands (2nd edn; 2016) iv Figures Fig. 1 Sites, areas, or indicative areas with potential to pass NHL criteria ................................................................... 9 Fig. 2 The study area (grey) ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Fig. 3 The study area and its IBRA bioregions ............................................................................................................ 13 Fig. 4 Topography of the Acraman Impact Structure and Gawler Ranges region ...................................................... 32 Fig. 5 The compound dune to the south of Embarka Swamp .................................................................................... 35 Fig. 6 Floodouts amongst the northwestern Simpson Desert dunefield .................................................................... 39 Fig. 7 Topography of the northwestern Strzelecki Plain ............................................................................................ 43 Fig. 8 the Sandlands Province (after Pain et al. 2011) ................................................................................................ 45 Fig. 9 Speleologists at work on the Nullarbor Plain. Photo: Nicholas White. ............................................................. 49 Fig. 10 The Nullarbor Plain ......................................................................................................................................... 51 Fig. 11 Rugged topography at Cape Range. Photo: Dragi Markovic ........................................................................... 54 Fig. 12 The Zuytdorp Cliffs. Left, digital elevation model; right, photo: Nick Rains ................................................... 58 Fig. 13 The long scarp along the southern boundary of the Nullarbor Plain .............................................................. 60 Fig. 14 The Bunda Cliffs. Photo: G Richardson. .......................................................................................................... 61 Fig. 15 Australian earthquakes, located, records to 2011 .......................................................................................... 65 Fig. 16 Incised fans in the Flinders Ranges. Photo: John Baker .................................................................................. 67 Fig. 17 The Cooper Creek and Neales River Catchments, in the Lake Eyre Basin ....................................................... 70 Fig. 18 Table-top hills in the Innamincka Dome ......................................................................................................... 71 Fig. 19 Gibber plain uplands (bare) and the Neales River (trees) ............................................................................... 75 Fig. 20 Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Photo: Esther Beaton. Credit: Director of National Parks ............................................ 79 Fig. 21 Bevelled upper surface of a quartzite ridge in the MacDonnell Ranges. Photo: Michael Jenson ................... 84 Fig. 22 Part of the Rodinga Ranges ............................................................................................................................ 85 Fig. 23 Oblique view of the Rodinga Ranges area ...................................................................................................... 87 Fig. 24 Vertic soils and the the MGD bioregion.......................................................................................................... 94 Fig. 25 Dark ferruginous duricrust and soft pale saprolite in the Painted Desert, SA ................................................ 97 Fig. 26 Lateritic weathering profile exposed in a mine pit, Eastern Goldfields region ............................................. 100 Fig. 27 Silcrete in the Neales Catchment. Photo: Chris Bell ..................................................................................... 104 Fig. 28 Flat bedding in the channel of a sand-bed river (Trephina Gorge) ............................................................... 113 Fig. 29 A lower-order channel in Fowlers Creek ;1 m scale (arrowed) ..................................................................... 115 Fig. 30 Cooper Creek’s anabranching channels ........................................................................................................ 119 Fig. 31 The Cooper’s wide floodplain between Windorah and Nappa Merrie Waterhole ....................................... 121 Fig. 32 Algebuckina Waterhole, in the Neales River ................................................................................................ 127 Fig. 33 Witjira-Dalhousie Springs ............................................................................................................................. 129 Fig. 34 Banded vegetation ....................................................................................................................................... 131 Fig. 35 Sandover River channel (right) and floodout (centre). Photo: Stephen Tooth ............................................. 134 Fig. 36 Chains of playa lakes in the Yilgarn palaeodrainages ..................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Following the Finke: a Modern Expedition Down the River of Time
    FOLLOWING THE FINKE FOLLOWING THE FINKE: A MODERN EXPEDITION DOWN THE RIVER OF TIME PART I: TRAVERSING AN ANCIENT LAND DR KATE LEEMING HOPS ON HER CUSTOM-MADE BIKE TO TAKE ON THE AUSTRALIAN INTERIOR. WORDS AND PICS: KATE LEEMING Back in 2004, during my 25,000km Great for the local Aboriginal people and wildlife, unpredictable surfaces requires a similar skill Australian Cycle Expedition (GRACE), in the present day and for eons past. If Uluru set to pedalling over snow. My ‘Following the cycling companion Greg Yeoman and symbolises the nation’s heart, then the Finke Finke River’ expedition therefore would double I camped beside the Finke River near to River, or Larapinta as it is known to the local as a credible expedition in its own right and where it intersects with the Stuart Highway. Arrernte, must surely be its ancient artery. as excellent physical and mental training for We were on our way to Uluru and beyond This is where the germ of my idea to travel cycling across Antarctica. and the Finke River crossing was at the end the course of the Finke River evolved, however The Finke originates about 130km west of of our first day’s ride south of Alice Springs. the concept of biking along the sandy and Alice Springs in the West MacDonnell Ranges, I’d aimed to reach this point because I stony bed of the ephemeral river at that time the remnants of an ancient system of fold wanted to experience camping beside was an impossibility. A decade later, the mountains that was once on the scale of the what is commonly referred to as the world’s development of fatbike technology began Himalayas, but has now diminished to be a oldest river.
    [Show full text]
  • ACT Flood Watch Areas
    ! ! ! ! Barkly Warrego Flood Watch Area No. ! Homestead Ayr ! ! Tennant Roadhouse Angas and Brem!er Rivers 28 Flood Watch Areas ! Home Balgo Creek Camooweal Charters ! Broughton RivHeirll 19 ! Hill !Towers South Australia ! Cooper Creek Bowen 7 ! Mount Julia Danggali Rivers and CCreolelinkssville Prose1rp7ine Creek ! NT Isa Cloncurry ! ! ! Diamantina River 3 !Hughenden Eastern Eyre Peninsula 18 Stamford MACKAY " Telfer ! Eastern Great Victoria Desert 9 ! Sarina ! Finke River and Stephenson Creek 5 Fleurieu Peninsula 29 !Moranbah Flinders Ranges Rivers Cotton Yuendumu 1 ! Winton 15 Creek ! and Creeks ! Dysart Gawler River ! 24 Clermont Boulia ! ! Georgina River and Eyre Creek 1 Papunya ! Kangaroo Island 30 !Longreach Alice Lake Eyre !Emerald 10 Springs !Alpha WA ! 2 Lake Frome 11 Hermannsburg ! Santa 3 Lake Gairdner Springsure 12 !Teresa ! Light and Wakefield Rivers 21 Docker River QLD Limestone and (Kaltukatjara) 31 ! M!iTllaicmebnot Coast Rivers and Creeks Erldunda Lower Eyre Peninsula 22 ! ! Yulara Tourist Village 4 Windorah ! North West Lake Torrens 14 ! Carnegie NullarbAougr aDthiesltlarict Rivers 13 ! Birdsville ! ! Onkaparinga River 27 Warburton! ! River Murray Murraylands 26 Amata 5 Charleville ! Mitchell River Murray Riverlands! Rom20a !Quilpie ! Simpson Desert 4 Tjukayirla 6 Roadhouse Torrens and metropolitan rivers Surat ! 2!5 and creeks ! 7 Warburton District Rivers 6 Innamincka Oodnadatta 8 ! Warburton River 8 !Thargomindah St George West Coast Rivers and Creeks ! 16 Ilkurlka ! 9 Western Desert 2 Dirranbandi !Laverton ! Coober
    [Show full text]
  • Australia: State of the Environment 1996: Chapter 4
    Chapter 4 . Biodiversity ‘Still Flying’ from the painting of a Wandering Albatross by Richard Prepared by Weatherly. Denis Saunders (Chair), CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology Andrew Beattie, Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Susannah Eliott (Research Assistant/Science Writer), Centre for Science Communication, University of Technology, Sydney Marilyn Fox, School of Geography, University of New South Wales Burke Hill, CSIRO Division of Fisheries Bob Pressey, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service Duncan Veal, Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Jackie Venning, State of Environment Reporting, South Australian Department of Environment and Natural Resources Mathew Maliel (State of the Environment Reporting Unit member), Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories (Facilitator) Charlie Zammit (former State of the Environment Reporting Unit member), Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories (former Facilitator) 4-1 . Australia: State of the Environment 1996 . Contents Introduction. 4-4 Pressure . 4-7 Human populations . 4-9 Urban development . 4-9 Tourism and recreation . 4-9 Harvesting resources and land use. 4-10 Fisheries . 4-10 Forestry . 4-11 Pastoralism. 4-12 Agriculture . 4-12 Introduced species . 4-16 Vertebrates . 4-16 Invertebrates. 4-17 Plants. 4-18 Micro-organisms. 4-20 Native species out of place . 4-20 Pollution . 4-21 Mining . 4-22 Climate change . 4-22 State . 4-23 The state of ecosystem diversity . 4-23 Biogeographic regionalisations for Australia . 4-23 Ecosystem diversity. 4-26 The state of species diversity. 4-30 Number and distribution of species . 4-31 Status of species .
    [Show full text]
  • Land Degradation and the Australian Agricultural Industry
    LAND DEGRADATION AND THE AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY Paul Gretton Umme Salma STAFF INFORMATION PAPER 1996 INDUSTRY COMMISSION © Commonwealth of Australia 1996 ISBN This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, the work may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source. Reproduction for commercial usage or sale requires prior written permission from the Australian Government Publishing Service. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Commonwealth Information Services, AGPS, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601. Enquiries Paul Gretton Industry Commission PO Box 80 BELCONNEN ACT 2616 Phone: (06) 240 3252 Email: [email protected] The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the Industry Commission. Forming the Productivity Commission The Federal Government, as part of its broader microeconomic reform agenda, is merging the Bureau of Industry Economics, the Economic Planning Advisory Commission and the Industry Commission to form the Productivity Commission. The three agencies are now co- located in the Treasury portfolio and amalgamation has begun on an administrative basis. While appropriate arrangements are being finalised, the work program of each of the agencies will continue. The relevant legislation will be introduced soon. This report has been produced by the Industry Commission. CONTENTS Abbreviations v Preface vii Overview
    [Show full text]
  • Birds Desert Uplands Bioregion
    1 Mackay Conservation Group Submissions on Waratah Coal draft EIS Galilee Coal Project China First V2 Mine Chapter 6 Terrestrial Ecology Biodiversity Values of Bimblebox Nature Refuge The Coordinator-General C/- EIS project manager – Galilee Coal project Significant Projects Coordination Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation Mrs Patricia Julien Coordinator Mackay Conservation Group P.O. Box 826 Mackay 4740 Ph: (07) 4966 8025 E: [email protected] 19th December, 2011 6.2.1 The Desktop Assessment will need to be updated in light of later biological survey information reported to DERM and SEWPac and supplied in this submission. Survey information we gave to Waratah Coal’s environment officer last year has not been included. Traditionally desktop assessments provide limited information as biological research in the Desert Uplands has been restricted. A thorough on-ground assessment of areas of high conservation value within the mine’s footprint is expected, especially for Bimblebox Nature Refuge, a protected area of State Biodiversity Significance within the National Reserve System classed by SEW Pac as IUCN IV. Under this classification no mining is permitted, and IUCN VI by the Queensland’s Department of the Environment and Resource Management (DERM) where only actions that will not adversely impact environmental values are allowed. We have provided information collected on bird species within Bimblebox Nature Refuge as birds are a good indicator of biodiversity condition and attest to the high environmental conservation
    [Show full text]
  • Energy from the Desert
    SUMMARY Energy from the Desert Feasibility of Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation (VLS-PV) Systems EDITOR Kosuke Kurokawa Energy from the Desert SUMMARY Energy from the Desert Feasibility of Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation (VLS-PV) Systems EDITOR Kosuke Kurokawa PART THREE: SCENARIO STUDIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Published by James & James (Science Publishers) Ltd 8–12 Camden High Street, London, NW1 0JH, UK © Photovoltaic Power Systems Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the copyright holder and the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed in Hong Kong by H&Y Printing Ltd Cover image: Horizon Stock Images / Michael Simmons Neither the authors nor the publisher make any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the information contained in this publication, or assume any liability with respect to the use of, or damages resulting from, this information. Please note: in this publication a comma has been used as a decimal point, according to the ISO standard adopted by the International Energy Agency. CHAPTER ELEVEN: CONCLUSIONS OF PART 1 AND PART 2 Contents Foreword vi Preface vii Task VIII Participants viii COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY Objective 1 Background and concept of VLS-PV 1 VLS-PV case studies 1 Scenario studies 2 Understandings 2 R ecommendations 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A.
    [Show full text]
  • By H.D.V. PRENDERGAST a Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University. January 1
    STRUCTURAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN AUSTRALIAN c4 GRASSES (POACEAE) • by H.D.V. PRENDERGAST A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the Australian National University. January 1987. Canberra, Australia. i STATEMENT This thesis describes my own work which included collaboration with Dr N .. E. Stone (Taxonomy Unit, R .. S .. B.S .. ), whose expertise in enzyme assays enabled me to obtain comparative information on enzyme activities reported in Chapters 3, 5 and 7; and with Mr M.. Lazarides (Australian National Herbarium, c .. s .. r .. R .. O .. ), whose as yet unpublished taxonomic views on Eragrostis form the basis of some of the discussion in Chapter 3. ii This thesis describes the results of research work carried out in the Taxonomy Unit, Research School of Biological Sciences, The Australian National University during the tenure of an A.N.U. Postgraduate Scholarship. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My time in the Taxonomy Unit has been a happy one: I could not have asked for better supervision for my project or for a more congenial atmosphere in which to work. To Dr. Paul Hattersley, for his help, advice, encouragement and friendship, I owe a lot more than can be said in just a few words: but, Paul, thanks very much! To Mr. Les Watson I owe as much for his own support and guidance, and for many discussions on things often psittacaceous as well as graminaceous! Dr. Nancy Stone was a kind teacher in many days of enzyme assays and Chris Frylink a great help and friend both in and out of the lab •• Further thanks go to Mike Lazarides (Australian National Herbarium, c.s.I.R.O.) for identifying many grass specimens and for unpublished data on infrageneric groups in Eragrostis; Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Nature's Safety Net 2008
    Building Nature’s Safety Net 2008 Progress on the Directions for the National Reserve System Paul Sattler and Martin Taylor Telstra is a proud partner of the WWF Building Nature's Map sources and caveats Safety Net initiative. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia © WWF-Australia. All rights protected (IBRA) version 6.1 (2004) and the CAPAD (2006) were ISBN: 1 921031 271 developed through cooperative efforts of the Australian Authors: Paul Sattler and Martin Taylor Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage WWF-Australia and the Arts and State/Territory land management agencies. Head Office Custodianship rests with these agencies. GPO Box 528 Maps are copyright © the Australian Government Department Sydney NSW 2001 of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts 2008 or © Tel: +612 9281 5515 Fax: +612 9281 1060 WWF-Australia as indicated. www.wwf.org.au About the Authors First published March 2008 by WWF-Australia. Any reproduction in full or part of this publication must Paul Sattler OAM mention the title and credit the above mentioned publisher Paul has a lifetime experience working professionally in as the copyright owner. The report is may also be nature conservation. In the early 1990’s, whilst with the downloaded as a pdf file from the WWF-Australia website. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Paul was the principal This report should be cited as: architect in doubling Queensland’s National Park estate. This included the implementation of representative park networks Sattler, P.S. and Taylor, M.F.J. 2008. Building Nature’s for bioregions across the State. Paul initiated and guided the Safety Net 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey of the Underground Signs of Marsupial Moles in the WA Great Victoria Desert
    Survey of the underground signs of marsupial moles in the WA Great Victoria Desert Report to Tropicana Joint Venture and the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, Northern Territory Government Joe Benshemesh Martin Schulz September 2008 Marsupial moles in the WA Great Victoria Desert Benshemesh & Schulz 2008 Contents Summary.......................................................................................................................3 Introduction..................................................................................................................5 Methods........................................................................................................................7 Methods........................................................................................................................8 Sites.........................................................................................................................8 Trenches.................................................................................................................9 Moleholes ..............................................................................................................9 Additional data ....................................................................................................9 Results..........................................................................................................................12 Characteristics attributes of backfilled tunnels in WA GVD.............................12
    [Show full text]
  • Great Victoria Desert Dependent Species By: Species Dependent Its and Bioregion Desert Great Victoria the You Conserve Help Can Park
    Great Victoria Desert Bioregion resources Photo G.Richardson The Great Victoria Desert bioregion is located in the western half of South Australia and stretches into Western Australia. The desert, after which the bioregion is named, is the largest in Australia. It has an arid climate with warm to extremely hot summers and mild to warm winters. The bioregion receives about 100mm to 250mm of rain per year but, like much of the arid zone, it varies significantly from year to year. Water is a particularly precious resource and only the hardiest of plants and animals can survive in these harsh conditions. In the 1950’s and 60’s, nuclear weapon trials were conducted in the bioregion and several areas were, and remain, contaminated. Biodiversity and habitat The bioregion has dunes and swales with playa lakes, lunettes and rocky areas. There are many types of vegetation including chenopod and samphire shrublands, acacia shrublands and open woodlands, eucalypt open woodlands, casuarina and mallee shrublands and woodlands. Rare or threatened animals include the Malleefowl, Sandhill Dunnart and the Southern Marsupial Mole. 2 | Great Victoria Desert Threats Threats to the Great Victoria Desert bioregion and its dependent For further information species include: Public enquiries • clearance and fragmentation of vegetation by developments such as mining and exploration For more local information on any of the species in this resource please contact your nearest Natural Resource Centre office on: • Overgrazing by feral animals, especially camels and rabbits, and damage to waterholes by camels. Eastwood: (08) 8273 9100 Gawler: (08) 8523 7700 Lobethal: (08) 8389 5900 The Great Victoria Desert bioregion Willunga: (08) 8550 3400 supports most of the known Education enquiries population of Sandhill Dunnarts.
    [Show full text]
  • No Heliotropism in Neoproterozoic Columnar Stromatolite Growth, Amadeus Basin, Central Australia: Geophysical Implications ⁎ George E
    Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 249 (2007) 80–89 www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo No heliotropism in Neoproterozoic columnar stromatolite growth, Amadeus Basin, central Australia: Geophysical implications ⁎ George E. Williams a, , Richard J.F. Jenkins b, Malcolm R. Walter c a Discipline of Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia b South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia c Australian Centre for Astrobiology, Biotechnology Research Institute, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Received 21 May 2006; received in revised form 8 January 2007; accepted 15 January 2007 Abstract An apparent sine wave pattern of columns in a single specimen of the stromatolite Anabaria juvensis (subsequently identified as Kotuikania) from a Neoproterozoic dolomite unit, originally assigned to the ∼850 Ma Bitter Springs Formation, in the Amadeus Basin, central Australia, was interpreted previously as recording heliotropic growth, that is, the non-vertical growth of columns throughout the year controlled by averaged incident solar radiation [Vanyo, J.P., Awramik, S.M., 1985. Stromatolites and Earth– Sun–Moon dynamics. Precambrian Research 29, 121–142]. The model of heliotropic growth was used to estimate obliquity of the ecliptic (Earth's axial tilt) and days/year at 850 Ma. Subsequent work, however, casts strong doubt on the heliotropic interpretation. Further field observations and the study of 11 additional specimens of Anabaria=Kotuikania juvensis from the original locality confirm that the columns typically display strong branching, which produces a common divergence and convergence of columns that is incompatible with heliotropic growth. The rare, apparent sinuosity of columns is seen as the fortuitous product of column irregularity and column branching.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unacceptable Risks of Oil Exploration
    Oil or Gas Production in the Great Australian Bight Submission 43 DANGER IN OUR SEAS: THE UNACCEPTABLE RISKS OFL O EI XPLORATION AND PRODUCTION IN THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT Submission into the Inquiry by the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications into Oil and Gas Production in the Great Australian Bight APRIL 2016 Oil or Gas Production in the Great Australian Bight Submission 43 ​ ​ Senate Inquiry Submission: Danger in our Seas April 2016 ​ ​ Terms of Reference to the Senate Inquiry The Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications established an Inquiry into Oil and Gas Production in the Great Australian Bight on 22 February 2016. The Committee will consider and report on the following: The potential environmental, social and economic impacts of BP’s planned exploratory oil drilling project, and any future oil or gas production in the Great Australian Bight, with particular reference to: a. the effect of a potential drilling accident on marine and coastal ecosystems, including: i. impacts on existing marine reserves within the Bight ii. impacts on whale and other cetacean populations iii. impacts on the marine environment b. social and economic impacts, including effects on tourism, commercial fishing activities and other regional industries c. current research and scientific knowledge d. the capacity, or lack thereof, of government or private interests to mitigate the effect of an oil spill e. any other related matters. Map of the Great Australian Bight and granted oil and gas exploration permits, with companies holding ownership of the various permits shown. The Wilderness Society recognises that the Great Australian Bight is an Indigenous cultural domain, and of enormous value to its Traditional Owners who retain living cultural, spiritual, social and economic connections to their homelands within the region on land and sea.
    [Show full text]