Kimberley District Research Articles

Unacceptably high: an audit of Kimberley self-harm data 2014-2018.

Objective:To explore the rates and characteristics of self-harm across the Kimberley region of Western Australia.Method:Retrospective, cross-sectional audit. We obtained and descriptively analysed routinely collected self-harm data from the Kimberley District of the Western Australia Police Force (2014–2018) and the Emergency Department Data Collection (June 2017–December 2018). Variables included age, sex, Indigenous status, time of incident, and alcohol and drug use.Results:The rate of emergency department attendance for self-harm was three times higher in the Kimberley than the rest of Western Australia. Both emergency department and police data showed a disproportionately high percentage of incidents involving Aboriginal people, with highest rates in the 15–19 and 20–24 year age groups. Almost 80% of self-harm events recorded by police involving individuals aged 25–50 years involved alcohol. Many self-harm incidents occurred in the evening and at night.Conclusions:The rates of self-harm across the Kimberley region from 2014–2018 are unacceptably high. Increased funding and alignment of services to meet regional need are required as part of a holistic effort to reduce regional rates of self-harm.

Hotspots of diversity of wild Australian soybean relatives and their conservation in situ

Mapping diversity hotspots of key species, such as the crop wild relatives, is an essential task for their conservation and for their further exploration. In this paper, we develop and apply methods to locate centres of species richness (SR), endemism, phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism (PE) for the Australian perennial diploid species of Glycine (Fabaceae). The study taxa are congeneric with the cultivated soybean Glycine max. The DNA sequence data for the phylogenetic analysis are histone H3D gene sequences for these Glycine species. The highest 2.5 % grid cell scores of diversity were defined as the Glycine diversity “hotspots”. The hotspots for the four types of diversity are located in the Kimberley district Western Australia, the Wet Tropics and south-eastern Queensland. The observed frequency distribution of SR values were compared with a theoretical distribution that assumed a species-specific but geographically constant probability for the occurrence of each individual species. The comparison showed broad trends of geographic dispersion overlaying localised high diversity. Simulations of endemism scores supported these themes. No grid cell scored highly for all four diversity metrics, as each index captured specific types of diversity. The inclusion of phylogenetic data pinpointed new areas of biodiversity that were less obvious from other metrics. The Kimberley district emerged as a crucial centre of Glycine diversity with two related lineages of narrowly endemic species. Overall, ~16 % of the endemism centres, and 24 % of the PE centres are conserved in situ in protected areas.

Spatial distribution of species richness and endemism of the genus Acacia in Australia

The aim of this study is to identify and map the spatial distribution of species richness and endemism of the genus Acacia in Australia. A database of 171 758 geo-referenced herbarium records representing 1020 Acacia species was assembled and aggregated to a 0.25° grid cell resolution. A neighbourhood analysis of one-cell radius was applied to each of the grid cells to map the spatial patterns of species richness and endemism. The primary centres of species richness are in accordance with previous results, occurring in the South-West Botanical Province in Western Australia, the MacPherson-Macleay overlap and the Central Coast of the Sydney Sandstone region. We identify 21 centres of endemism, of which six were previously unrecognised. The primary centres of endemism are located in South-West Western Australia, the Kimberley District and the Wet Tropics in Queensland. The South-West Botanical Province in Western Australia contained the greatest number of regions with the highest number of endemic species of Acacia. A randomisation test showed that our 21 centres of endemism were significantly different from random. The majority of centres of Acacia endemism were incongruent with the centres of species richness, with only three grid cells in the top 1% for both measures. We also confirm that South-West Western Australia is a region of very high species richness and endemism, in accordance with its status as a global hotspot of biodiversity.

A Native Tool Kit from the Kimberley District, Western Australia.

A Native Tool Kit from the Kimberley District, Western Australia.

Deposition and palaeogeography of a glacigenic Neoproterozoic succession in the east Kimberley, Australia

Facies, provenance and palaeocurrent analysis of the predominantly siliciclastic Neoproterozoic succession of the east Kimberley district of northwestern Australia indicates southwesterly-directed regional palaeoice-flow directions associated with continental glaciation. Facies relationships at three key study sites in the east Kimberley record glacial advance, retreat and marine transgression and the likely effects of ice dynamics on local basin depositional history. Ice-scour linked with provenance data indicate ice advance from the northeast. Additional ice-flow data from the west Kimberley and the Daly River area of Northern Territory are consistent and record a regional palaeoice-flow direction towards the southwest. Palaeocurrent data and facies relationships in the east Kimberley, however, suggest that sediment transport directions within the east Kimberley basin were influenced by a combination of ice-induced lithospheric flexure, pre-existing topography and modification of basin topography and sediment dispersal paths by ice-induced redistribution of debris. A basin evolution model incorporating these concepts within the framework of ice advance, retreat and marine inundation is proposed. Identification of regional ice-flow trends of this scale should ultimately prove a useful tool in testing possible palaeogeographic reconstructions of continent configurations in a post-Rodinian world.

LAM-ICPMS U–Pb dating of kimberlitic perovskite: Eocene–Oligocene kimberlites from the Kundelungu Plateau, D.R. Congo

Kimberlites are small-volume melts whose eruption is related to weak extension of the lithosphere, and their ages can carry important tectonic information. We have carried out in situ LAM-ICPMS U–Pb dating of groundmass perovskite in two kimberlitic pipes (Kambeli and Msipashi) in Kundelungu Plateau (SE Congo). The method is validated by the analysis of perovskites from four previously dated South African Group I kimberlites. Intercepts of regression lines on inverse-Concordia plots yield precise U–Pb ages (2 σ = 2–6 Ma) and a well-constrained value for the 207Pb/ 206Pb of the common-Pb component. The ages of Group I kimberlites in Kimberley District cluster around 87 Ma, similar to those determined by other techniques demonstrating the robustness of the technique. The perovskites from the Kundelungu kimberlites that are intrusive into the Biano Subgroup (Neoproterozoic Katangan Supergroup) yield an age of 32.3 ± 2.2 Ma. The Eocene–Oligocene age of the Kundelungu kimberlites corresponds to the opening of the northern part of the East African Rift and implies the southward prolongation of this extension. Considering the position of the Kundelungu Plateau and gravity data for the region, the kimberlite intrusion may reflect extension on the Lake Mweru-Luapula graben. The Luizi impact structure in the Kundelungu Plateau, previously described as Pleistocene, pre-dates the kimberlitic event.

The first find of kimberlitic accessory minerals in mafic-ultramafic dikes in Spitsbergen

Since the discovery of diamond in kimberlites, the interest of geologists in these specific rocks has not faded away. The term “kimberlite” was proposed at the end of XIX century by H. Luis for diamondiferous rocks (volcanic peridotite with the porphyritic basaltic texture) from the Kimberley district in South Africa. The majority of researchers believe that kimberlite is a hypabyssal porphyritic rock. According to V.A. Milashev, one of the leading specialists in diamond geology, ultramafic and alkaline-ultramafic igneous rocks of the kimberlite facies must include barophile minerals, i.e., diamond and (or) pyrope garnet [6]. Therefore, finds of pyrope and other kimberlitic accessory minerals in ultramafic and lamproite-type mafic magmatites are very important for the discovery of new kimberlite fields. The kimberlites are located on West Spitsbergen Island (Norway) in the Devonian graben filled with redrocks [3]. The kimberlites are represented by five extended dikes of altered picrites in the northern area of the graben (eastern part of Andre Land) and by one serpentinized dike (Fig. 1) in the southern area of the graben (coast of the Ekman fjord, James I Land). Based on the low silica content and presence of mica, such rocks were previously referred to the lamprophyre association of the archipelago [4, 5]. The nearly vertical dikes (average thickness 0.5 m) crosscut Devonian terrigenous rocks of the Gray Hook Formation and extend in the NNW direction. They are composed of rocks with porphyritic texture and massive structure. In picrites, the porphyritic phenocrysts are mainly composed of olivine, clinopyroxene, and biotite. Olivine phenocrysts are almost completely replaced by talc, serpentine, and carbonate. The groundmass is composed of chloritized and carbonatized glass with microlites of primarily pyroxene and biotite compositions. Phenocrysts in the carbonatized basalt dike are composed of partly albitized calcic plagioclase. Phenocrysts of pyroxene and completely carbonatized olivine are also found. The groundmass is composed of up to 0.5-mm-long plagioclase laths, between which one can see xenomorphic segregations of pyroxene (near the dike center) or glass (near the contact). Specific features of the composition of dikes are shown in Table 1. They are characterized by low contents of SiO 2 and MgO. However, contents of Al 2 O 3 , CaO, and TiO 2 are high. They can be referred to the group of alkaline rocks based on the sum of alkali metals [7]. With respect to alkalinity, picrites in Andre Land belong to the K‐Na and K types, whereas carbonatized basalt of James I Land belong to the Na type. Identification of these rocks is based on texture, miner

Shamanism in Northwest Australia

Editors' note: Andreas Lommel was Director of the Staatliche Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich from 1957 to 1977. He last did fieldwork in Australia in 1955 with his wife, Katharine, (Lommel and Lommel, 1989), and first in 1939 when he came to the Kimberley district of Western Australia as a member of an ethnological expedition under the auspices of the Frobenius Institute in Frankfurt‐am‐Main. Based on this work, he and another member of the Frobenius expedition, Helmut Petri, have produced ethnographic monographs (Lommel 1952, Petri 1954) and many other publications on the Wunambal and Ngarinyin respectively. The following is one of the few yet to have appeared in English. We have chosen to publish it for the unique perspective it offers on a particular, poignant moment behind the frontiers of European settlement of Aboriginal Australia.For another perspective on some of the same matters, we have paired Lommel's memoir with one by one of the Ngarinyin people he met on the trek he describes in it: David Mowaljarlai, who was at that time about ten years old (as recalled in Lommel's foreword to Mowaljarlai and Malnic, 1993). Mowaljarlai is now a leading figure in Aboriginal affairs, and in 1991 was named Aboriginal Australian of the Year. As it happens, Lommel's manuscript reached Oceania just as one of us (A. R.) was about to leave for the Kimberleys to collaborate on a site survey with Mowaljarlai. We informed Lommel of this and suggested that Mowaljarlai be invited to provide further comments and reminiscences about the matters discussed in the paper. Lommel enthusiastically accepted this offer and raised specific points for clarification from Mowaljarlai, which were put to him and two other senior Ngarinyin men in the interview which is transcribed below.

Aligned linear gilgai in the West Kimberley District, Western Australia

In the semi-arid tropical savanna of the Kimberley District of north west Australia there are a series of aligned linear patterns of microrelief, soils and vegetation. The distribution, alignment, soil characteristics and vegetation features of these patterns are described, and are interpreted as being aligned linear gilgai features. The stripes display a regional alignment that runs from east to west and it is hypothesized that wind action may have contributed to their development.

The demography and physiology of Melomys sp. (Rodentia: Muridae) in the Mitchell Plateau area, Kimberley, Western Australia

Populations of a mosaic‐tailed rat (Melomys sp.) were studied for one year in vine‐thicket and mangrove habitats in the Mitchell Plateau area of the tropical Kimberley district of Western Australia. Demographic and physiological (haematological values, androgens, corticosteroids and their binding proteins) parameters were measured together with parasite prevalence and electrophoretic protein variation. Seasonal variation occurred in most parameters measured. Higher values were found in the vine‐thicket for number of sympatric mammal species, growth rate of immatures and androgens. Higher values were found in the mangroves for population density, survival, size at sexual maturity, body weight, home range overlap, albumins, total and free‐corticosteroids and parasite prevalence. The phenotypic frequencies of two protein polymorphisms (albumin and 6–phosphogluconate dehydrogenase) differed between sites, while a third (adenosine deaminase) showed no between‐site differences; these suggest differential selection between the adjacent habitats which are separated by 10 km. The overall physiological response of Melomys was more entrained to seasonal variation in the vine‐thicket than in the mangroves, which is in accord with the relative variation in the vegetation and temperature in the two areas. It is hypothesized that the greater population density in the mangroves results in behavioural feedback through the hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenal axis. This results in increased stress (higher free‐corticosteroid levels) which slows the growth rate and the onset of sexual maturity. The study is the first to indicate that such a mechanism, commonly proposed for temperate small mammals, may operate in tropical areas.

Notes on the vegetation of the Bougainville Peninsula, Osborn and Institut Islands, North Kimberley District, Western Australia

The Bougainville Peninsula is formed of basalt capped with mesaform remnants of a bauxitic duricrust. On the plateau so formed there is little soil and the vegetation comprises scattered stunted eucalypts with grasses and hummock grasses or an understorey of Acacia and other shrubs. Locally there are patches of woodland of Eucalyptus nesophila and E. miniata. On the basalt country below the plateau there is deciduous vine thicket in the less accessible parts, a patchy mixture of vine thicket and savanna elsewhere including communities of vine thicket with scattered emergent eucalypts. The Osborn Islands are similar except that the mesaform capping is generally of sandstone. It is concluded that fire is the principal factor regulating the balance between vine thicket and savanna. Up to 40 years ago the area was populated by aborigines and regularly burnt off but this has now ceased so that colonisation by vine thicket is in progress, in spite of the low rainfall of the area.

A New Species of Chigger (Acari: Trombiculidae) from the Common Sheath-Tailed Bat in Western Australia1

Cotrombicula mitchellensis , n. sp., is described from specimens taken from the Common Sheath-tailed Bat, Taphozous georgianus , collected on the Mitchell Plateau, Kimberley District, Western Australia.

Kinship and Context among the Ngarinyin

The purpose of this paper is to bring some new field data to bear on certain well-established claims about Ngarinyin1 kinship, thence to develop some general propositions about kinship systems and ways of studying them. The Ngarinyin are a language group whose clan estates lie in the central part of what is now the Kimberley District of Western Australia. Their language and culture are similar to those of their western and northern neighbours, the Worora and Wunambal. Though most of the relevant lexical forms differ greatly, the semantic structure of Ngarinyin, Worora and Wunambal kinship terminological systems are virtually identical.2

Goat Paddock cryptoexplosion crater, Western Australia

Goat Paddock, a crater slightly over 5 km in diameter (18°20′ S, 126°40′E), lies at the north edge of the King Leopold Range/Mueller Range junction in the Kimberley district, Western Australia (Fig. 1). It was noted as a geological anomaly in 1964 during regional mapping by the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics and the Geological Survey of Western Australia. The possibility of its being a meteorite impact crater has been discussed1, although this suggestion was subsequently ignored2. Two holes were drilled by a mining corporation in 1972 to test whether kimberlite underlay the structure. Here we report the findings of five days of reconnaissance in August 1979 which established that Goat Paddock is a cryptoexplosion crater containing shocked rocks and an unusually well exposed set of structural features.

Uranium-series dating of lacustrine limestones from pan deposits with final Acheulian assemblage at Rooidam, Kimberley district, South Africa

Lacustrine limestone samples from sedimentary pan deposits at Rooidam, near Kimberley, South Africa, that contain late Acheulian (Fauresmith) artifacts have been dated by 230Th 234U and 231Pa 235U methods. Results indicate a minimum age of about 200,000 yr B.P. for the terminal Acheulian in the interior of South Africa.

A Desert Aborigine's View of Health and Nutrition

of Aboriginal Development, writes: (Aboriginal) people do not have concept of health (Stacy, 1973). The difficulties involved are recognized by Dr. R.M. Spargo who was for many years Regional Medical Officer in the Kimberley district of Northern Australia. He writes: inexperienced doctor is faced with cultural, linguistic and educational difficulties in eliciting an adequate history (Spargo, 1975). He realizes that white doctors do not have the knowledge of the language and the culture of the Aborigines in order to treat them properly. This hurdle cannot be overcome just by asking the Aborigines questions. On account of their complete spiritual and dreamtime view of everything, language difficulties and natural reticence, questioning them is a procedure unsuitable for the discovery of value (Polgar, 1962). To show the value orientations of the Aborigines, I have translated from the original Gugadja description of how the body functions by Wiminydji, an Aboriginal man, aged about seventy, belonging to the Gugadja tribe, one of the most northern of the Western Desert tribes. The Gugadja are now settled at Balgo Mission which is

The monsoon forests of the Admirality Gulf, Western Australia

Recent investigation has revealed the occurrence of patches of ‘monsoon forest’ (Semi-evergreen and Deciduous Vine Thickets sensu Webb 1959) in the north Kimberley District of Western Australia. Rainfall is much higher in this area than was previously assumed and reaches 1500 mm annually. As in southern Queensland these forests occur only on basic igneous rocks. A description is given of the general vegetation of the Mitchell Plateau and of the monsoon forests found there, based on study of seven sites, three of them ‘high-level’ on the scarps of the bauxite plateau, three ‘low-level’ on the lower basalt country and one riverain. Eleven species not previously listed in published records for Western Australia were found. All were known from the Northern Territory and represent an extension of the known range of species comprised in the Indo-Malaysian element of the Australian flora.

PULMONARY DISEASES OF CATTLE IN THE KIMBERLEY DISTRICT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

A survey of pulmonary disease in cattle slaughtered in the Kimberley district of Western Australia, incidental to the monitoring of lungs for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), was initiated in 1969. The results of the first 3 years are reported and indicate the complete absence of CBPP, the occurrence of actinobacillosis as the most common pulmonary lesion, the existence of phycomycosis in a few lungs each year, the frequent presence of subacute and chronic bronchopneumonias and interstitial pneumonias possibly as sequelae of actinobacillosis, tuberculosis and the pneumomycoses, and the relatively low incidence of fibrinous and necrotic pneumonias of other bacterial origin.

Geo-archeological interpretation of Acheulian calc-pan sites at Doornlaagte and Rooidam (Kimberley, South Africa)

Two Acheulian occupation sites of the Kimberley District, Doornlaagte and Rooidam, are found geologically sealed and in semi-primary context within complex sequences of calcareous and arenaceous sediments. The sedimentary columns are analyzed and interpreted in terms of sedimentology and stratigraphy, indicating major occupation along the margins of shallow, seasonal lakes; sporadic visits to the fluctuating shoreline are also indicated thereafter, until the Doornlaagte playa began to dry out, and at Rooidam until the whole depression was submerged. The evolution of the related calcareous pans is discussed and attributed to cycles of alternating erosion (aeolian, chemical and fluvial) and deposition (lacustrine and colluvial, including reworked aeolian components). In addition to pedogenetic “calcretes,” most of the limestones of the pan sedimentary sequences are lacustrine in origin. Palaeosols also include fersiallitic soils. The various geomorphologic events indicate repeated and appreciable environmental changes during the mid-Pleistocene. The detailed climatic oscillations recorded at Doornlaagte and Rooidam cannot be correlated, and the latter site is appreciably younger, with a provisional Th U date of 115,000 BP for the late Acheulian (“Fauresmith”) occupation.

Calicophoron calicophorum (Trematoda: Paramphistomatidae) and paramphistomiasis in domestic cattle in the East Kimberley District of Western Australia.

Calicophoron calicophorum was recorded in domestic cattle from the East Kimberley district of Western Australia. No other species of paramphistomes were found. The significance ofC. calicophorum as a probable cause of poor productivity in beef cattle in tropical Northern Australia is discussed.