Northwest Australia Research Articles

Two‐Level Games and Australia's Defence Procurement: The Case of Land‐Based Anti‐ship Missiles

AbstractAs a country largely free of the corruption that bedevils the defence procurement of many of Australia's Asian neighbours, it is generally assumed that Australia's national security interests, together with value for money, are the paramount criteria for Australia's defence procurement. This is an assumption, however, that deserves critical interrogation, particularly with respect to the influence that domestic politics can have on strategic decisions. This article investigates the Australian government's 2016 decision to acquire land‐based anti‐ship missiles. To do so, it adapts Putnam's two‐level game to a defence policy context, enabling the incorporation of both realist and domestic political factors, including the influence of interest groups. I find a plausible case that the influence of the resources sector and constituents of Australia's northwest, as well as the corporate interests of the Australian army in asserting a greater role in Australian defence strategy, may have been significant in the decision.

Geometric and depositional responses of carbonate build-ups to Miocene sea level and regional tectonics offshore northwest Australia

The geometric and depositional responses of isolated carbonate build-ups to Miocene sea-level change and regional tectonics was investigated using a combination of 3D seismic and borehole data from the Browse Basin, North West Australia, and outcrop information from the Cariatiz Reef, southeast Spain. The interpreted seismic volume documents five (5) Miocene sequence boundaries and five (5) main seismic facies. Seismic attribute analyses proved a highly effective tool for interpreting carbonate facies but, when compared with outcrop information from southeast Spain, data are limited to large-scale features of scales beyond 16.4 m vertically and 18.75 m horizontally. Hence, this work clearly shows that estimations of reservoir potential are significantly underestimated if based on seismic data alone. As a corollary of the structural analysis in this work, growth patterns suggest Messinian structural partitioning across the Browse Basin, with deformation associated with plate collision focused in preferentially orientated faults - thus only influencing carbonate build-up evolution at a local scale.

Study protocol for a self-controlled cluster randomised trial of the Alert Program to improve self-regulation and executive function in Australian Aboriginal children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

IntroductionWhile research highlights the benefits of early diagnosis and intervention for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), there are limited data documenting effective interventions for Australian children living in...

Paleoenvironmental and paleohydrochemical conditions of dolomite formation within a saline wetland in arid northwest Australia

Groundwater dolocrete occurring within the Fortescue Marsh, a large inland wetland in the Pilbara region of northwest Australia, has been investigated to provide paleoenvironmental and paleohydrological records and further the understanding of low temperature dolomite formation in terrestrial settings over the Quaternary Period. Two major phases of groundwater dolocrete formation are apparent from the presence of two distinct units of dolocrete, based on differences in depth, δ18O values and mineral composition. Group 1 (G1) occurs at depth 20–65 m b.g.l. (below ground level) and contains stoichiometric dolomite with δ18O values of −4.02–0.71‰. Group 2 (G2) is shallower (0–23 m b.g.l.), occurring close to the current groundwater level, and contains Ca-rich dolomite ± secondary calcite with a comparatively lower range of δ18O values (−7.74 and −6.03‰). Modelled δ18O values of paleogroundwater from which older G1 dolomite precipitated indicated highly saline source water, which had similar stable oxygen isotope compositions to relatively old brine groundwater within the Marsh, developed under a different hydroclimatic regime. The higher δ18O values suggest highly evaporitic conditions occurred at the Marsh, which may have been a playa lake to saline mud flat environment. In contrast, G2 dolomite precipitated from comparatively fresher water, and modelled δ18O values suggested formation from mixing between inflowing fresher groundwater with saline-brine groundwater within the Marsh. The δ18O values of the calcite indicates formation from brackish to saline groundwater, which suggests this process may be associated with coeval gypsum dissolution. In contrast to the modern hydrology of the Marsh, which is surface water dependent and driven by a flood and drought regime, past conditions conducive to dolomite precipitation suggest a groundwater dependent system, where shallow groundwaters were influenced by intensive evaporation.

Provenance of the Langjiexue Group to the south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone in southeastern Tibet: Insights on the evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean in the Late Triassic

ABSTRACTThe Upper Triassic Langjiexue Group, which lies immediately south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone in the Shannan area of southeastern Tibet, represents an important part of the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence (THS). Its provenance and palaeogeography have been the subject of debate. We present new data on petrographic composition, whole-rock geochemistry, and detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology to constrain the provenance of the Langjiexue Group. The dominance of quartz grains and felsic volcanic lithic fragments suggests that the sandstones are litho-quartzose. The trace element geochemical signatures (V–Ni–Th*10, Co/Th–La/Sc, Eu/Eu*–Th/Sc) suggest derivation from felsic igneous sources. The detrital zircon age spectra display three major peaks: a Meso-to-Neoproterozoic peak (1200–900 Ma, 7–18%), a Neoproterozoic-to-Late Cambrian peak (750–500 Ma, 32–65%), and a Late Carboniferous-to-Late Triassic peak (300–200 Ma, 11–33%). The maximum depositional age of early Carnian (236–235 Ma) is obtained by calculating weighted average ages of the youngest zircons (≤250 Ma). The youngest age cluster (300–200 Ma) is incompatible with sources from neighbouring terranes, including the South Qiangtang terrane, Lhasa terrane, THS, and Higher Himalayan Crystalline. Correlations of the Permian–Triassic zircons with those of time-equivalent strata in northwest Australia, west Burma, and the Banda Arc unveil a potential connection to the Tasmanides along the convergent margin of eastern Australia. The New England Orogen (300–230 Ma) could have supplied the Langjiexue Group with magmatic materials via continent-scale drainage systems or a submarine fan complex. This scenario provides a new perspective into the transport of detritus from distal orogens to sedimentary basins thousands of kilometres away.

Paleoecological evidence for decadal increase in phytoplankton biomass off northwestern Australia in response to climate change.

Ocean warming can modify the phytoplankton biomass on decadal scales. Significant increases in sea surface temperature (SST) and rainfall in the northwest of Australia over recent decades are attributed to climate change. Here, we used four biomarker proxies (TEX86 index, long‐chain n‐alkanes, brassicasterol, and dinosterol) to reconstruct approximately 60‐year variations of SST, terrestrial input, and diatom and dinoflagellate biomass in the coastal waters of the remote Kimberley region. The results showed that the most significant increases in SST and terrestrial input occurred since 1997, accompanied by an abrupt increase in diatom and dinoflagellate biomasses. Compared with the results before 1997, the average TEX86H temperature during 1997–2011 increased approximately 1°C, rainfall increased 248.2 mm, brassicasterol and dinosterol contents increased 8.5 and 1.7 times. Principal component analysis indicated that the warming SST played a more important role in the phytoplankton increase than increased rainfall and river discharge.

What was the vegetation in northwest Australia during the Paleogene, 66–23million years ago?

Fossil pollen and spores preserved in drillcore from both the upper South Alligator River (SARV) in the Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory and the North-West Shelf, Western Australia provide the first record of plants and plant communities occupying the coast and adjacent hinterland in north-west Australia during the Paleogene 66 to 23million years ago. The palynologically-dominant woody taxon is Casuarinaceae, a family now comprising four genera of evergreen scleromorphic shrubs and trees native to Australia, New Guinea, South-east Asia and Pacific Islands. Rare taxa include genera now mostly restricted to temperate rainforest in New Guinea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and/or Tasmania, e.g. Dacrydium, Phyllocladus and the Nothofagus subgenera Brassospora and Fuscospora. These appear to have existed in moist gorges on the Arnhem Land Plateau, Kakadu National Park. No evidence for Laurasian rainforest elements was found. The few taxa that have modern tropical affinities occur in Eocene or older sediments in Australia, e.g. Lygodium, Anacolosa, Elaeagnus, Malpighiaceae and Strasburgeriaceae. We conclude the wind-pollinated Oligocene to possibly Early Miocene vegetation in the upper SARV was Casuarinaceae sclerophyll forest or woodland growing under seasonally dry conditions and related to modern Allocasuarina/Casuarina formations. There are, however, strong floristic links to coastal communities growing under warm to hot, and seasonally to uniformly wet climates in north-west Australia during the Paleocene-Eocene.

The physical processes causing nocturnal rainfall over northwest Australia and their representation in high‐ and low‐resolution models with parametrized convection

The diurnal cycle of precipitation in the Tropics is represented poorly in general circulation models (GCMs), which is primarily attributed to the representation of moist convection. Nonetheless, in areas where precipitation is driven by the diurnal cycle in the synoptic‐scale flow, GCMs may represent that circulation–rainfall relationship well. Over northwest Australia there is a tendency for precipitation to peak overnight where the diurnal cycle of the heat low circulation leads to the development of strong convergence after local sunset. In order to assess the heat low–precipitation relationship in more detail, a case‐study approach is used to investigate the actual ‘weather’ that is responsible for night‐time precipitation. The study shows that, where there is sufficient moisture, precipitation typically forms along convergence zones that coincide with boundaries between relatively moist and dry air masses (termed a ‘dryline’). A convergence line detection algorithm is then used to identify the fraction of observed nocturnal rainfall that is associated with any convergence zones. The same evaluation is then undertaken for a relatively high‐resolution (MetUM) and low‐resolution (ACCESS1.0) GCM, which simulate rainfall‐generation processes similar to the observations. Finally, the convergence line detection/precipitation algorithm is run on other GCM data (from CMIP5) to see whether the same processes occur despite different model configurations (i.e. physics), which appears to be the case.

The composition and structure of shallow benthic reef communities in the Kimberley, north-west Australia

The composition and structure of shallow benthic reef communities in the Kimberley, north-west Australia

Innovation and technology in marine science: AIMS' North West Shoals to Shore Research Program

The North West Shoals to Shore Research Program began in July 2017 and encompasses four themes, each of which addresses major gaps in scientific knowledge relevant to the environmental management of the offshore petroleum industry in north-west Australia. The themes are: 1. Marine Noise Monitoring and Impacts: investigate selected potential impacts of exposure to a seismic survey on demersal fishes and infauna across different spatial and temporal scales. 2. Benthic Habitats and Demersal Biodiversity: understand physical and biological characteristics of the Ancient Coastline Key Ecological Feature (125 m) and the ecological processes that maintain benthic communities from the ancient to contemporary coastlines, focusing on the distribution and genetic connectivity of pearl oysters. 3. Protected and Iconic Species Movement, Distribution and Threats: determine biologically important areas for pygmy blue whales and hawksbill and green turtles. This will lead to better quantification and mitigation of the risks to megafauna posed by vessel movements, industrial infrastructure and activities. 4. Spatial Dynamics of Isolated Coral Reef Atolls: developing a bio-physical model for benthic and fish communities at the Rowley Shoals and an adaptive monitoring program that quantifies and predicts their spatial dynamics. In this talk, we will discuss planning and progress of the program achieved to date, including innovative and technological approaches used to address scientific uncertainty currently faced by industry.

Ecological niche and bet-hedging strategies for Triodia (R.Br.) seed germination.

Regeneration dynamics in many arid zone grass species are regulated by innate seed dormancy mechanisms and environmental cues (temperature, moisture and fire) that result in infrequent germination following rainfall. This study investigated bet-hedging strategies associated with dormancy and germination in arid zone Triodia species from north-west Australia, by assessing (1) the effects of the mechanical restriction imposed by the indehiscent floral bracts (i.e. floret) covering the seed and (2) the impact of dormancy alleviation on florets and cleaned seeds (i.e. florets removed) when germinated under water stress. The initial dormancy status and germination for six species were tested on intact florets and cleaned seeds, across temperatures (10-40 °C) with and without the fire-related stimulant karrikinolide (KAR1), and under alternating light or constant dark conditions. Physiological dormancy alleviation was assessed by wet/dry cycling florets over a period of 10 weeks, and germination was compared against untreated florets, and cleaned seeds across a water potential gradient between 0 and -1.5 MPa. Florets restricted germination (<45 %) at all temperatures and, despite partial alleviation of physiological dormancy (wet/dry cycling for 8 weeks), intact florets germinated only at high water potentials. Cleaned seeds showed the highest germination (40-90 %) across temperatures when treated with KAR1, and germinated at much lower water potentials (-0.4 and -0.9 MPa). Triodia pungens was the most responsive to KAR1, with both seeds and florets responding, while for the remaining five species, KAR1 had a positive effect for seeds only. Only after seed dormancy was alleviated by removing florets and when KAR1 was applied did germination under water stress increase. This suggests that seeds of these Triodia species are cued to recruit following fire and during periods of high precipitation. Climate change, driven by large shifts in rainfall patterns, is likely to impact Triodia recruitment further in arid zone grasslands.

Deaconess Winifred Hilliard and the cultural brokerage of the Ernabella craft room

Deaconess Winifred Hilliard arrived at the Presbyterian Ernabella mission craft room in far north-west South Australia in 1954 to work as a qualified missionary. She was 33.1 Her job: to work among Pitjantjatjara women as the 'handcraft supervisor' at the mission.

Forgotten impacts of European land‐use on riparian and savanna vegetation in northwest Australia

Questions Fire and livestock grazing are regarded as current threats to biodiversity and landscape integrity in northern Australia, yet it remains unclear what biodiversity losses and habitat changes occurred in the 19–20th centuries as livestock and novel fire regimes were introduced by Europeans. What baseline is appropriate for assessing current and future environmental change? Location Australia's Kimberley region is internationally recognized for its unique biodiversity and cultural heritage. The region is home to some of the world's most extensive and ancient rock art galleries, created by Aboriginal peoples since their arrival on the continent 65,000 years ago. The Kimberley is considered one of Australia's most intact landscapes and its assumed natural vegetation has been mapped in detail. Methods Interpretations are based on a continuous sediment record obtained from a waterhole on the Mitchell River floodplain. Sediments were analysed for geochemical and palynological proxies of environmental change and dated using 210Pb and 14C techniques. Results We show that the present-day vegetation in and around the waterhole is very different to its pre-European counterpart. Pre-European riparian vegetation was dominated by Antidesma ghaesembilla and Banksia dentata, both of which declined rapidly at the beginning of the 20th century. Soon after, savanna density around the site declined and grasses became more prevalent. These vegetation shifts were accompanied by geochemical and biological evidence for increased grazing, local burning, erosion and eutrophication. Conclusions We suggest that the Kimberley region's vegetation, while maintaining a ‘natural’ appearance, has been altered dramatically during the last 100 years through grazing and fire regime changes. Landscape management should consider whether the current (impacted) vegetation is a desirable or realistic baseline target for biodiversity conservation.

An early colonisation pathway into northwest Australia 70-60,000 years ago

Colonisation of Sahul 70-60 thousand years ago (kya) represents the first great maritime migration undertaken by anatomically modern humans in one of the final phases of the Out of Africa dispersal. Visual connectivity network analyses, agent-based simulations and ocean current modelling reveal that modern humans could follow numerous northern and southern migration pathways into Sahul. Our results support a southern route out of Africa through South Asia with entry into ISEA through the Banda Arc, culminating in an early colonisation of Sahul on the northwest shelf. Our results show multiple colonisation events through other entry points were also probable, and raise interesting possibilities for complex regional migration and population histories.

Genetic Structure and Population Demographic History of a Widespread Mangrove Plant Xylocarpus granatum J. Koenig across the Indo-West Pacific Region

Xylocarpus granatum J. Koenig is one of the most widespread core component species of mangrove forests in the Indo-West Pacific (IWP) region, and as such is suitable for examining how genetic structure is generated across spatiotemporal scales. We evaluated the genetic structure of this species using maternally inherited chloroplast (cp) and bi-parentally inherited nuclear DNA markers, with samples collected across the species range. Both cp and nuclear DNA showed generally similar patterns, revealing three genetic groups in the Indian Ocean, South China Sea (with Palau), and Oceania, respectively. The genetic diversity of the Oceania group was significantly lower, and the level of population differentiation within the Oceania group was significantly higher, than in the South China Sea group. These results revealed that in addition to the Malay Peninsula—a common land barrier for mangroves—there is a genetic barrier in an oceanic region of the West Pacific that prevents gene flow among populations. Moreover, demographic inference suggested that these patterns were generated in relation to sea level changes during the last glacial period and the emergence of Sahul Shelf which lied northwest of Australia. We propose that the three genetic groups should be considered independent conservation units, and that the Oceania group has a higher conservation priority.

Native-plant amendments and topsoil addition enhance soil function in post-mining arid grasslands

One of the most critical challenges faced in restoration of disturbed arid lands is the limited availability of topsoil. In post-mining restoration, alternative soil substrates such as mine waste could be an adequate growth media to alleviate the topsoil deficit, but these materials often lack appropriate soil characteristics to support the development and survival of seedlings. Thus, addition of exogenous organic matter may be essential to enhance plant survival and soil function. Here, we present a case study in the arid Pilbara region (north-west Western Australia), a resource-rich area subject to intensive mining activities. The main objective of our study was to assess the effects of different restoration techniques such as soil reconstruction by blending available soil materials, sowing different compositions of plant species, and addition of a locally abundant native soil organic amendment (Triodia pungens biomass) on: (i) seedling recruitment and growth of Triodia wiseana, a dominant grass in Australian arid ecosystems, and (ii) soil chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of reconstructed soils, including microbial activity, total organic C, total N, and C and N mineralisation. The study was conducted in a 12-month multifactorial microcosms setting in a controlled environment. Our results showed that the amendment increased C and N contents of re-made soils, but these values were still lower than those obtained in the topsoil. High microbial activity and C mineralisation rates were found in the amended waste that contrasted the low N mineralisation but this did not translate into improved emergence or survival of T. wiseana. These results suggest a short- or medium-term soil N immobilisation caused by negative priming effect of fresh un-composted amendment on microbial communities. We found similar growth and survival rates of T. wiseana in topsoil and a blend of topsoil and waste (50:50) which highlights the importance of topsoil, even in a reduced amount, for plant establishment in arid land restoration.

Two Distinctive Processes for Abnormal Spring to Summer Transition over the South China Sea

The period from April to June signifies the transition from spring to summer over the South China Sea (SCS). The present study documents two distinct processes for abnormal spring to summer transition over the SCS. One process is related to large-scale sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. During spring of La Niña decaying years, negative SST anomalies in the equatorial central Pacific (ECP) and the southwestern tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) coexist with positive SST anomalies in the tropical western North Pacific. Negative ECP SST anomalies force an anomalous Walker circulation, negative southwestern TIO SST anomalies induce anomalous cross-equatorial flows from there, and positive tropical western North Pacific SST anomalies produce a Rossby wave–type response to the west. Together, they contribute to enhanced convection and an anomalous lower-level cyclone over the SCS, leading to an advanced transition to summer there. The other process is related to regional air–sea interactions around the Maritime Continent. Preceding positive ECP SST anomalies induce anomalous descent around the Maritime Continent, leading to SST increase in the SCS and southeast TIO. An enhanced convection region moves eastward over the south TIO during spring and reaches the area northwest of Australia in May. This enhances descent over the SCS via an anomalous cross-equatorial overturning circulation and contributes to further warming in the SCS. The SST warming in turn induces convection over the SCS, leading to an accelerated transition to summer. Analysis shows that the above two processes are equally important during 1979–2015.

Cryptic lineage diversity, body size divergence, and sympatry in a species complex of Australian lizards ( Gehyra )

Understanding the joint evolutionary and ecological underpinnings of sympatry among close relatives remains a key challenge in biology. This problem can be addressed through joint phylogenomic and phenotypic analysis of complexes of closely related lineages within, and across, species and hence representing the speciation continuum. For a complex of tropical geckos from northern Australia-Gehyra nana and close relatives-we combine mtDNA phylogeography, exon-capture sequencing, and morphological data to resolve independently evolving lineages and infer their divergence history and patterns of morphological evolution. Gehyra nana is found to include nine divergent lineages and is paraphyletic with four other species from the Kimberley region of north-west Australia. Across these 13 taxa, 12 of which are restricted to rocky habitats, several lineages overlap geographically, including on the diverse Kimberley islands. Morphological evolution is dominated by body size shifts, and both body size and shape have evolved gradually across the group. However, larger body size shifts are observed among overlapping taxa than among closely related parapatric lineages of G.nana, and sympatric lineages are more divergent than expected at random. Whether elevated body size differences among sympatric lineages are due to ecological sorting or character displacement remains to be determined.

Spatial complexities in aboveground carbon stocks of a semi-arid mangrove community: A remote sensing height-biomass-carbon approach

Mangroves are integral to ecosystem services provided by the coastal zone, in particular carbon (C) sequestration and storage. Allometric relationships linking mangrove height to estimated biomass and C stocks have been developed from field sampling, while various forms of remote sensing has been used to map vegetation height and biomass. Here we combine both these approaches to investigate spatial patterns in living biomass of mangrove forests in a small area of mangrove in north-west Australia. This study used LiDAR data and Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) with allometric equations to derive mangrove height, biomass, and C stock estimates. We estimated the study site, Mangrove Bay, a semi-arid site in north-western Australia, contained 70 Mg ha−1 biomass and 45 Mg C ha−1 organic C, with total stocks of 2417 Mg biomass and 778 Mg organic C. Using spatial statistics to identify the scale of clustering of mangrove pixels, we found that living biomass and C stock declined with increasing distance from hydrological features (creek entrance: 0–150 m; y = −0.00041x + 0.9613, R2 = 0.96; 150–770 m; y = −0.0008x + 1.6808, R2 = 0.73; lagoon: y = −0.0041x + 3.7943, R2 = 0.78). Our results illustrate a set pattern of living C distribution within the mangrove forest, and then highlight the role hydrologic features play in determining C stock distribution in the arid zone.

Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic evolution of the Lhasa Terrane in the Xainza area of southern Tibet

Models for the Mesozoic growth of the Tibetan plateau describe closure of the Bangong Ocean resulting in accretion of the Lhasa terrane to the Qiangtang terrane along the Bangong-Nuijiang suture zone (BNSZ). However, a more complex history is suggested by studies of ophiolitic melanges south of the BNSZ “within” the Lhasa terrane. One such mélange belt is the Shiquanhe-Namu Co mélange zone (SNMZ) that is coincident with the Geren Co-Namu Co thrust (GNT). To better understand the structure, age, and provenance of rocks exposed along the SNMZ we conducted geologic mapping, sandstone petrography, and U-Pb zircon geochronology of rocks straddling the SNMZ. The GNT is north-directed and places Paleozoic strata against the Yongzhu ophiolite and Cretaceous strata along strike. A gabbro in the Yongzhu ophiolite yielded a U-Pb zircon age of 153Ma. Detrital zircon age data from Permian rocks in the hanging wall suggests that the Lhasa terrane has affinity with the Himalaya and Qiangtang, rather than northwest Australia. The Late Jurassic- Early Cretaceous Rila Formation overlies the ophiolite and shows signatures of syntectonic deposition. Detrital zircon ages from the Cretaceous Duoni Formation in the footwall of the GNT suggest that the provenance is mainly Early Cretaceous igneous rocks in the northern Lhasa terrane and Paleozoic strata in the hanging wall of the GNT. Our results support the interpretation that the SNMZ is a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous suture zone that resulted from closure of a small Jurassic ocean basin, thereby suggesting more Jurassic shortening than conventional models. The GNT developed along the SNMZ in the Early Cretaceous and facilitated exhumation of Paleozoic strata, which became a source for Cretaceous basins along the GNT. Early Cretaceous igneous rocks in northern Lhasa are interpreted to be a consequence of subduction of ocean lithosphere along the SNMZ and its later delamination.