Authors / CoAuthors
Logan, G.A. | Macphail, M.K. | Fredericks, D. | Smith, C.S. | Heggie, D.T.
Abstract
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The estuarine process study of Wallis Lake (Webb, McKeown and Associates) identified: nutrient and animal faecal pollution; and human faecal pollution and other urban runoff pollutants from the Forster-Tuncurry area as the principal source of pollutants in the estuary. The major findings of this study are listed below. Rural and Urban Inputs The sediments at each site contained a unique miospore signature (pollen and spore) characteristic of catchment sources (although no specifically urban signature was found). The majors rivers (Sites 1 and 5) are characterised by specific biomarkers derived from terrestrial plants and by very high concentrations of dry sclerophyll (Eucalyptus Gummifera type) pollen and sclerophyll swamp (Allocasuarina/Casuarina) pollen respectively. The major river sites have strong signals related to herbivore faecal contamination, most probably from cattle. There was little input of pollen or biomarkers from the rural catchments to the shallow lagoon that constitutes the southern portion of Wallis Lake. No specifically urban signature was detected. Urban sources, such as human sewage and petroleum products were not found at Site 2 (urban catchment end-member) or any of the other sites. No specifically urban pollen was found at Site 2, although this site did have the highest concentration of exotic pollen Organic Matter in the Sediments The organic matter present at each site consists of a mixture of terrestrial and algal material; however, it is the algal material that decomposes most rapidly. Dinoflagellate indicators (microfossils and biomarkers) were present in low concentrations The occurrence of distinctive suites of miospores and biomarkers for rural catchments and the association of high concentrations of faecal (herbivore) biomarkers with rural inputs indicates that the input of organic material from these catchments can be mapped throughout the lake.
Product Type
nonGeographicDataset
eCat Id
40995
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Custodian
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
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Australia
Keywords
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- External PublicationReport
- ( Theme )
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- geochemistry
- ( Theme )
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- marine
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- AU-NSW
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_Internal
Publication Date
2002-08-26T00:00:00
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unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
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Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
[-32.38, -32.15, 152.33, 152.57]
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
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