Being flat, dry and hot, Australia has evolved its own unique brand of Quaternary science. The scope for traditional European-style climate change research is limited but Australian scientists are excelling in fields such as dating. New applications and approaches involving cosmogenic isotopes, radiocarbon, luminescence, and uranium series dating are pushing the boundaries of what can be dated and how far back. The Australian landscape presents challenges in terms of how to reconstruct past climates but these difficulties are being met by a widespread, multi-disciplinary community.
Australia is critically placed to help understand global climate forcing due to its location adjacent to the West Pacific Warm Pool, Pacific ENSO and the Southeast Asian-Australian Monsoon. Studies are revealing also that Australia has had a complex climate history rather different to elsewhere in the world. |
Glaciated landscape, Kosciuszko Massif |
