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Schneider L, Rose NL, Lintern A, Sinclair D, Zawadzki A, Holley C, Aquino-López MA, Haberle S. Assessing environmental contamination from metal emission and relevant regulations in major areas of coal mining and electricity generation in Australia. Sci Total Environ 2020; 728:137398. [PMID: 32371267 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The Hunter and Latrobe Valleys have two of the richest coal deposits in Australia. They also host the largest coal-fired power stations in the country. We reconstructed metal deposition records in lake sediments in the Hunter and Latrobe Valleys to determine if metal deposition in freshwater lakes have increased in the region. The current regulatory arrangement applied to metal emissions from coal-fired power stations in Australia are presented, discussing their capacity to address future increases in metal deposition from these sources. Sediment records of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), a component of fly-ash, were also used as an additional line of evidence to identify the contribution of industrial activities related to electricity generation to metal deposition in regions surrounding open-cut coal mines and coal-fired power stations. Sediment metal concentrations and SCP counts in the sedimentary records, from the Hunter and Latrobe Valleys, both indicated that open-cut coal mining and the subsequent combustion of coal in power stations has most likely resulted in an increase in atmospheric deposition of metals in the local region. In particular, the metalloids As and Se showed the greatest enrichment compared to before coal mining commenced. Although the introduction of bag filters at Liddell Power Station and the decommissioning of Hazelwood Power Station appear to have resulted in a decrease of metal deposition in nearby lakes, overall metal deposition in the environment is still increasing. The challenge for the years to come will be to develop better regulation policies and tools that will contribute to reduce metal emissions in these major electricity production centres in Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Schneider
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of the Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, 2601, Acton, ACT, Canberra, Australia.
| | - Neil L Rose
- Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Anna Lintern
- Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Darren Sinclair
- Instituto of Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra, Kirinari Street, Bruce Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia
| | - Atun Zawadzki
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights 2234, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Marco A Aquino-López
- Maynooth University, Arts and Humanities Institute, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
| | - Simon Haberle
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of the Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, 2601, Acton, ACT, Canberra, Australia
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Malone BP, McBratney AB, Minasny B. Description and spatial inference of soil drainage using matrix soil colours in the Lower Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4659. [PMID: 29682425 PMCID: PMC5907776 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2018] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Soil colour is often used as a general purpose indicator of internal soil drainage. In this study we developed a necessarily simple model of soil drainage which combines the tacit knowledge of the soil surveyor with observed matrix soil colour descriptions. From built up knowledge of the soils in our Lower Hunter Valley, New South Wales study area, the sequence of well-draining → imperfectly draining → poorly draining soils generally follows the colour sequence of red → brown → yellow → grey → black soil matrix colours. For each soil profile, soil drainage is estimated somewhere on a continuous index of between 5 (very well drained) and 1 (very poorly drained) based on the proximity or similarity to reference soil colours of the soil drainage colour sequence. The estimation of drainage index at each profile incorporates the whole-profile descriptions of soil colour where necessary, and is weighted such that observation of soil colour at depth and/or dominantly observed horizons are given more preference than observations near the soil surface. The soil drainage index, by definition disregards surficial soil horizons and consolidated and semi-consolidated parent materials. With the view to understanding the spatial distribution of soil drainage we digitally mapped the index across our study area. Spatial inference of the drainage index was made using Cubist regression tree model combined with residual kriging. Environmental covariates for deterministic inference were principally terrain variables derived from a digital elevation model. Pearson's correlation coefficients indicated the variables most strongly correlated with soil drainage were topographic wetness index (-0.34), mid-slope position (-0.29), multi-resolution valley bottom flatness index (-0.29) and vertical distance to channel network (VDCN) (0.26). From the regression tree modelling, two linear models of soil drainage were derived. The partitioning of models was based upon threshold criteria of VDCN. Validation of the regression kriging model using a withheld dataset resulted in a root mean square error of 0.90 soil drainage index units. Concordance between observations and predictions was 0.49. Given the scale of mapping, and inherent subjectivity of soil colour description, these results are acceptable. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of soil drainage predicted in our study area is attuned with our mental model developed over successive field surveys. Our approach, while exclusively calibrated for the conditions observed in our study area, can be generalised once the unique soil colour and soil drainage relationship is expertly defined for an area or region in question. With such rules established, the quantitative components of the method would remain unchanged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan P Malone
- Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Eveleigh, NSW, Australia
| | - Alex B McBratney
- Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Eveleigh, NSW, Australia
| | - Budiman Minasny
- Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney, Eveleigh, NSW, Australia
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Hazlitt SL, Goldizen AW, Nicholls JA, Eldridge MDB. Three divergent lineages within an Australian marsupial (Petrogale penicillata) suggest multiple major refugia for mesic taxa in southeast Australia. Ecol Evol 2014; 4:1102-16. [PMID: 24772286 PMCID: PMC3997325 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2013] [Revised: 01/31/2014] [Accepted: 01/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Mesic southeastern Australia represents the continent's ancestral biome and is highly biodiverse, yet its phylogeographic history remains poorly understood. Here, we examine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and microsatellite diversity in the brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata;n = 279 from 31 sites), to assess historic evolutionary and biogeographic processes in southeastern Australia. Our results (mtDNA, microsatellites) confirmed three geographically discrete and genetically divergent lineages within brush-tailed rock-wallabies, whose divergence appears to date to the mid-Pleistocene. These three lineages had been hypothesized previously but data were limited. While the Northern and Central lineages were separated by a known biogeographic barrier (Hunter Valley), the boundary between the Central and Southern lineages was not. We propose that during particularly cool glacial cycles, the high peaks of the Great Dividing Range and the narrow adjacent coastal plain resulted in a more significant north-south barrier for mesic taxa in southeastern Australia than has been previously appreciated. Similarly, located phylogeographic breaks in codistributed species highlight the importance of these regions in shaping the distribution of biodiversity in southeastern Australia and suggest the existence of three major refuge areas during the Pleistocene. Substructuring within the northern lineage also suggests the occurrence of multiple local refugia during some glacial cycles. Within the three major lineages, most brush-tailed rock-wallaby populations were locally highly structured, indicating limited dispersal by both sexes. The three identified lineages represent evolutionarily significant units and should be managed to maximize the retention of genetic diversity within this threatened species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L Hazlitt
- Department of Forest Sciences, Centre for Applied Conservation Research, University of British Columbia2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Anne W Goldizen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of QueenslandSt Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - James A Nicholls
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of EdinburghEdinburgh, EH9 3JT, U.K
| | - Mark D B Eldridge
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum6 College St, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia
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