Dr Tim Barrows, ‘The last Ice Age in Canberra and at Lake Mungo’

In this talk, Tim will describe new work on Black Mountain in Canberra and the Southern Tablelands to date and describe the lowest elevation of periglacial activity, the extent of which has been the subject of controversy.

Abstract

Far from the vast ice sheets of North America, Europe and Antarctica, Australia experienced a cold and dry ice age. Only small glaciers developed on the Main Range of Kosciusko. However, the action of frost, ice and snow were far more extensive. The extent of this periglacial zone has been the subject of controversy but knowing its extent is crucial for calculating how cold the last ice age was. In this talk, Tim will describe new work on Black Mountain in Canberra and the Southern Tablelands to date and describe the lowest elevation of periglacial activity. Periglacial activity in the mountains also had an impact on the plains. Greater snow storage, lower evaporation and higher runoff resulted in high seasonal discharges that filled lakes in Western NSW. Tim will also describe recent work to determine the environmental history at Lake Mungo. The lake level fluctuated up to 10 m and dried out permanently at the end of the ice age.

Biography

Tim Barrows is a Professor at the University of Portsmouth and a Future Fellow at the University of Wollongong. He completed his studies at the ANU and has worked both in the USA and the UK. He has also worked in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Africa, Europe, North America and the Arctic. Tim has published 71 papers in the fields of palaeoclimatology, palaeoceanography, geomorphology and geochronology. He also maintains a science blog called 4Dlandscapes.

Lunchtime talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November.  Talks last for 1 hour.  We welcome a gold coins donation. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and thank all those who have donated.  Please note: unless otherwise indicated, talks are in the ANBG Theatrette.

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The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Some summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. A donation to the Friends for the use of this material will be gratefully accepted. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au

The talks are in line with COVID-19 guidelines which can change rapidly.