post-AQUA conference field trip

[Tim Barrows]

AUSTRALIAN QUATERNARY ASSOCIATION:

Biennial Conference

5th February to  9th February, 2001

Southcombe Lodge, Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia

http://rses.anu.edu.au/enproc/AQUADATA/AQUA.html
http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ges/research/conference.html

Information and Registration Form can be found on the conference web 
site. Registration forms must be returned by 1st DECEMBER 2000.

Contributions from all areas of Quaternary studies are sought for 
oral or poster presentations. In view of the location of the 
conference, papers on Quaternary history of the Western Plains are 
particularly welcome.

Organising Committee

Simon Haberle (Monash University)  simon.haberle at arts.monash.edu.au
Christine Kenyon (Melbourne University)  c.kenyon at pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

For further information please contact the organising committee and
consult the Conference Web site for additional information and regular
updates.

Post-conference field trip to the Snowy Mountains (Quaternary alpine 
geomorphology)

19th February

The first day will involve driving up into the Snowy Mountains from 
Victoria. A single stop will take place in the afternoon near the 
Yarrongobilly Caves, at a site where basalt periglacial blockstreams 
occur. Seven cosmogenic exposure ages from one blockstream indicate 
it formed quickly during the last glacial maximum (LGM), making it 
much younger than those described by Nel Caine and Joe Jennings in 
1968. These blockstreams also occur at lower elevations and therefore 
provide evidence for a temperature difference of as much as 9 degrees 
cooler than present. Uranium series ages on speleothems from the 
nearby caves date the LGM as a dry period.

We will stay overnight at the Kosciusko Mountain Retreat 
(http://www.kositreat.com.au/) at Sawpit Creek. A variety of 
accommodation is available ranging from camp sites for those who like 
to rough it, through to deluxe units for those who like to camp in 
style. The best value are the cabins with kitchenettes which can 
house up to six with an individual contribution of $~15 each. The 
kositreat website also includes a regional map and some nice photos 
(the possums at the campground are as friendly as they look). The 
town of Jindabyne is ~15 min away where there are supermarkets. The 
evening meal will be a joint BBQ at the campground or at a 
restaurant, depending on weather and interest.

20th February

The second day will consist of the glacial lakes walk to Mt 
Kosciuszkobeginning at Charlottes Pass, which is only ~20 min from 
Sawpit Creek. The Kosciuszko Massif was the only area glaciated on 
the Australian mainland during the late Pleistocene. Recent remapping 
of the extent of glaciation restricts the area covered by ice to only 
12-15 km^2. Twenty four cosmogenic exposure ages on moraines and 
striated bedrock at Blue Lake and Lake Cootapatamba reveal at least 
two glaciations comprised of four advances ranging in age from 60 ka 
to 15 ka. No older glaciation from earlier in the Pleistocene is 
recognised, suggesting that the last glacial cycle may have been 
different somehow or that the evidence has been destroyed.

The walk is long and so a reasonable level of fitness and good 
walking boots are required. As always, good sunscreen, hat and wet 
weather gear are obligatory at this altitude. We will take packed 
lunches and plenty of water.

The second night will also be spent at Sawpit Creek. The third day 
will be taken up mostly with driving home. Depending on interest and 
circumstance, a third stop may be possible at late Pleistocene sites 
at Albury on the Murray River. Coarse gravel beds and 
source-bordering dunes indicate a fluvial regime very different from 
the modern suspended-load river while the mountains were glaciated.

More information can be obtained from the trip leader Tim Barrows. 
The final date to register for the field trip is 1 DEC 2000, please 
send an email to <barrowst at spot.colorado.edu> indicating your 
preference for accommodation. Group booking rates may be possible, 
depending on numbers.

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Timothy T. Barrows
INSTAAR, Campus Box 450
University of Colorado, Boulder CO
80309-0450 USA
phone: 	+1 303 492-0595 office
	+1 303 492-5019 lab
	+1 303 492-6387 messages
fax: 	+1 303 492-6388
Australian Quaternary Data Archive:
http://rses.anu.edu.au/enproc/AQUADATA
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