NARACOORTE CAVES: A CRITICAL WINDOW ON FAUNAL EXTINCTIONS AND PAST CLIMATES

Abstract

This project aims to establish an unprecedented record of biodiversity and environmental change at Australia’s richest Quaternary fossil site – Naracoorte Caves. The study will integrate all aspects of the preserved deposits, employing new approaches in geochronology, palaeontology and geochemistry to develop truly comprehensive palaeoecological and palaeoclimate histories. This project will establish a benchmark dataset on past ecological and environmental change, strengthening scientific innovation in key research priority areas. It will have significant implications for understanding megafauna extinctions and past biodiversity responses, and will inform future conservation and climate cha..

Related publications (1)

Cave opening and fossil accumulation in Naracoorte, Australia, through charcoal and pollen in dated speleothems

Rieneke Weij, Jon D Woodhead, JM Kale Sniderman, John C Hellstrom, Elizabeth Reed, Steven Bourne, Russell N Drysdale, Timothy J Pollard

2022-09-26

Caves are important fossil repositories which provide records extending back over million-year timescales. While the physical proc..