BEADS Lab researchers awarded $378,000 for research in the Coorong. ARC Discovery Project DP220102926
Patrick Hesp, Graziela Miot da Silva, Ian Moffat, Christopher Wilson, Robert Bourman (all Flinders University), Colin Murray-Wallace (UoW), Patrick Nunn (USC), Toru Tamura (Japan), Sergio Dillenburg (UFRGS, Brazil), Roger Luebbers (Melbourne).
This project aims to investigate the evolution, geomorphology, age structure and dynamics of the Younghusband Peninsula Holocene coastal barrier dunefield. Southern and Western Australian coasts are dominated by transgressive dunefields yet we know very little about their evolution. This project will enhance our knowledge of these dunefields.
The study will provide a deeper understanding of the response of beaches and dunes to variable rates of sea level rise and neotectonics, critical to understanding Australia’s coastline response to future sea level rise. This knowledge has significant implications for the management of the Murray mouth and the adjacent Coorong lagoon which will be seriously impacted as sea level rises in the future. The study will also provide a significant foundation for past, and future studies on Aboriginal occupation of the peninsula which has evolved over the past 7000 years.