LATE PLEISTOCENE TO EARLY HOLOCENE AEOLIAN ACTIVITY IN THE UPPER AND MIDDLE SHOALHAVEN CATCHMENT, NEW-SOUTH-WALES

Thermoluminescence dating of relict source-bordering dunes in the middle and upper Shoalhaven catchment show them to have been active between l9ka and 6ka. During this time, except for a brief period of dune stability sometime between 18 ka and 14ka, the climate of this area was considerably drier than present. The onset of aeolian activity here coincides with the glacial maximum indicating that it was not until then that arid or semi-arid conditions were able to penetrate the humid coastal rim of south-east Australia. The extension of these conditions into the early Holocene, whilst supported by the palaeobotanical record of nearby Lake George, contrasts with pollen evidence from other nearby catchments, suggesting that there were variable environmental responses throughout the south-east highlands of NSW to the amelioration in climate during the early Holocene.