Blog
Coffee Rock
Coffee Rock In May 1956 on school holidays at Lake Cathie south of Port Macquarie, I encountered an outcrop of indurated black sand on the beach. Ridges of cliffed rock extending below low tide making it difficult to access the beach north of the entrance to the lake....
Beachrock Enigma
Beachrock Enigma In the early 1960s I was introduced to debates about “beachrock” (sometimes spelt “beach rock”). I attempted to translate a paper in French by Andre Guilcher on the subject; this proved beyond me although it whetted the appetite to know more. A...
Coastal hazards, insurance and Federal powers
Coastal hazards, insurance and Federal powers The tropical cyclone season is upon us and like clockwork issues of insurability arise. At recent hearings of the House of Representatives Committee inquiring into insurer’s responses to last year’s east-coast flood...
Need for federal intervention in Australian coastal management
Need for federal intervention in Australian coastal management My interest in a direct and sustained role for the Australian Government knows no bounds! The appetite for such an interest was whetted in 1975 during the inquiry into sand mining on Fraser Island. I...
National and NSW Coastal Conference 2023
National and NSW Coastal Conference 2023 It has been a huge privilege and pleasure to regularly meet like-minded folk at coastal conferences. In NSW we hold a conference each year at a regional location with a link to one or more local councils with the support of the...
NSW COASTAL FLOODPLAIN PRIORITISATION STUDIES
NSW COASTAL FLOODPLAIN PRIORITISATION STUDIES In September it was very pleasing to hear that studies undertaken by the Water Research Laboratory (WRL) and funded by the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy (MEMS) are now available via the Marine Estate Website....
Curse of Cumulative Impacts
Curse of Cumulative Impacts There are many actions taken by individuals, corporations, and governments that by themselves might be considered minor but when taken together can substantially cause harm to environmental values. Revision of the federal EPBC Act provides...
Sydney Shelf Sand Bodies: from Discovery to Metromix
Sydney Shelf Sand Bodies: from Discovery to Metromix In 1984 a paper appeared in an international journal describing the existence of elongate, shore-parallel sand bodies on the lower shoreface in water depths greater than 30m off the Sydney cliffed coastline. The...
Coastal Poetry from Sydney’s East
Coastal Poetry from Sydney’s East Recently Irene and I attended a poetry reading at the Waverley Council Library. Two poets, Libby Hathorn (LH) and Elizabeth Cummins (EC) read from their book entitled Coastal Poetry (Pacific Ocean Press, 2023). It covers that...
Heavy Mineral Sand Mining in Eastern Australia
Heavy Mineral Sand Mining in Eastern Australia In a previous blog I have commented on mechanisms for the concentration of heavy minerals in sand deposits along the coast of eastern Australia. For just over 100 years commencing around 1870 when gold was discovered in...
Coast to Coast: Adelaide to Darwin
Coast to Coast: Adelaide to Darwin Irene and I have just completed a trip across the heart of Australia on the Ghan courtesy of a lovely gift package from our family. I think they felt we needed to get away from our coastal world and experience the vastness of the...
Coastal Sand Mining – Background
Coastal Sand Mining - Background Southeastern Australia has been endowed (some would say cursed) with concentrations of a group of heavy minerals in coastal sand deposits. The geological history and geomorphological emplacement of these heavy minerals has influenced...