Volume 126 Parts 1 and 2 [Issued June 1993]
Journal and Proceedings of
The Royal Society of New South Wales
Volume 126 Parts 1 and 2 [Issued June 1993]
CONTENTS
AUTHORS & TITLES
Sutherland, F L . Demise of the Dinosaurs and other Denizens II - by Combined
Catastrophic Causes? (Presidential Address 1993)
Hugi, Th., Fardy, N.C., Morgan, N.C., and Swaine, D.J
Swiss Coals
. Underground Space: The Geospatial Planning Option for 21st
Century Sydney. Part One: Historical Overview and Rationale for the Use of
Geospace
Branagan, D.F., and Cairns, H.C.
. Tesselated Pavements in the Sydney Region,
New South Wales
. Stratigraphic and Coal Seam Correlations of the Illawarra Coal
Measures in the Ulan and Bylong Areas, Western Coalfield, Sydney Basin, New
South Wales
Abstracts of Theses , reproduced on this page
Xu, Arron S.L
.: Doctoral Thesis Abstract.
19
F NMR of Erythrocytes: "Split Peak"
Phenemenon, Membrane Potential and Membrane Transport
Oudshoorn, Michael John : Doctoral Thesis Abstract. Atlantis: A Tool for Language
Definition and Interpreter Synthesis
Gatei, Magtouf H .: Doctoral Thesis Abstract. Some Aspects of the Pathogenicity and Immunity of Bovine Leukemia virus Infection in Cattle and Sheep
He, Fuxiang : Doctoral Thesis Abstract. Provenance, Diagenesis and Reservoir
Characteristics of Sandstones of the Great Australian Basin Succession in NSW,
Australia
PAGES
1
27
37
63
73
87
88
89
90 pp.1-25
Demise of the Dinosaurs and other Denizens II — by Combined Catastrophic
Causes?
(Presidential Address 1993)
F.L. Sutherland
Abstract . Since Charles Darwin's view of geology, the earth sciences have greatly increased in scope and comprehension of processes shaping the evolution of the earth. This is
illustrated by the extensive debate concerning extinction of biota at the Cretaceous/Tertiary
(K/T) boundary, including the departure of dinosaurs.
Pendulums of opinion on causes of K/T extinctions have oscillated as new geochemical, mineralogical, palaeontological, meteoritical, climatological and geothermal data became available for synthesis and interpretation. Abrupt changes at the K/T boundary promoted concepts of catastrophic extinctions. A meteoritic impact school won early acceptance and a
'volcanic outburst' school developed by 1985. A third catastrophic school, combining both impact and volcanism gained ground in l988, some workers invoking impact-triggered volcanism and others coincidental but independent impact and volcanic events.
Evidence for major impact and volcanism at K/T time is strengthened by location of impact craters, tektite deposits, diamonds, extraterrestrial amino acids and extensive hotspot volcanism. Craters in the northern hemisphere and more extensive hotspot volcanism in the southern hemisphere may explain geochemical differences in K/T sections. Impact directly triggering volcanism is unlikely. Iridium output from over 35 hotspots can account for lower level Ir over 500,000 years, but the sharp Ir peak could fit an impact source.
This paper proposes that combined impact and volcanism best explains K/T boundary events.
Such a coincidence of major extraterrestrial and terrestrial catastrophic events is not improbable over geological time, but is not essential for global extinctions, judging from the
Permo-Triassic Siberian volcanism.
The dinosaurs succumbed to complex K/T events, but exact reasons for their demise remain uncertain. Selenium increase in their egg shells towards the K/T boundary correlates with increasing pathology of egg protein, shell fragility and reproductive loss. Dinosaurs disappeared, while other terrestrial vertebrates survived. The dinosaurs do not rest in peace but haunt the human realm in fantasy literature.
pp. 27-36
Trace Elements in Some Swiss Coals
Th. Hugi, J.J. Fardy, N.C. Morgan and D.J. Swaine
Abstract . Twenty four samples of Swiss coals and coaly material (lignite, brown, anthracitic) ranging in age from Carboniferous to Quaternary have been analysed for their trace-element contents. The values obtained for the Swiss coals are compared with those for coals from
Australia and the U.S.A. In general, there is good agreement between all these values and those for most world coals, although some of the Swiss coals have higher concentrations of molybdenum, selenium, thallium, uranium and vanadium.
Key words : Swiss coal, trace elements.
pp.37-61
Underground Space: The Geospatial Planning option for 21st century Sydney
Part One: Historical Overview and Rationale for the Use of Geospace
Sydney A. Baggs
Abstract . In the city of Sydney, Australia, urban surface space is becoming congested, and residual open space overshadowed by high-rise development. The use of the subsurface domain is presented as an alternative planning option that is not only energy efficient in resources utilisation but also land-use efficient in its recycling of industrial land for residential, commercial and recreational purposes. A brief history of the use of geospace is presented, the principles of the ground-heat physics involved are explained and a geopolitan planning concept for the development of urban and suburban Sydney in the next century is outlined.
pp.63-72
Tesselated Pavements in the Sydney Region, New South Wales.
D.F. Branagan and H.C. Cairns
Abstract . Twenty five tesselated sandstone pavements, among them perhaps the best examples of the phenomenon anywhere in the world, have been observed on the Hornsby,
Blue Mountains and Woronora Plateaux in the Sydney region. We infer that they formed by weathering and erosion processes on an old landsurface, which is now being slowly dissected. While expansion/contraction is the likely cause of formation of the tesselation, the climatic factors involved are not clear. The reason for the lateral limitation of individual pavements and the regional extent of the phenomenon is not yet understood and requires further fieldwork.
pp.73-86
Stratigraphic and Coal Seam Correlations of the Illawarra Coal Measures in the Ulan and Bylong Areas, Western Coalfield, Sydney Basin, New South
Wales
E.K. Yoo
Abstract . Stratigraphic and coal-seam correlations of the Illawarra Coal Measures between
Ulan and Bylong, in the western half of the northern sector of the Sydney Basin, have been established on the basis lithofacies studies and downhole geophysical-log profiles. Eastward thickening of the stratigraphic units of the Illawarra Coal Measures occurs across hingelines at Ulan, Wollar and Bylony. The lower-section of the "Ulan seam" is a correlative with the
Lidsda1e Coal; the upper section of the "Ulan seam" is contemporaneous with the Long
Swamp Formation and the overlying Irondale Coal. New units, the Cockabutta Creek
Sandstone Member and the Bungaba Coal Member, are named in the Glen Davis Formation, and the geographic extent of the Cockabutta Creek Sandstone Member is shown. The
Bungaba Coal Nember of the Glen Davis Formation and the Moolarben Coal Member of the
State Mine Creek Formation converge towards the western margin of the basin, and form a single coal interval west of the Ulan hingeline.
