Round the New England blogging traps 26 - romance with a dash of geology

On Freedom and Flourishing, Winton Bates What is the case for government funding of mitigation research? looks at the justification for government funding of climate change research. Winton was co-editor of Neucleus with me back in those distant days.

Staying with the University of New England, on Northern Rivers Geology Rod has continued his fascinating analysis of New England's geology and geography. To illustrate my point, have a look at Where the river joins the sea. One of the reasons why UNE was so influential in its earlier days lay in its adoption of a broader regional focus. Sadly, it still has to recover that.

Still sticking with UNE, New England blogger and Armidale Express journalist Janene Carey had a fascinating profile of local independent MP and UNE Chancellor Richard Torbay. In a comment on an earlier post, Janene asked me questions for Richard. Personal events intervened. But, Richard, I would be a darn sight happier if you were to come out with a broader New England focus including support for self-government.

If you go to Canberra without that broader base, then you are likely to be ineffective.

Mark's Clarence Valley Today remains a superb photo blog. It helps that I know the areas that he writes about quite well, but he just has some fascinating stuff. 

Published by Penguin, Cathryn Hein's new book is described in this way:      

When a tragic horse float accident leaves young showjumper Brooke Kingston unable to properly manage her family's Hunter Valley property, she believes nothing worse can happen. Until she discovers her well-intentioned family have employed a new farm manager for her beloved Kingston Downs. But stubbornness runs in the family, and Brooke isn't about to leave her home or abandon her darling horse Poddy. Working on the principle possession is nine-tenths of the law, she digs in her spurs and stays put.

You will find her blog here. Now Cathyrn and fellow New England writer Bronwyn Parry are doing a rather effective job in cross-promotion. 

Cathryn describes Bronwyn's latest book in these terms: 

Trapped in rugged country in scorching summer heat, pursued by ruthless gunmen who can’t afford to fail, Jo and Nick will need all their skills and courage to survive.

The national parks where Ranger Jo Lockwood works, on the edge of the NSW outback, are untamed stretches of dry forest cut through with wild rivers. She’s often alone, and she likes it that way until she discovers the body of a man, brutally murdered, in a vandalised campground.

I have yet to read Cathryn, although I intend to do so as soon as I can get to a bookshop. I can tell you that Bronwyn is a bloody good writer. She really is, and her sales attest to that.

I know that I carry on about this, but we New Englanders really don't have access to our own cultural life because we don't exist! I try as best I can, recently not well, to feed back to you some of the depth and texture of our life, but it's hard.

The broader New England is a natural historical entity in the way very few Australian areas are. We exist because geography and history dictate that we do. Yet I would bet you London to a brick, to use a now ancient phrase, that the Armidale Express would classify Bronwyn as an Armidale or, at best, a Northern Tablelands' writer.

The Newcastle Herald would classify  Cathryn as a Hunter Valley writer. And yet they write in a common genre, draw from related geographical experiences, are understandable to each other and cross-promote.

I always knew about the commonalities and links. I did not realise until started writing in detail about the North just how deep and unique our history and cultural life has been. And damn all Australians or even New Englanders know about it.     

New England self-drive geology tours

My thanks to Rod from Northern Rivers Geology for this one. His Take yourselves on a tour focuses on the self-drive geology tours developed by Bob and Nancy. The tours are not limited to the broader New England, although that is their core focus.

I plan to take some of the tours. How about you?

You will find more details here.

Rod's Northern Rivers geology blog

I sometimes feel blessed with our fellow bloggers.

A few weeks ago I was driving eldest to work and said that I was trying to learn something about geology. She laughed and rolled her eyes! Geology is not one of her pet interests.

My problem is that I need to learn something about geology to explain elements of New England's life and history. As always by New England I mean the broader New England, not just the Tablelands. So I have been struggling away trying to come to grips with terms, trying to sketch a geological history. Now I have received a message from Rod wondering whether I would be interested in his new blog on the geology of the Northern Rivers.

Interested? I could kiss him on both cheeks! Further, it's not just me that is likely to be interested. I immediately thought of two of my favourite picture bloggers, Gordon on the Tablelands, Mark on the Clarence Valley. Both add background to their photos.

If Rod keeps going, I suspect that he will become a real resource for the rest of us. Rod's blog is Northern Rivers (NSW) Geology. Hey, I will even forgive him for adding NSW in the title!

Rod will probably need to do a bit of educating for the rest of us. Things like simple blind freddy overviews. 

Please visit. In the meantime, I have added the blog to my must read list. 

Life in the Macleay Valley - the glacial age

Update One (5 January 2007): I am adding references on the geology of the Valley to the end of this post.

A few years ago I read a very good book by John Mulvaney on the aborigines. This dealt, among other things, with the nature of geological change.

Unfortunately I did not take notes. I was reading just for pleasure, so I missed recording his key points. However, now that I am again writing with purpose, I need to look at New England's geological history.

As in my first post on the Macleay Valley, the material in this post is drawn especially from Marie H Neil's book, Valley of the Macleay. The History of Kempsey and the Macleay River District (Wentworth books, Sydney 1972). While my focus is on the Macleay, I am also using the post to set a broader context.

Over the period from 20,000 to 800,000 years ago there have been four ice ages in New England during which sea levels rose and fell.

Around 125,oo years ago the sea level was around 25 feet higher than it is now, so much of the lower Macleay Valley was under water.

In the fourth ice age which began about 100,000 years ago, the sea level began to fall. This moved the shore line out about six to ten miles, creating a large coastal plain that stretched along the current New England coastline.

Around 20,000 years ago, the sea level began to rise again, submerging the coastal plain. This rise continued until about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, then slowed down. I do not have dates for the arrival of the first aborigines in the Macleay Valley, but it seems likely that they would have experienced this change.

During this period, great quantities of sand were deposited to the north of the emerging coastal islands, creating great spits. These eventually grew into large sand borders or dunes, linking the coastal islands (now headlands) along a line approximating the present coastline.

The current Macleay River deltaic plane came into existence as the River changed its course several times seeking new ways to the sea through the growing sand barriers. In so doing, great deposits of silt were carried down and left inside the sand barriers, creating the delta we can see today. Over large areas these alluvial deposits are more than 100 feet deep.

Additional References on the Macleay

Dr Tim Cohen, The geomorphology of the Macleay River Estuary, study prepared for the Kempsey Shire Council, September 2005
Damon Telfer, Macleay River Estuary Data Compilation Study, GECO Environmental, October 2005