Vegetation and climatic history near Lake Keilambete, western Victoria

Abstract

Two cores from Lake Keilambete, a saline volcanic crater lake in western Victoria, were analysed for pollen and carbonates and a description of the vegetation record over the last 10,000 years is presented. Vegetation changes and carbonate identifications are used to describe the climatic history of the area in association with what is known about the changes which occurred at the nearby salt lake, Lake Gnotuk. With both sets of data it has been possible to describe, in general terms, how the climate has varied in the Western District. The climate gradually became wetter after 9700 B.P. and the wettest period in the last 10,000 years occurred between 6500 B.P. and 5000 B.P. After this time the water levels in the lakes fell and the presence of dolomite carbonates indicates that the water levels in the lakes were lowest at about 3500 B.P. and later at about 770 B.P. Water levels rose again and reached their peak in the second half of the 19th ccntury.