Central and Northern Queensland
Queensland has been extensively studied, with research concentrated in the Barkly karst region in northwest Queensland, particularly around the Gregory River and Louie Creek at Riversleigh. Key publications include:
Northwestern Queensland – Barkly Karst:
- Drysdale, R.N. (1995) “Tufa deposits at Louie Creek, northwestern Queensland: modern processes and palaeoenvironments in a tropical karst” – PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales
- Drysdale, R.N. (2001) “Factors controlling the hydrochemistry of Louie Creek, a travertine-depositing stream in the seasonally wet tropics of northern Australia” – Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol. 52
- Drysdale, R.N. and Gale, S.J. (1997) “The Indarri Falls travertine dam, northwest Queensland, Australia” – Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 22
- Carthew, K.D. et al. (2003) “Are current models of tufa sedimentary environments applicable to tropical systems? A case study from the Gregory River” – Sedimentary Geology
- Carthew, K.D. et al. (2005) “An environmental model of fluvial tufas in the monsoonal tropics, Barkly karst, northern Australia” – Geomorphology
Research Focus
These tropical tufa systems are characterised by high evaporation rates, perennially warm water temperatures, aquatic insect larvae construction behaviour, and regular high magnitude floods.
Northern New South Wales
Research in NSW has focused on temperate climate tufa systems:
- Carthew, K. and Drysdale, R. (2003) “Late Holocene fluvial change in a tufa-depositing stream: Davys Creek, New South Wales, Australia” – Australian Geographer, Vol. 34
This was described as the first study of its type in temperate Australia, examining fluvial history and palaeoenvironmental changes preserved in tufa deposits.
North-west Western Australia
Viles and Goudie (1990)
The foundational study is: Viles, H.A. and Goudie, A.S. (1990) “Reconnaissance studies of the tufa deposits of the Napier Range, NW Australia” published in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Volume 15, Issue 5, pages 425-443.
Study Location and Focus: This research was conducted in the 1980s and focused on the Napier Range in the Kimberley region, where surveys revealed that tufas were a common occurrence along the northeastern margin of the range. The Napier Range is mostly composed of heavily eroded limestone (karst) with ridges formed from an ancient Devonian reef system, and features the impressive Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek, and Geikie Gorge.
Key Finding: The study suggested that the presence of tufa deposits was “due in large part to the very high evaporation rates in the area which encourage precipitation of calcium carbonate”.
This was a pioneering study that established the baseline understanding of tufa formation in the tropical, semi-arid environment of northwest Western Australia.
Wright (2000)
No further information.
South-west Western Australia (Additional Context)
Coastal tufa deposits in the south-west of Western Australia have been studied, with these deposits registered as Threatened Ecological Communities (TEC) occurring in near-shore shallow bedrock settings associated with local groundwater discharge. Research by Carthew and colleagues (published in 2010 in Sedimentology) characterized these southwestern deposits, which are distinct from the northwestern Kimberley tufas studied by Viles and Goudie.
Summary
For north-west Western Australia specifically, the Viles and Goudie (1990) paper in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms remains the primary published research on the Napier Range tufa deposits. The Wright (2000) reference remains elusive in the available literature, and may require accessing specialised Australian geological databases or regional publications to locate the full citation.
Additionally, southwest Western Australia has numerous coastal tufa deposits in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region, which were classified as a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC) with endangered status in 2001. A comprehensive characterisation study was published by Carthew et al. (2010) in Sedimentology.
Specific Locations in Fuller et al. (2010) Research
The Fuller et al. (2010) study published in Sedimentology (Volume 232, pages 52-67) titled “A characterisation of the coastal tufa deposits of south-west Western Australia” investigated five key tufa deposit sites in the region.
Confirmed Location:
- Meekadarribee Falls (MK) Located 1.5 km inland from the coast near Ellensbrook, the tufa deposit is situated 10 m north of the junction between a small tributary flowing over the waterfalls and the main stream channel flowing west to the old Ellensbrook homestead site, covering approximately 10 m² around the falls.
Also known as Meekadariby or Mika Darabi, this waterfall holds deep cultural significance to the Wadandi Noongar people, meaning “place where the moon rests,” and is particularly significant to Wadandi women. The site is near the historic Ellensbrook Homestead in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park region, north of Margaret River.
General Distribution:
The study examined coastal tufa deposits registered as Threatened Ecological Communities (TEC), occurring in near-shore shallow bedrock settings associated with local groundwater discharge, with two conceptual environmental models: a cascade to barrage pool model associated with coastal waterfall zones, and a perched spring-line and barrage pool model located predominantly in the supratidal zone.
Regional Context:
The tufa deposits are situated within the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region of south-west Western Australia, which spans the coastal area between Cape Naturaliste (north of Busselton/Margaret River) and Cape Leeuwin (near Augusta). The Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park runs approximately 123 kilometres along this limestone ridge and contains karst systems with hundreds of caves and speleological features.
The specific names and precise locations of the other four sites studied by Fuller et al. are not readily accessible in the available search results, as the full text of the paper is behind a paywall. The abstract confirms five sites were investigated but only provides detailed information about Meekadarribee Falls in the accessible portions.
Key Research Themes
The Australian tufa research has made several important contributions:
- Biological controls: Extensive documentation of the role of caddis-fly larvae (Trichoptera), midge larvae (Chironomidae), and other aquatic insects in tufa formation and their preservation as paleocurrent indicators
- Tropical vs. temperate models: Research has demonstrated that existing sedimentary models developed from temperate sites are not fully applicable to tropical systems, leading to the development of specific models for seasonally humid tropical tufa systems
- Paleoenvironmental reconstruction: Studies have used tufa deposits as archives of paleoclimatic and paleohydrological information, tracking fluvial changes and climate shifts over thousands of years
- Unique features: Australian tropical tufas contain distinctive features like calcite rafts forming at the water-air interface, which are unusual in temperate locations
This body of research demonstrates that Australian tufa deposits span diverse climatic zones and provide valuable records for understanding past environmental conditions.