Just add salt: Frontiers investigates salinity and landscape

Oct 20, 2005

The increasing salinity of the landscape is becoming a serious problem in many continents, including Australia.

The latest Frontiers in Science lecture at the University of Wollongong (Wednesday 19 October) was presented by Professor Allan Chivas who provided information concerning the origin of salt in the landscape and of its residence in Australian soils, lakes and groundwaters.

Professor Chivas took his audience to the arid areas of several continents spanning a time frame of tens of thousands of years and pieced together the movement and past record of salinity in Australia’s environment.

“The lecuture considered salts that dissolved in rainwater and the use of chemical and isotopic techniques to trace the movement of chloride and sulfate over thousands of kilometres,” he said.

He also highlighted the way particular analytical techniques and well-dated fossils are providing UOW researchers with a clearer picture of this contemporary problem.

‘Frontiers in Science' is a series of free public lectures given by UOW academics in the Faculty of Science who are world leaders in their respective research areas.

**Watch this space for information on upcoming Frontiers lectures