Air pollution fallout identify massive Bronze Age mine sites in South Australia
kangarooistan
big as they appear there should be evidence of the air borne
smelting seen down wind from the mine / smelting , sites from the
VAST open cut mines recently identified but IMHO the mines are too
far from the river Murray to show the delta buildup like in Spain .
The fall out from the smelting process can be seen in the areas
known locally as '" The 90mile desert " ,an area in a rain shadow ,
but an area that was almost useless until micro nutrient were added
and the area is now very productive indicating it was NOT low
rainfall but soil deficiency holding back potential , the mines
location is at a position to indicate the complex soil deficiencies
almost certainly come from the vast mining and ancient Bronze Age
smelters needed to process the ore
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in other ancient mines the sediments can be seen and some show signs
of airborne pollution as well
The Tinto river drains the Rio Tinto mining district, which
comprises the world’s largest known massive sulfide deposits; these
orebodies have been mined from the third millenium BC to the
present.
The Tinto river is strongly acidic (pH, 1.5–2.5); during flood
events, it transports a sandy material, including abundant detrital
pyrite grains. A core drilled in the Holocene sediments of the Tinto
estuary allows for investigation of recent and historical mining
pollution. Two anomalous horizons have been recognized (0–1.3 m; 3–4
m). Both are characterized by very high metal content (100 times over
the background) and by the presence of abundant clastic pyrite
grains. The metal association (Pb, Ba, As, Cu, Zn, Sn, Tl, Cd, Ag,
Hg, Au) is typical of that of the Rio Tinto pyritic ore. The upper
horizon corresponds to the modern mining activity; the lower horizon
has been dated at 2530 BC (14C AMS calibrated age).
http://econgeol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/95/3/655
.
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The Historic Role of South Australia in Micronutrient Research
in Penola, South Australia, increased grain yield from nothing to
nearly 3 t ha–1 (Figure 2) and that the ‘symptoms of Mn deficiency in
water-cultures corresponded exactly with the symptoms of Grey Speck
disease of oats in the field’.
In 1942, A.J. Anderson of the CSIRO proved with a ten-fold increase
in clover production after adding Mo to an ironstone gravelly soil in
the Adelaide hills.
Australian scientists began testing the trace elements as supplements
for grazing animals and as micro-nutrient fertilisers for crop
production on unproductive soils in areas of good rainfall. In 1935
Lines and Marston announced that Co corrected Coast Disease of
sheep- grazing pastures on calcareous sandy dunes near Robe, South
Australia.
.
In 1946 Anderson and colleagues showed that clover required Mo for N
fixation and that many acid soils contained unavailable Mo which was
released by liming.
.
In the early part of the 20th century, a vast unproductive area
known as the “90 mile desert” in the south-east of South Australia
(SA) was transformed into highly productive arable and grazing land by
research workers who traced out the role of micronutrients as the key
to this transformation.
http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/aghistory/home/achievements/the_historic_rol...
see map
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The location of the " 90 mile desert " perfectly aligns down wind
from with the vast open cut mines and port facilities , and the soils
do add even more most interesting evidences of the location and
scale of the ancient past mining activity and could be compared to
other known ancient smelting sites to confirm it was indeed the
largest copper and tin production center on earth for the entire
Bronze age era
Polly the Parrot
> If the ancient gold copper and tin mines in south australia are as
> big as they appear there should be evidence of the air borne
> smelting seen down wind from the mine / smelting , sites from the
> VAST open cut mines recently identified but IMHO the mines are too
> far from the river Murray to show the delta buildup like in Spain .
> The fall out from the smelting process can be seen in the areas
> known locally as '" The 90mile desert " ,an area in a rain shadow ,
> but an area that was almost useless until micro nutrient were added
> and the area is now very productive indicating it was NOT low
> rainfall but soil deficiency holding back potential , the mines
> location is at a position to indicate the complex soil deficiencies
> almost certainly come from the vast mining and ancient Bronze Age
> smelters needed to process the ore
Well, that certainly kills the myth that aborigines were "custodians of the
land".