THE LAST FULL GLACIAL CYCLE IN THE AUSTRALIAN REGION

A broad regional reconstruction of climate in the eastern half of Aust ralia through the last full glacial cycle is attempted incorporating a diversity of evidence from a wide range of environments.. The critica l climatic feature over much of the continent has been variation in pr ecipitation. The majority of studies indicate that cool phases have be en dry, and warm phases, wet. Recent, well-dated sequences combined wi th the refinement and reinterpretation of some existing records strong ly suggest, however, that temperature and effective precipitation have not been in phase. Instead, wettest conditions appear to correspond w ith the interstadials within the latter part of Stage 5 of the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy rather than with the Last (full) Interglac ial or with the Holocene. Driest conditions most likely occured during the transition from the peak of the Last Glacial to the Holocene. The use of this period, however, as a model for cyclical climatic variati on for the late Quaternary in Australia is limited to some extent by t he likely impact of Aboriginal people on the landscape.