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Randall_Berger |
Australian Inland Sea
Feb 20 2008, 3:52 AM EST
Take up Bradfield's plan to re-create an inland sea in Australia ... an enormous evaporative plain that will drought-proof the Eastern States and make a few thousand miles of new beachfront property. This is positive climate change and environmental engineering in a Snowy Mountain scale. Drive a 300km canal north from Whyalla ... nice and wide with locks ... make a nice cruise ... and then let nature take its course again.
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Posted Anonymously |
1. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 22 2008, 6:04 PM EST
I have heard of this plan, but have not had any reference to more details - Bradfield?Even without seeing the details it is obvious that such an infrastructure undertaking would provide thousand of jobs for many years. Construction, planning, roads, pipelines, housing, buildings, electricity and telecommunications supply etc. Coupled with a solar or nuclear power station ( a good site for one) Adelaide could be provided with an unlimited good quality fresh water supply also. As mentioned, waterfront property, a hugh recreational lake and tourist attraction would be created. And i dont know if it qualities but wouldnt the creation of an inland sea be a Terraforming event? There is also and probably most importantly the effect of increased rainfall along Australias east coast, I suppose a detailed computer modelling exercise would be able to determine the viability of this. 37 out of 42 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Randall_Berger |
2. RE: Australian Inland Sea ... aka The Bradfield Scheme
Feb 22 2008, 6:28 PM EST
"I have heard of this plan, but have not had any reference to more details - Bradfield?Sorry ... Bradfield was quite an important Australian engineer ... he designed and built the Sydney Harbour Bridge amongst other things. Called "The Bradfield Scheme," it involves turning Lake Eyre inter a permanent inland sea, fed from the Southern Ocean. It has been kicked around every few years ... gosh, they were even thinking at one stage ... I suppose when they were letting them off in the desert ... to use underground nuclear tests to create the canal! This would be a massive engineering feat ... it occurs naturally, as did the Snowy Mountain Scheme (without the power stations), and did occur in ancient times ... but it would take a government with "2020 vision" to do it. Here is some information: Just Google The Bradfield Scheme to fine more ... THE BRADFIELD SCHEME The Greatest Scheme of All As the driest inhabited continent on Earth, it has been a continual dream of many Australians to be able to bring water to the arid inland, opening up the millions of hectares therein to agriculture, population and economic growth. To date the only large-scale water diversion scheme implemented in Australia is the Snowy Mountains Scheme. But there have been many other schemes that were imaginatively conceived to increase water availability in Australia, but for various reasons have not been implemented. Perhaps the most famous, and most controversial, of these has been... The Bradfield Scheme Duh ... there's a 2000 character limit ... if you want to read the rest of this article ... I found it on: http://www.johnston-independent.com/bradfield_scheme_a.html#THE%20BRADFIELD%20SCHEME 33 out of 38 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Andy38 |
3. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 27 2008, 6:41 AM EST
"Broken window fallacy. 3 out of 41 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
4. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 27 2008, 9:17 PM EST
For any policy maker and politician sufficiently daring in today's political climate to (re)propose a Bradfeild type scheme -.. - it might perhaps be argued/recalled that during the Australia's climatically warmer early Holocene, areas around current Lake Eyre were once a coninous garden growing (naturally) on fertile, well watered plains .. and such 'engineered' intervention will largely restore this inland area back to the way it once was (and may become anyway in the longer term, globally warmer future!) Yet another 'left field' observation/idea . .from an Australian citizen who finds that some matters ought to be looked at, considered, and assessed within a geological time scale!! 24 out of 32 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
5. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 28 2008, 2:04 AM EST
Interesting idea. I'm assuming that, because Lake Eyre is below sea level, such a canal would turn Lake Eyre into a permanent lake, with water flowing in from the sea to replenish the water lost to evaporation. The lake will be very salty (in the same way as the Black Sea is saltier than the Mediterranean).The water evaporating from this inland lake would then condensate over Western NSW, causing more rain there. It would be an interesting experiment. Imagine if you did the same with the Caspian Sea! 18 out of 23 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
6. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 28 2008, 2:37 AM EST
This is one of those ideas that grab you because they sound so big and exciting... but reading up on it suggests it's not a goer: http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=656
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Posted Anonymously |
7. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 28 2008, 4:40 AM EST
Has anybody done an environmental impact assessment for this? Think of the lizards that will loose their habitat. Think of the desert flowers that will no longer bloom. Think of the feral weeds and animals that will proliferate. A terrible idea.
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Randall_Berger |
8. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 28 2008, 2:44 PM EST
This occurs naturally every few years ... the lake is already salty and seabirds congregate there. It is simply making this a permanent occurrence.Another version has rivers from Northern Queensland diverted to the centre through canals, but I prefer the Southern Ocean version ... a lot closer and plentiful ... 18 out of 21 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
9. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Feb 28 2008, 10:06 PM EST
"This occurs naturally every few years ... the lake is already salty and seabirds congregate there. It is simply making this a permanent occurrence."So the feral weeds can then prosper. 7 out of 27 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
10. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 7 2008, 12:49 AM EST
it's obvious noone from WA has yet contributed. We have fresh water to spare in northern WA and in a similar fashion a periodic suggestion occurs involving pipeline to Perth, thru an inland route, opening up much of the arid interior - of which we have the most. Perhaps a collaborative effort? And as far as weeds go, better some plants than none.
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Posted Anonymously |
11. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 8 2008, 7:29 PM EST
The primary scource of rain for the south east of Australia comes from the Bight via the SE Trade winds. Because the interior of Australia is usually hot, the area is almost always a region of high pressure. The cold fronts from the Bight are then pushed away into the Tasman. Look at any isobaric chart.When Lake Eyre flooded in 1974 it got 10 cubic kilometres from the Thompson/Coopers Creek and the Warburton. 10000 years ago it was 450 cubic kilometres. Lake Eyre (or should I say The Great Australian Sea) It would have covered about a third of the State and did flow to the sea before an earthquake raised the Flinders Ranges and chopped it off. Such a large area of water would evaporate a lot daily. This would cool the air above which would lower the air pressure thereby making the chance of the rain bearing Trade winds pushing further north than it does now. . As well as bringing the northern waters to the Lake, a channel from the Spencer Gulf to Lake Torrens should be dug STRAIGHT THROUGH the Flinders Ranges. This could be done more cheaply than most realise. The rock crunchers that dug the Chunnel (CHUGs) could be used since they are idle. An example of "can't do" attitude is Malcolm Turnbull's statement where he states "The topography of the land between Lake Eyre and for example the Spencer Gulf means piped water would need to be lifted to a height exceeding 150m above sea level. Pipeline construction over long distances is expensive to build. Significant amounts of electricity would be required to pump the water uphill. This is because water is a heavy commodity - 1000 litres of water weighs a metric tonne, and cannot be compressed." Malcolm, through the ranges, not over it. 30 out of 31 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Edgo |
12. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 14 2008, 5:43 PM EDT
Great idea, only problem is the water will be extremely salty for recreation.
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Posted Anonymously |
13. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 15 2008, 9:27 AM EDT
Link a channel from Spencer Gulf sloping down to fill Lake Torrens. Link another from the lake back to the sea to start filling when Lake Torrens reaches sea level.(.Aim for 25cu.km/year(37metrecube/min). For this to occur, I estimate at least a volume of 200 cu.km. Implement the Bradfield Scheme in its original form i. e. bring the northern waters down through the Thompson (without diverting too much to rice,cotton etc)and through a dredged Diamantina/Coopers etc and bring 50 cu.km/year into the lake. Evaporation losses would be severe in the first year but expansion of the total covered area would eventually combine Eyre(N&S).,Torrens and Gardiner.As I have argued above, this would modify the pattern of the SW fronts.CSIRO published a report in 2003 stating that filling Lake Eyre would not affect climate.. And they were correct.Ergo, the Bradfield plan was a crock. Bradfield never said "fill"; he said "flood". There would be a salt gradient from North to South(as there once was). I envisage an area of 100.000 sq. km approx covered by water. I contend the cooling from evaporation(estimate 50 cu.km?year) would modify the SW winds to push further north. The evaporated water will not,as some have stated, form clouds. It is just too hot. 23 out of 25 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Randall_Berger |
14. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 15 2008, 6:38 PM EDT
"Has anybody done an environmental impact assessment for this? Think of the lizards that will loose their habitat. Think of the desert flowers that will no longer bloom. Think of the feral weeds and animals that will proliferate. A terrible idea. " This is already a great salt lake ecology, so if anything, the native flora and fauna would increase. 74 out of 74 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
15. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Mar 19 2008, 4:21 AM EDT
This set of ideas sound plausible to me, and seems to be well worth pursuing.If Climate Change is going to make Aus. even drier and hotter, as seems likely, and the sea levels rise by 5m within the next 30 years (my prediction!), this makes even more sense. 50 out of 51 found this valuable. Do you? |
Hemoon |
16. RE: Australian Inland Sea ... aka The Bradfield Scheme
Apr 21 2008, 12:49 AM EDT
CETO technology, now being tested off Fremantle WA, uss wave power to pump seawater.When connected to turbines this flow can be used to generate electricity, create fresh water through membrane technology and involvesan initial cost that is then recouped over the life (30+years) of the equipment. Water gained through this method could be used to recharge our faiing aquifers for storage and then pumped to the surface when needed (as in Sallisbury SA). Water regained from the sea and returned to the earth is the safest way to contain it and maintain the existing natural balance. We have the technoloy to deliver water efficiently to any area chosen for reaforrestation and irrigation. The difference in my suggestion is that we generate electricity, do nothing to the existing landform, create a potentially benificial aquaculture side benefit, and loose none of the gained water to evaporation. The project, once infrastraucure is in place, has a nil energy cost, creates net carbon free energy output (which creates carbn credits that could be used to pay down project costs as well as power sales) and relys on nothing outside the use of existing proven technology. Win,win,win. all the way down the line. 17 out of 22 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Hemoon |
17. CETO on Catalyst
Apr 21 2008, 1:18 AM EDT
Here's a link to ABC TV's report on Cetohttp://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/10/17/2055750.htm?site=catalyst&topic=latest 14 out of 14 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Posted Anonymously |
18. RE: Australian Inland Sea
May 1 2008, 11:40 PM EDT
Australia did have at one time a vast inland sea. See this CSIRO geological report at:http://www.csiro.au/promos/ozadvances/series5upsdowns.html http://www.csiro.au/promos/ozadvances/Series5UpsDownsMovB.html This was around 100 million years ago. Sea water in the middle of Australia is not foreign to this continent at all. 22 out of 23 found this valuable. Do you? |
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old-bonez |
19. RE: Australian Inland Sea
Jun 1 2008, 1:40 AM EDT
For what it's worth. The Bradfield Scheme in it's time was brilliant thinking at a time when real research was unavailable. There are many out there who are very forward and say that it simply will not work whilst others say it will because of this or that. Isn't there someone who will actually say that this scheme won't supply the results as hoped but it should trigger an improvement in the amount of rain that falls because of it by a approximate percentage ... It can't simply do absolutely nothing. On the other hand Hemoon has discussed using wave action technology to top up the failing aquifers. What a great way to increase the licensed irrigators in the inland itself. OK... Back to Lake Eyre... perhaps this same technology could be used to fill reservoirs in Northern Qld. When the monsoon rain falls a water release could add to the flows of rivers that will flow into the lake. Everybody along the way would benefit from this. The trick would be to not add to the peak amount of water but to the length of time of the flow itself. The other scheme of turning the flow of a couple of northern Qld rivers around would also help. Fresh water for the interior... not salt! Old-Bonez! 17 out of 18 found this valuable. Do you? |
