Stratigraphy and pollen analysis of Bromfield Swamp, north eastern Queensland, Australia

The sequence of vegetation changes evidenced in the Bromfield Swamp pollen diagram is similar to those derived from previous studies at Lake Euramoo and Quincan Crater. It is established that the initial presence of sclerophyll vegetation around the sites was a regional feature of the Atherton Tableland, determined by low precipitation. Throughout the succeeding rain forest phase, precipitation was higher at Bromfield Swamp than at the other sites suggesting that the rainfall gradient across the Tableland has remained constant. The contrast between the relatively simple stratigraphic sequence of deposits in the swamp and the present complex mosaic of vegetation types and depositional environments implies that there has been a great deal of recent interference with the swamp and the surrounding crater slopes.