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RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.

Origin and evolution of the sub-Antarctic islands: the foundation

Papers & Reports

Summary

Sub-Antarctic islands have a diversity of origins in detail but most are volcanic and very young suggesting that they are short-lived and that the distribution would have been very different a few million years ago. They contrast with the common tourist brochure concept of oceanic islands. As the Antarctic Plate is virtually static, the islands seldom show signs of association with long-lived linear island chains and most thus stand alone. Longer-lived islands are either on submarine plateaux or are continental remnants of the dispersion of Gondwana.
The islands are classified in relation to raised sea-floor, transform fault, triple junction, subduction zone, submarine plateau, submerged continent or continental. Many are difficult of access and poorly known geologically. Their geological history controls their many other roles such as sites as observatories, or for study of colonisation, evolution and speciation rates.

 

Keywords:

Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library

Acknowledgement of Country

The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.

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On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.