Wortupaite (IMA2022–107) is a new hydrated magnesium nickel tellurite mineral with a zemannite-like structure, described from the Wortupa gold mine, South Australia, Australia. Wortupaite forms needles up to 25 μm in length, generally clustered and sometimes in blocky masses of shorter (10‒15 μm) crystals. Wortupaite is found growing on melonite, from which the component nickel and tellurium are derived, and is associated with calcite. The strongest powder diffraction lines are [dobsÅ(Iobs)(hkl)]: 8.059 (93) (100), 4.034 (92) (200), 2.832 (43) (211 and 121), 2.769 (100) (202) and 1.920 (45) (213 and 123). The empirical formula of wortupaite as determined by electron probe microanalysis is (Mg0.57Ni0.39Mn0.04)Σ1(Ni2+1.87Fe3+0.13)Σ2(Te4+O3)3⋅3H2O, simplified to the ideal formula of MgNi2+2(Te4+O3)3⋅3H2O with H2O content calculated from the crystal structure. The average crystal structure of wortupaite was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation (R1 = 0.0558 for 100 independent reflections). Wortupaite is hexagonal, crystallising in the space group P63/m, with a = 9.2215(13) Å, c = 7.5150(15) Å, V = 553.43(19) Å3 and Z = 2. Wortupaite has a microporous structure, with the negatively charged zemannite-like framework formed by Te4+O3 trigonal pyramids and Ni2+O6 octahedra. For charge balance, Mg2+ and Ni2+ dominant sites are assumed to be located on central sites in the channels, coordinated by 6 H2O groups. An OW site was refined around the Mg2+ dominant site, but OW position(s) were not locatable around the Ni2+ dominant site. A discussion of the different models for crystallographic arrangement of channel species is provided, taking into account possible Fourier truncation effects. Unlike the other four minerals with zemannite-like structures which have a near 50% split of divalent and trivalent framework cations, wortupaite is the first natural phase to have only divalent cations in the framework sites.

Professor Bill Cornish was a legal scholar of vision, who was well ahead of his time in two widely disparate areas, and in both he became a recognised leader and authority: legal history and intellectual property law. In the former he applied what was then the novel approach of stressing the contemporary social conditions to which the extant law had to apply - something that modern commentators could well ponder, but which he was honest enough to acknowledge was also criticised by some of his peers at the time. As for intellectual property law, his place as the ‘father of intellectual property teaching and scholarship in the UK’ was acclaimed by his admission as a Fellow of the British Academy in 1984, and his place as the inaugural occupant of the Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law, at Cambridge (1995–2004). Both these activities had their origins in Bill's long stay (1970–1990) as professor of law at the London School of Economics, where he was influenced by their emphasis on societal tertiary education, and his friendship with the renowned Anglo-German scholar Otto Kahn-Freund, respectively. In reality, though, Bill's upbringing in the unique milieu of immediate post-War South Australia, which he describes as a backwater of tranquility, and his urge to see Europe were the roots of his expansive vision of the law. Lesley Dingle interviewed Bill for the Eminent Scholars Archive (ESA) in 2015, nine years after his retirement, and these observations of this remarkable scholar are based on those conversations, and her readings of his works.

Major progress has recently been made regarding the biostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy and isotope chemostratigraphy of the lower Cambrian successions in South Australia, in particular of the Arrowie Basin, which has facilitated robust global stratigraphic correlations. However, lack of faunal and sedimentological data from the lower Cambrian Normanville Group in the eastern Stansbury Basin, South Australia – particularly the transition from the Fork Tree Limestone to the Heatherdale Shale – has prevented resolution of the age range, lithofacies, depositional environments and regional correlation of this succession. Here we present detailed sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and chemostratigraphic data through this transition in the eastern Stansbury Basin. Three lithofacies are identified that indicate a deepening depositional environment ranging from inner-mid-shelf (Lithofacies A and B) to outer shelf (Lithofacies C). New δ13C chemostratigraphic data capture global positive excursion III within the lower Heatherdale Shale. Recovered bradoriid Sinskolutella cuspidata supports an upper Stage 2 (Micrina etheridgei Zone). The combined geochemistry and palaeontology data reveal that the lower Heatherdale Shale is older than previously appreciated. This integrated study improves regional chronostratigraphic resolution and interbasinal correlation, and better constrains the depositional setting of this important lower Cambrian package from the eastern Stansbury Basin, South Australia.

Angastonite, ideally CaMgAl2(PO4)2(OH)4-7H2O, is a newly defined mineral from the Penrice marble quarry, South Australia. The mineral occurs as snow-white crusts and coatings up to ∼1 mm thick associated with minyulite, perhamite, crandallite and apatite-(CaF). The streak is white, the lustre is pearly and the estimated hardness is 2 on the Mohs scale. Angastonite forms platy crystals with the forms {010} (prominent), {101}, {101} and {100} (rare), and also occurs as replacements of an unknown pre-existing mineral. There is one cleavage direction on ﹛010} and no twinning has been observed. Angastonite is triclinic, P1̄, with a = 13.303(1) Å, b = 27.020(2) Å, c = 6.1070(7) Å α = 89.64(1)°, β = 83.44(1)°, γ = 80.444(8)°, V = 2150.5(4) Å3, with Z = 6. The mineral is optically biaxial (+), with refractive indices of α = 1.566(2), β = 1.572(2) and γ 1.584(2) and with 2Vmeas = 70(2)° and 2Vcalc = 71°. Orientation: X ≈ a, Y ≈ b, Z ≈ c; with crystals showing parallel extinction and no axial dispersion. Dmeas is 2.47 g/cm3, whilst Dcalc is 2.332 g/cm3. The strongest four powder-diffraction lines [d in Å, (I/I°), hkl] are: 13.38, (100), 020; 11.05, (25), 11̄0; 5.73, (23), 101, 230 and 111; 8.01, (21), 130. Angastonite is likely to be related to the montgomeryite-group members and have a similar crystal structure, based on slabs of phosphate tetrahedra and Al octahedra.

Decrespignyite-(Y) is a new copper yttrium rare earth carbonate chloride hydrate from the Paratoo copper mine, near Yunta, Olary district, South Australia. Decrespignyite-(Y) occurs as blue crusts, coatings and fillings in thin fissures on the slatey country rock. Individual pseudohexagonal platelets are typically 10–50 µm in maximum dimension and are often curved. Associated minerals include caysichite-(Y), donnayite-(Y), malachite and kamphaugite-(Y). Electron microprobe and CHN analyses gave: Y2O3 42.2; La2O3 0.1; Pr2O3 0.1; Nd2O3 1.3; Sm2O3 1.0; Gd2O3 4; Tb2O3 0.4; Dy2O3 3.7; Ho2O3 2.6; Er2O3 2.5; CaO 0.5; CuO 10.9; Cl 3.0; CO2 19.8; H2O 10.8, yielding an empirical formula of (Y3.08Gd0.22Dy0.16Ho0.11Er0.10Nd0.06Sm0.05Tb0.02La0.02Pr0.01Ca0.08)∑3.91Cu1.12(CO3)3.70-Cl0.7(OH)5.79·2.4H2O. The simplified formula is (Y,REE)4Cu(CO3)4Cl(OH)5·2H2O. The mineral is royal blue to turquoise-blue in colour, transparent, with a pearly to vitreous lustre and a pale blue streak. No cleavage was observed but the morphology suggests that cleavage would be on [010]. The Mohs' hardness is estimated to be 4. The strongest lines in the X-ray powder pattern are {dobs (Iobs) (hkl)} 22.79 (30) (010); 7.463 (30) (001); 7.086 (50) (011); 6.241 (100) (021); 4.216 (30) (12); 3.530 (40) (022); 3.336 (30) (032); 2.143 (30) (222, 01). The powder diffraction pattern was indexed on a monoclinic cell with a = 8.899(6), b = 22.77(2), c = 8.589(6)Å, β = 120.06(5)°, V = 1506.3(7) Å3 and Z = 4. The structure of the new mineral could not be determined but powder diffraction data indicate the space group is P2, Pm or P2/m. The measured density is 3.64(2) g/cm3 and the calculated density is 3.645 g/cm3. Decrespignyite-(Y) is biaxial negative with α = 1.604(4) and γ = 1.638(3) with β very close to γ pleochroism is medium strong; X very pale bluish, Y and Z bluish (with greenish tint). Decrespignyite-(Y) is a supergene mineral which precipitated from mildly basic carbonated ground waters. The mineral is named after Robert Champion de Crespigny, a prominent figure in the Australian mining industry and chancellor of the University of Adelaide.

Arsenoflorencite-(Ce) has been found at three localities in Australia—two in South Australia, and one in Queensland. It occurs as colourless to light brown scalenohedral crystals and crystal fragments in stream sediments. Electron microprobe analysis gave Ce2O3 12.97, La2O3 8.62, Pr2O3 3.35, Nd2O3 2.40, Gd2O3 1.38, Sm2O3 0.38, SrO 1.99, Al2O3 28.75, As2O5 27.02, P2O5 4.68, SO3 1.21%; calc, H2O 9.36%; total 102.11%. The simplified formula is REAl3(AsO4)2(OH)6, with Ce as the dominant RE element. Arsenoflorencite-(Ce) is rhombohedral, has space group R3m with αhex. 7.029 and chex. 16.517 Å, and Z = 3. Strongest X-ray powder diffraction lines are: 3.513(6)(110), 2.963(10)(113), 2.201(4)(107), 1.905(5)(303) and 1.753 Å(4)(220). Density is 4.096 (meas.) and 4.091 (calc.) g/cm3. Hardness is VHN10 170. Arsenoflorencite-(Ce) is brittle, breaks with a conchoidal fracture, and has no perceptible cleavage. The mineral is colourless in transmitted light, uniaxial positive, and has ω 1.739 and ɛ 1.745 (λ = 589 nm). Arsenoflorencite-(Ce) is the arsenate analogue of florencite-(Ce), and the name was chosen to indicate this relationship.

The type specimen of peisleyite has been reinvestigated by a combination of scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. Morphological investigation showed that mats of peisleyite crystals, individually <3 μm across, are intergrown with wavellite veinlets to form the white cryptocrystalline material that is typical of ‘peisleyite’. New EPMA data (mean of 12 analyses) gave the empirical formula of peisleyite as (Na1.69Ca0.18)Σ1.87(Al9.04Fe0.03)Σ9.07[(P6.28S1.38Si0.25)O4]Σ7.91(OH)6.66·27.73H2O, or ideally Na2Al9[(P,S)O4]8(OH)6·28H2O. The associated wavellite was found to be F-rich. Synchrotron powder data were indexed and refined and gave the following unit cell: P1̄, a = 9.280(19), b = 11.976(19), c = 13.250(18) Å, α = 91.3(1), β = 75.6(1), γ = 67.67(1)°, V = 1308(5) Å3 and Z = 4. These data are significantly different to those reported in the original description of peisleyite.

The Paratoo copper deposit, located in the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Adelaide Geosyncline, South Australia, produced around 360 tons of Cu between 1888 and 1967 from oxidized ores. The deposit is located in the core of a breached, doubly plunging anticline, near a zone of disruption containing brecciated Adelaidean sedimentary rocks and dolerite (‘Paratoo Diapir’), and hosted in dolomitic shales of the Neoproterozoic Burra Formation. Near the surface, the mineralization resides mainly in deeply weathered quartz-magnetite-sulphide (pyrite, chalcopyrite) veins (⩽10 cm wide). At depth, drill cores reveal disseminated magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, copper sulphide and native copper associated with extensive potassic alteration. K-Na-rich fluids also affected the dolerite in the ‘Paratoo diapir’, resulting in the precipitation of K-feldspar, dravite and K-bearing chabazite-Na. The most likely scenario for the genesis of the Paratoo deposit involves circulation of basinal fluids, focusing into the ‘Paratoo Diapir’, and ore precipitation through neutralization by fluid-rock interaction with the dolomitic shales hosting the mineralization.

The Paratoo deposit is deeply weathered, with malachite and chrysocolla (± tenorite and cuprite) containing the bulk of the copper recovered from the shallow workings. A diverse assemblage of secondary REE-bearing carbonate minerals, including the new species decrespignyite-(Y) and paratooite-(La), is associated with the weathered base metal and magnetite ores. Whole-rock geochemical analyses of fresh and mineralized host rock and of vein material reveals that the mineralization is associated with a strong, albeit highly variable, enrichment in light rare earth elements (LREE). This association indicates that REE and base metals were introduced by the same hydrothermal fluid. The strong negative Ce anomaly found in secondary REE minerals and mineralized rock samples suggests an upgrade of the REE contents in the weathering zone, insoluble Ce4+ being left behind.

The Fe-oxide-REE-base metal association at Paratoo is also characteristic of the giant Mesoproterozoic Fe oxide copper gold deposit of Olympic Dam, located 350 km to the NW. A similar association is found in the Palaeozoic deposits of the Mt Painter Inlier, 300 km to the NNE. The widespread occurrence of this elemental association in the Province probably reflects the geochemistry of the basement, which contains numerous Mesoproterozoic granites enriched in REE and U.

Paratooite-(La) is a new lanthanum-dominant rare-earth copper carbonate from the Paratoo copper mine, near Yunta, Olary district, South Australia. Paratooite-(La) occurs as sheaves and radiating sprays of blade-like to tabular pale blue crystals in thin fissures in a slaty country rock. Individual crystals are typically 50–200 μm in maximum dimension but <5 μm thick. Associated minerals include donnayite-(Y), kamphaugite-(Y), and bastnäsite-(La). Electron microprobe and CHN analyses gave: La2O3 26.47; Pr2O3 7.74; Nd2O3 8.15; Sm2O3 0.66; Gd2O3 0.85; Y2O3 0.72; CaO 7.57; SrO 3.15; Na2O 3.3; CuO 5.77; F 0.24; CO2 32.05; NO2 1.12; -O=F -0.10; sum 100.03, yielding an empirical formula of (La3.54Ca2.94Na2.32Nd1.05Pr1.03Sr0.66Y0.14Gd0.10Sm0.08)Σ11.86Cu1.58(C15.84N0.53)O47.76F0.24. The simplified formula is (REE ,Ca,Na,Sr)6Cu(CO3)8 or possibly REE3(Ca,Sr)2NaCu(CO3)8. The mineral is pale turquoise-blue to pale blue in colour, transparent, with a pearly to vitreous lustre and a pale blue streak. No cleavage was observed but the morphology and TEM studies indicate a cleavage parallel to ﹛100﹜. The Mohs hardness is estimated to be 4. The strongest lines in the X-ray powder pattern are [dobs (Iobs) (hkl )]: 5.047 (53) (200); 4.786 (49) (021); 3.957 (43) (220); 3.468 (43) (012, 221); 2.927 (100) (202); 2.530 (52) (241); 2.344 (22) (420,103); 2.232 (20) (421). A synchrotron powder diffraction pattern was indexed on a primitive orthorhombic cell with a = 10.0862(5), b = 12.8088(6), c = 7.2360(4) Å, V= 934.8(1) Å3 and Z = 2. The crystal structure of the new mineral could not be determined but powder diffraction data indicate the space group is probably P 222, Pmmm , P 2221 or Pmm2. The measured density is 3.68(3) g/cm3 and the calculated density is 3.78 g/cm3. Paratooite-(La) is biaxial negative with α = 1.605(3), β = 1.696(3) and γ = 1.752(2); pleochroism is medium strong; X very pale bluish, Y and Z bluish (with greenish tint) with absorption Z ≈ Y >> X. Paratooite-(La) is a supergene mineral which precipitated from mildly basic carbonated groundwaters. The mineral is named for the type locality.

Gatehouseite is a new manganese hydroxy phosphate from Iron Monarch, South Australia. The new mineral occurs as radiating clusters of pale yellow, and yellow to pale brownish orange bladed crystals up to 100 ~tm in length. The crystals are elongated along [010] and the principal forms are {102}, {110} and {001}. Gatehouseite also occurs as overgrowths on prismatic arsenoclasite crystals. Associated with gatehouseite are baryte, shigaite, manganoan ferroan calcite, hausmannite and hematite. Gatehouseite appears to have formed at low temperature by the interaction of phosphorus-rich fluids on hausmannite in carbonate-rich fractures in the hematite ore. Electron microprobe analysis yielded: MnO 64.42, FeO 0.19, CuO 0.03, ZnO 0.03, PbO 0.05, Al2O3 0.10, P2O5 22.18, V2O5 0.38, As2O5 3.58, H2O (6.44%). These data gave an empirical formula of Mn5.09Fe0.01Al0.01(P1.75As0.17-V0.02)∑1.94O8(OH)4.00, calculated on the basis of 12 oxygen atoms. The simplified formula is Mn5(PO4)2(OH)4. The mineral is transparent with a pale yellow streak, an adamantine lustre and an estimated Mohs hardness of 4. The crystals exhibit a distinct cleavage on {010} and have a splintery fracture. The strongest lines in the X-ray powder pattern are (dobs, Iobs, hkl) 4.48 (10) (004); 4.03 (10) (104); 2.900 (100) (11.5); 2.853 (70) (106); 2.801 (50) (021); 2.702 (80) (303); 2.022 (15) (322); 1.608(15) (330). These data were indexed on an orthorhombic cell, with a = 9.097(2), b = 5.693(2), c = 18.002(10) Å and a volume of 932.4(8) Å3; the space group is probably P212121. For Z = 4 and using the empirical formula, the calculated density is 3.74 g/cm3. Optical properties could not be determined in full; two refractive indices are 1.74(1) and 1.76(1) (white light); pleochroism is distinct from brown to near colourless. The crystals are length slow with parallel extinction. The name is for Dr. Bryan Michael Kenneth Cummings Gatehouse (1932-), crystal chemist of Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Middlebackite is a new supergene mineral formed in the upper levels of the Iron Monarch quarry, South Australia. It occurs as aggregates of blue, prismatic crystals up to 0.3 mm across comprising individual crystals up to 0.05 mm in length associated with atacamite and mottramite. Crystals are translucent with a vitreous lustre and have a pale blue streak. Middlebackite is brittle with one perfect cleavage and uneven fracture. Mohs hardness is ~2. The calculated density is 3.64 g cm–3. Crystals are biaxial (+) with α = 1.663(4), β = 1.748(4) and γ = 1.861(4) (measured in white light). The calculated 2V is 86.7°. Pleochroism is X = colourless, Y = very pale blue and Z = dark sky blue; Z > Y > X. The empirical formula unit, based on six oxygen atoms per formula unit is Cu2.00(C2O4)Cl0.02(OH)1.98. Middlebackite is monoclinic, space group P21/c with a = 7.2597(15), b = 5.7145(11), c = 5.6624(11) Å, β = 104.20(3)°, V = 227.73(8) Å3 and Z = 2. The five strongest lines in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are [d(Å), (I), (hkl)]: 7.070 (16) (100), 3.739 (100) (11$\bar{1}$), 2.860 (18) (020), 2.481 (12) (12$\bar{1}$) and 2.350 (9) (300). The crystal structure was refined from synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R1 = 0.0341 for 596 observed reflections with F0 > 4σ(F0). The structure is based on sheets of edge- and corner-sharing octahedra parallel to the bc plane. Sheets link in the a direction via oxalate anions.

In southeastern South Australia, the River Murray debouches through a coastal barrier separating euryhaline estuarine-lagoonal waters from the Southern Ocean. Depending upon the relative freshwater outflow of the river and ingress of the ocean, water salinity varies greatly within the lower estuary. Ammonia beccarii and Elphidium articulatum are euryhaline species of foraminifera that characterize the estuary and back-barrier Coorong Lagoon. The inner-shelf marine environment hosts an assemblage in which Discorbis dimidiatus, E. crispum, E. macelliforme, and various cibicidid species predominate. In cored sediments recovered from the shallow lower estuary, the relative abundance of A. beccarii + E. articulatum was compared with that of D. dimidiatus + E. crispum + E. macelliforme + other species. These data, and AMS radiocarbon ages determined for foraminifera and ostracods, provide evidence of a change from maximum oceanic influence (5255 ± 60 yr B.P.) to maximum estuarine influence (3605 ± 70 yr B.P.). Over this same time interval, sea level fell relatively by about 2 m. However, the event was also contemporaneous with falling water levels in several Victorian lakes, and it is thus attributed to onset of climatic aridity. Reduced precipitation in the River Murray catchment and reduced freshwater outflow enhanced development of the flood-tide delta and constriction of the mouth.

Ross River virus (RRV) infection is the most common notifiable vector-borne disease in Australia, with around 6000 cases annually. This study aimed to examine the relationship between climate variability and notified RRV infections in the Riverland region of South Australia in order to set up an early warning system for the disease in temperate-climate regions. Notified data of RRV infections were collected by the South Australian Department of Health. Climatic variables and monthly river flow were provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and South Australian Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation over the period 1992–2004. Spearman correlation and time-series-adjusted Poisson regression analysis were performed. The results indicate that increases in monthly mean minimum and maximum temperatures, monthly total rainfall, monthly mean Southern Oscillation Index and monthly flow in the Murray River increase the likelihood, but an increase in monthly mean relative humidity decreases the likelihood, of disease transmission in the region, with different time-lag effects. This study demonstrates that a useful early warning system can be developed for local regions based on the statistical analysis of readily available climate data. These early warning systems can be utilized by local public health authorities to develop disease prevention and control activities.

In this ingenious co-operative case study, archaeologists and Indigenous peoples use geophysical survey to scan suitable places for the reburial of repatriated human remains. The process is also building a procedure for the low impact and respectful research of early Indigenous burial locations.