The Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program is the most extensive scientific study to date to examine the impact of industrial air emissions on the rock art engravings of Murujuga, an area covering the Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia.
Key messages in this summary report:
- The program will develop air quality standards applicable to the protection of the rock art.
- The program is the largest of its kind in the world in terms of the number of study sites and the number of measurements being recorded.
- Spatial trends have been observed for some air pollutants in the work to date, but longer‑term data are still needed.
- Where possible, the research builds on data collected in previous smaller studies at Murujuga.
- Data collected in the first year of observation do not permit any firm conclusions to be drawn about trends in rock surface condition and any relationship to air quality over time. Each successive year of data collection greatly increases the statistical power of the study to detect such trends.
- Laboratory studies exposing rock samples to air emissions will allow air quality standards to be developed in a shorter time than would be possible from field data alone.
The Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program is a joint initiative of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. It is being delivered by Calibre Group and Curtin University, with the assistance of consultants from ArtCare, University of Wollongong, University of Melbourne, and L & K Engineering.
View more information on the Murujuga Rock Art program.
