Control of Hydrophobic Interactions between Gas Bubbles in Water and Their Role in Gas Hydrate Formation and Dissociation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and its release in deep oceans and permafrost regions due to decomposition of methane hydrate, an ice-like crystalline, could potentially pose devastating threat to mankind. On the other hand, methane hydrate represents a vast energy potential to Australia and the remainder of the world. Understanding the mechanism of gas hydrate formati ....Control of Hydrophobic Interactions between Gas Bubbles in Water and Their Role in Gas Hydrate Formation and Dissociation. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and its release in deep oceans and permafrost regions due to decomposition of methane hydrate, an ice-like crystalline, could potentially pose devastating threat to mankind. On the other hand, methane hydrate represents a vast energy potential to Australia and the remainder of the world. Understanding the mechanism of gas hydrate formation and dissociation is of fundamental importance to methane extraction and capture. This project employs state-of-the-art surface analytical tools to explore the mechanism of gas hydrate formation. The outcomes will strengthen Australia's leading role in scientific and technological development in this field. Read moreRead less
Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will co ....Numerical Modelling of Three-dimensional Scour below Offshore Pipelines. Australia's increasing offshore oil and gas exploration has demanded more accurate and reliable methods for evaluating the safety and serviceability of pipelines. Local scour around pipelines is one of the major causes of pipeline failures, and is a major concern in Australian waters. This project not only addresses these concerns in its direct application to the design and management of offshore pipelines, but also will contribute to the nation's development and competitiveness in offshore exploration, and produce high quality research students. The improved design and management of pipelines in Australian waters will reduce the risk of potential environmental damages caused by leaking gas and oil.Read moreRead less
Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their re ....Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their resilience. The research will address longstanding uncertainties and significantly enhance the ability of communities to plan for a changing climate. The project will deliver new data and models of immediate benefit to professional engineers to enable robust engineering decisions which enhance the safety of coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the impact of infiltration on dune erosion under waves & surge. Through a series of controlled laboratory experiments and numerical model development, this project aims to determine and quantify for the first time the role of water infiltration on sandy soil stability at actively eroding coastal sand dunes. This project expects to generate much-needed understanding of fundamental dune erosion processes using innovative instrumentation to obtain continuous measurements of wave-dune in ....Quantifying the impact of infiltration on dune erosion under waves & surge. Through a series of controlled laboratory experiments and numerical model development, this project aims to determine and quantify for the first time the role of water infiltration on sandy soil stability at actively eroding coastal sand dunes. This project expects to generate much-needed understanding of fundamental dune erosion processes using innovative instrumentation to obtain continuous measurements of wave-dune interactions, dune profile evolution, and water infiltration. Expected outcomes of this project include improved coastal engineering models to predict dune erosion under waves and increasing water levels. This should provide significant benefit to the future management of coastal assets using nature-based solutions.Read moreRead less
Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures ....Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures and their foundations is urgently required, and will bring major benefits to Australian coastal facilities. We will create the science to transform our understanding of the mechanisms of wave-induced liquefaction. This will enable engineers to significantly improve the stability and robustness of marine structures.Read moreRead less
Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport ne ....Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport near the sediment-water interface by a single domain approach, and link wave-dirven advective flow and contaminant in marine sediments. The research outcomes will provide a better prediction of the transformation behaviour of pollutants in contaminated sediments.Read moreRead less
Wave-Induced Upper-Ocean Mixing. The wave-induced mixing is of principal importance for air-sea interaction models since heat capacity of 2-3m of the ocean water is equal to the capacity of the entire atmosphere. This project will study and implement such mixing, including the newly described physical phenomenon of wave-induced turbulence, into a variety of models. As a result, wave models and global climate models will be coupled. It is believed that such coupling will enhance our ability to pr ....Wave-Induced Upper-Ocean Mixing. The wave-induced mixing is of principal importance for air-sea interaction models since heat capacity of 2-3m of the ocean water is equal to the capacity of the entire atmosphere. This project will study and implement such mixing, including the newly described physical phenomenon of wave-induced turbulence, into a variety of models. As a result, wave models and global climate models will be coupled. It is believed that such coupling will enhance our ability to predict the impact of global climate change. As part of the project, predictions of changes to the global wave climate will be developed. Such predictions are important to a nation such as Australia where significant population and economic assets are located close to the coast.Read moreRead less
Probing the Australian-Pacific plate boundary: Macquarie Ridge in 3-D. This project aims to advance understanding of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary - the Macquarie Ridge Complex - in the Southern Ocean.
It will be the first study to elucidate the processes generating the world's largest submarine earthquakes not associated with active subduction, which may lead to understanding of how subduction initiates, the mechanism of earthquakes occurring at convergent margins, and more accurate est ....Probing the Australian-Pacific plate boundary: Macquarie Ridge in 3-D. This project aims to advance understanding of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary - the Macquarie Ridge Complex - in the Southern Ocean.
It will be the first study to elucidate the processes generating the world's largest submarine earthquakes not associated with active subduction, which may lead to understanding of how subduction initiates, the mechanism of earthquakes occurring at convergent margins, and more accurate estimates of earthquake and tsunami potential.
This study will put Australia at the forefront of Earth Science research into the evolution of tectonic plates and has the potential to better inform hazard assessment efforts in the region, benefiting policy-makers and at–risk communities along the Australia coastline.Read moreRead less
Scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The costs for scour protection around gravity anchors in a typical offshore project are in the order of 10-20 million dollars. With the increasing number of gravity anchors being installed in Australian waters, significant cost savings are expected to be achieved through improved understanding of local scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The outcomes of this project can be applied directly to the design of new large diameter pipel ....Scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The costs for scour protection around gravity anchors in a typical offshore project are in the order of 10-20 million dollars. With the increasing number of gravity anchors being installed in Australian waters, significant cost savings are expected to be achieved through improved understanding of local scour and scour protection around gravity anchors. The outcomes of this project can be applied directly to the design of new large diameter pipelines, will lead to reduction of scour protection costs and enhancement of safety of the pipeline to be stabilized, and increase the competitiveness of Australian oil and gas industry.Read moreRead less
Coupling models for ocean waves, groundwater and porous seabeds interaction. The ocean waves, groundwater flow and porous seabeds interaction problem is vital for erosion control, saltily and biological activities in coastal regions. Most previous research has investigated the problem from individual aspects, rather than a coupling concept. In this study, we will develop advanced theoretical models for procedures of waves propagation, water table fluctuations and soil behaviour in a porous seabe ....Coupling models for ocean waves, groundwater and porous seabeds interaction. The ocean waves, groundwater flow and porous seabeds interaction problem is vital for erosion control, saltily and biological activities in coastal regions. Most previous research has investigated the problem from individual aspects, rather than a coupling concept. In this study, we will develop advanced theoretical models for procedures of waves propagation, water table fluctuations and soil behaviour in a porous seabed, and couple them in a model. A series of experiments will be conducted for the verification of the theoretical findings. The research outcomes will provide a better understanding of the interaction between ocean wave, groundwater flow and porous seabeds.Read moreRead less