Simulating the evolution of the Southern Ocean and Australia's Palaeo-environment over 40 million years. Our project falls in the first national research priority: an environmentally sustainable Australia and meets two of its primary goals, understanding environmental change and the evolution of biodiversity, and responding to climate change and variability. Our models will represent a major step forward in differentiating between natural processes and anthropological input to present global cli ....Simulating the evolution of the Southern Ocean and Australia's Palaeo-environment over 40 million years. Our project falls in the first national research priority: an environmentally sustainable Australia and meets two of its primary goals, understanding environmental change and the evolution of biodiversity, and responding to climate change and variability. Our models will represent a major step forward in differentiating between natural processes and anthropological input to present global climate change and will address quantitatively how Australia changed from a continent rich in freshwater to the driest inhabited continent throughout the last 40 million years.Read moreRead less
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drilling in the Great Barrier Reef: unlocking the causes, rates and consequences of abrupt sea level and climate change. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and how it will respond to future global climate changes is of fundamental importance to the nation. The project will address this challenge by investigating the submerged fossil coral reefs in the GBR. This will lead to a better understanding of the natural rates, range and forcing mechanisms that control g ....Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drilling in the Great Barrier Reef: unlocking the causes, rates and consequences of abrupt sea level and climate change. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and how it will respond to future global climate changes is of fundamental importance to the nation. The project will address this challenge by investigating the submerged fossil coral reefs in the GBR. This will lead to a better understanding of the natural rates, range and forcing mechanisms that control global sea-level and climate variability (ie. paleo-ENSO), and geo-biological changes affecting the GBR over the last 20,000 years. This project will provide unique insights into the response of the GBR to past environmental stress and improve predictions about the vulnerability of GBR to future global climate changes.Read moreRead less