Limits to ocean surface temperature in future climates. This project aims to investigate whether ocean surface temperatures can increase beyond the 35 degree centigrade threshold for the survival of humans and many other mammal species. Climate models predict that ocean surface temperatures will exceed 35 degree centigrade in parts of the middle east and throughout much of South East Asia in as little as 50 years. This project will use a series of laboratory experiments to test whether parts of ....Limits to ocean surface temperature in future climates. This project aims to investigate whether ocean surface temperatures can increase beyond the 35 degree centigrade threshold for the survival of humans and many other mammal species. Climate models predict that ocean surface temperatures will exceed 35 degree centigrade in parts of the middle east and throughout much of South East Asia in as little as 50 years. This project will use a series of laboratory experiments to test whether parts of the ocean surface can be warmed beyond this limit under natural conditions. Expected outcomes of this project are a new understanding of what sets the maximum surface temperature of the ocean, thereby allowing us to determine whether coastal regions of the humid tropics and sub-tropics will remain habitable for humans and other mammal species in the near future.Read moreRead less
Response of estuaries to climate change: investigating their role as sediment sinks. This project will investigate the effect of climate change on estuaries and nearby ecosystems, settlements and infrastructure. Outcomes include a framework for assessing vulnerability, estimates of sedimentation and carbon sequestration, and models to explore the impact of climate change and adaptation options on estuaries and carbon sequestration.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120103033
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The wet and dry of tropical Australia: past, present and future. This project investigates rivers in the tropical 'Top End' of Australia and how flooding and long-term flow have changed over the recent geologic past. Such knowledge adds important components to our understanding of past climate in Australia, and is crucial in assessing the impacts of future global change on the continent's water resources.
Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will ena ....Pyrogenic carbon sequestration in Australian soils. Pyrogenic Carbon ('charcoal') is a poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle, important because it is resistant to degradation and hence has potential soil carbon sequestration benefits. This project applies a new technique (hydrogen pyrolysis), in combination with spectroscopic techniques, to quantify charcoal in a pan-Australian soil sample set, collected using uniform stratified sampling and preparation protocols. This will enable the mapping of soil charcoal stocks in relation to environmental and soil variables across Australia. The results will enable understanding of the controls on charcoal sequestration potential in Australian soils and contribute to efforts to quantify soil charcoal stocks and dynamics globally.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101518
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,200.00
Summary
Aquifers as climate logs: untangling replenishment mechanisms. This project aims to develop methods that use environmental tracers to provide detailed information about groundwater ages and relate the age structure of groundwater systems to past climatic conditions. The impacts of climate change on groundwater resources is an important question in hydrogeological studies. The age of groundwater within an aquifer represents a detailed log of past recharge events. The project will generate methods ....Aquifers as climate logs: untangling replenishment mechanisms. This project aims to develop methods that use environmental tracers to provide detailed information about groundwater ages and relate the age structure of groundwater systems to past climatic conditions. The impacts of climate change on groundwater resources is an important question in hydrogeological studies. The age of groundwater within an aquifer represents a detailed log of past recharge events. The project will generate methods for assessing the past history of groundwater resources, and provide insight into the viability of groundwater in the future. This will improve understanding of how groundwater resources will behave under a changing climate.Read moreRead less
The application of clumped isotope thermometry to the terrestrial environment. Clumped-isotope geochemistry, a novel method for measuring the temperature of formation of carbonate minerals, will be applied to terrestrial materials (soil carbonates, lake deposits and speleothems) from Australia and New Zealand. The method relates the abundance or 'clumping' of rare isotopes (for example, carbon dioxide of mass 47 as carbon-13, oxygen-18, oxygen-16) extracted from carbonates to their formation tem ....The application of clumped isotope thermometry to the terrestrial environment. Clumped-isotope geochemistry, a novel method for measuring the temperature of formation of carbonate minerals, will be applied to terrestrial materials (soil carbonates, lake deposits and speleothems) from Australia and New Zealand. The method relates the abundance or 'clumping' of rare isotopes (for example, carbon dioxide of mass 47 as carbon-13, oxygen-18, oxygen-16) extracted from carbonates to their formation temperature and is independent of the oxygen-18:oxygen-16 value of the host water from which the mineral precipitated. The materials to be investigated span the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition and will provide robust past temperature estimates and the delta-oxygen-18 values of waters, thereby permitting hydrological balances (for example, precipitation/evaporation) to be constructed. Read moreRead less
Mitigating extreme water supply contamination in bushfire burned catchments. This project involves Melbourne Water, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, and East Gippsland Water in developing tools to evaluate mitigation options that will protect our water supplies and increase the resilience of Australian communities to bushfire. Major bushfires in south-east Australia in 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2013 were followed by storms that triggered extreme soil erosion events in catchments, ....Mitigating extreme water supply contamination in bushfire burned catchments. This project involves Melbourne Water, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, and East Gippsland Water in developing tools to evaluate mitigation options that will protect our water supplies and increase the resilience of Australian communities to bushfire. Major bushfires in south-east Australia in 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2013 were followed by storms that triggered extreme soil erosion events in catchments, contaminating water supplies and damaging critical infrastructure. The capacity to mitigate the risk of interruption to the water supplies of our cities and towns in a more fire-prone future is currently limited by our knowledge of where, why, and how often these post-fire contamination events will occur. This project aims to address these knowledge gaps.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100094
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,000.00
Summary
Single-grain optically-stimulated luminescence and dosimetry instruments to service the Sydney metropolitan and greater New South Wales region. This equipment will support projects that address significant environmental challenges in Australia, such as climate change and variability, coastal management and sustainable river and water management, and that assess the impacts and consequences of these challenges for populations living in environmentally sensitive areas. These projects will build on ....Single-grain optically-stimulated luminescence and dosimetry instruments to service the Sydney metropolitan and greater New South Wales region. This equipment will support projects that address significant environmental challenges in Australia, such as climate change and variability, coastal management and sustainable river and water management, and that assess the impacts and consequences of these challenges for populations living in environmentally sensitive areas. These projects will build on established collaborations in Australia, Antarctica and the south-west Pacific and encourage new collaborations with south-east Asian, Egyptian and Argentinean researchers, which will promote Australian research on a world stage. The use of this equipment will also pioneer new dating methodologies to further enhance Australia's place at the forefront of geochronology.Read moreRead less
Coastal wetlands: are our valuable carbon sinks vulnerable? Saline coastal wetlands store large amounts of carbon and are potentially the most efficient sinks of carbon amongst natural ecosystems. This project will use isotopic tracers to quantify carbon retention within saline coastal wetlands in southeastern Australia, establish the vulnerability of these wetlands to sea-level rise using estimates of sediment accretion and surface elevation change, and use this information to predict the distr ....Coastal wetlands: are our valuable carbon sinks vulnerable? Saline coastal wetlands store large amounts of carbon and are potentially the most efficient sinks of carbon amongst natural ecosystems. This project will use isotopic tracers to quantify carbon retention within saline coastal wetlands in southeastern Australia, establish the vulnerability of these wetlands to sea-level rise using estimates of sediment accretion and surface elevation change, and use this information to predict the distribution of saline coastal wetlands and estimate the carbon sequestration potential of coastal wetlands within a ‘low-carbon economy’. This project will remove impediments to the proper economic evaluation of saline coastal wetlands and enable restoration coastal wetlands to be used to offset carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Hydrologic effects of human and climatic stresses in water-limited areas: role of coevolving runoff, vegetation and landforms for adaptive management. Semiarid rangelands cover over 70 per cent of the Australian continent. These areas already face serious degradation problems. Observed trends in rainfall variability indicate that high rainfall pulses and dry periods will intensify, with serious implications for hydrology and erosion. The impact of these trends in addition to increasing human pre ....Hydrologic effects of human and climatic stresses in water-limited areas: role of coevolving runoff, vegetation and landforms for adaptive management. Semiarid rangelands cover over 70 per cent of the Australian continent. These areas already face serious degradation problems. Observed trends in rainfall variability indicate that high rainfall pulses and dry periods will intensify, with serious implications for hydrology and erosion. The impact of these trends in addition to increasing human pressures could have devastating socioeconomic consequences for these areas. This project, by examining in detail the hydrologic and soil transport processes in semiarid rangelands, will lead to: better understanding of the dryland response to anthropogenic and climatic stresses; and, improvement of strategies and methods for the management and restoration of these areas.Read moreRead less