Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for ....Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for our recent past (hundreds to thousands of years) and the Last Glacial Maximum. These records are expected to provide a more accurate understanding of Earth’s long-term responses to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.Read moreRead less
Exploring the Black Box of Archaeal Methane Metabolism. This project aims to build on new discoveries about how ancient microorganisms belonging to the Archaea that process methane, a significant greenhouse gas. This project expects to generate new data about how these novel Archaea are able to generate/digest methane and other non-methane carbon substrates through metabolic pathways using an interdisciplinary approach. Expected outcomes of this Project include improved techniques to grow these ....Exploring the Black Box of Archaeal Methane Metabolism. This project aims to build on new discoveries about how ancient microorganisms belonging to the Archaea that process methane, a significant greenhouse gas. This project expects to generate new data about how these novel Archaea are able to generate/digest methane and other non-methane carbon substrates through metabolic pathways using an interdisciplinary approach. Expected outcomes of this Project include improved techniques to grow these ancient microorganisms, investigate how they process methane, and understand how they contribute to the global carbon cycle. This will provide significant benefits, such as understanding the how the cycling of methane and non-methane compounds by novel Archaea can be manipulated in anaerobic environments.Read moreRead less
Extinct hominins and early humans on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. This project aims to research the archaic hominins of Sulawesi and discover when and why they became extinct. Recent discoveries of ancient stone tools on Sulawesi show that an archaic and as-yet unidentified hominin species inhabited this remote Indonesian island before modern humans arrived around 50,000 years ago. This project will search for the earliest traces of habitation, attempt to uncover the Sulawesi hominins’ fos ....Extinct hominins and early humans on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. This project aims to research the archaic hominins of Sulawesi and discover when and why they became extinct. Recent discoveries of ancient stone tools on Sulawesi show that an archaic and as-yet unidentified hominin species inhabited this remote Indonesian island before modern humans arrived around 50,000 years ago. This project will search for the earliest traces of habitation, attempt to uncover the Sulawesi hominins’ fossil record, and look for evidence of hominin-modern human interaction on this island. This project is expected to illuminate a previously unknown chapter in the human story.Read moreRead less
Past to future changes in ocean dynamics and biogeochemistry. This project aims to understand the impact of changes in ocean circulation on marine biogeochemistry, climate and ultimately the Antarctic ice-sheet by combining transient simulations of the last glacial cycle performed with an Earth system model incorporating the compilation of paleoproxy records. The oceanic circulation has varied over the last glacial cycle (~140,000 years) and is expected to change over the coming centuries due t ....Past to future changes in ocean dynamics and biogeochemistry. This project aims to understand the impact of changes in ocean circulation on marine biogeochemistry, climate and ultimately the Antarctic ice-sheet by combining transient simulations of the last glacial cycle performed with an Earth system model incorporating the compilation of paleoproxy records. The oceanic circulation has varied over the last glacial cycle (~140,000 years) and is expected to change over the coming centuries due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. The project will measure future changes in oceanic circulation on ocean acidification and oxygen content with a state-of-the-art high-resolution ocean carbon cycle model. This will lead to improved understanding of processes and feedbacks within the Earth system.Read moreRead less
Roles of deep-Earth fluid cycling in the generation of intra-continental magmatism. This project aims to test a provocative and potentially ground-breaking hypothesis that fluid released from subducted oceanic slabs and stored in the mantle transition zone, may trigger or control some major intra-plate geotectonic phenomena. It aims to provide a self-consistent model that links geological processes occurring at plate boundaries with those far-field effects well away from plate boundaries via dee ....Roles of deep-Earth fluid cycling in the generation of intra-continental magmatism. This project aims to test a provocative and potentially ground-breaking hypothesis that fluid released from subducted oceanic slabs and stored in the mantle transition zone, may trigger or control some major intra-plate geotectonic phenomena. It aims to provide a self-consistent model that links geological processes occurring at plate boundaries with those far-field effects well away from plate boundaries via deep-Earth fluid cycling. The outcomes of this project aim to help to better understand links between plume and plate tectonic processes in the first-order dynamic system of Earth, and identify ways to improve success in future mineral exploration.Read moreRead less
Size matters: elephantoid dispersal, evolution, paleoecology and extinction in Asia. This project will investigate the natural history of the once widespread elephant lineages in Asia by studying their fossils and unlocking chemical archives from their teeth. It will provide new insights into their adaptive responses to climate change and life on islands, interactions with humans and the factors that eventually led to their demise.
Transforming carbon onions into nanodiamond: technological and astrophysical implications. This project will develop a novel approach for converting carbon into nanometre-sized diamond. Control of the process will lead to a new technology for making diamond coatings and insight into how nanodiamonds form in space.
Measuring mantle hydrogen to map ore fluids and model plate tectonics. The goal of this project is to use magnetotellurics to measure mantle hydrogen content to aid in the discovery of new mineral deposits. Hydrogen controls the strength of Earth’s mantle and is a vital component of the systems that form giant ore deposits. However, mantle hydrogen content is unconstrained. Ore-forming fluids hydrate the mantle pathways on which they travel. The first aim of this project is to image these fluid ....Measuring mantle hydrogen to map ore fluids and model plate tectonics. The goal of this project is to use magnetotellurics to measure mantle hydrogen content to aid in the discovery of new mineral deposits. Hydrogen controls the strength of Earth’s mantle and is a vital component of the systems that form giant ore deposits. However, mantle hydrogen content is unconstrained. Ore-forming fluids hydrate the mantle pathways on which they travel. The first aim of this project is to image these fluid pathways to improve mineral exploration techniques. Plate tectonic models assume that the lithospheric mantle is dehydrated but existing data from magnetotellurics and mantle rocks show high hydrogen contents. The second aim of this project is to create a map of the hydrogen content of the plates, which may lead to new models for continental evolution and mantle dynamics.Read moreRead less
The stability and predictability of the Southern Hemisphere coupled ocean-atmosphere climate system. Our ability to adapt to and manage the effects of a changing climate is limited by our understanding of the ocean's response to changes in the atmospheric circulation. This project will establish the basis for the predictability of the climate system and provide state-of-the-art forecasts for climate adaptation.
An advanced multiphase model for geometrical evolution and anomalous flows. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources are utilised for energy security and environmental stewardship. Simulation developments and fundamental insights on multiphase porous media flows provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various applications, such as geological storage of CO2, oil/gas recovery, groundw ....An advanced multiphase model for geometrical evolution and anomalous flows. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources are utilised for energy security and environmental stewardship. Simulation developments and fundamental insights on multiphase porous media flows provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various applications, such as geological storage of CO2, oil/gas recovery, groundwater remediation and energy storage. This will provide benefit to the oil/gas industry which spends hundreds of millions of dollars on reservoir modelling; the proposed research will provide the fundamental insights necessary to advance the utility of these simulations and other porous media applications for energy storage.Read moreRead less