Uncoupling past salinity and temperature signals in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: implications for climate change in the Australian region. The tropical oceans and in particular the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, immediately to Australia's north, play a key role in modulating global and Australian climate through El-Niño and related phenomena. Using a new microanalysis approach to analyse individual foraminifera from deep-sea cores, we will reconstruct past salinity and temperature variability within the ....Uncoupling past salinity and temperature signals in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: implications for climate change in the Australian region. The tropical oceans and in particular the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, immediately to Australia's north, play a key role in modulating global and Australian climate through El-Niño and related phenomena. Using a new microanalysis approach to analyse individual foraminifera from deep-sea cores, we will reconstruct past salinity and temperature variability within the Warm Pool, and determine changing rainfall patterns and, ENSO and monsoon behaviour under climate conditions that lie outside modern records. This information is vital for understanding past climate and predicting the future intensity and frequency of El-Niño related drought and wet cycles in Australia.Read moreRead less
Experimental and natural constraints on trace element and volatile recycling in subduction zones. The results of this project will provide important constraints on the differentiation of Earth, which ultimately leads to the concentration of elements suitable for mining. Trace element and volatile recycling in subduction zones is an integral part of the research theme 'Journey to the centre of the Earth' which has been identified as a key project (4.4) in the national strategic plan for geoscienc ....Experimental and natural constraints on trace element and volatile recycling in subduction zones. The results of this project will provide important constraints on the differentiation of Earth, which ultimately leads to the concentration of elements suitable for mining. Trace element and volatile recycling in subduction zones is an integral part of the research theme 'Journey to the centre of the Earth' which has been identified as a key project (4.4) in the national strategic plan for geosciences. CO2 recycling in subduction zones is crucial for our understanding of the long-term greenhouse gas variations on Earth. The ANU is one of the world-leading research institutions in experimental petrology and geochemistry, and the outcomes of this project will ensure that Australia remains at the forefront in these disciplines.Read moreRead less
A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal valley evolution in NSW: A magnetic, geochemical, sedimentological and microfossil investigation. Coastal environments are a critical interface between land and ocean. They are sensitive to sea level change and they can influence climate because they trap a large fraction of the carbon buried annually in the oceans. We propose an inter-disciplinary investigation to determine how NSW coastal environments responded to past climate change. Th ....A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal valley evolution in NSW: A magnetic, geochemical, sedimentological and microfossil investigation. Coastal environments are a critical interface between land and ocean. They are sensitive to sea level change and they can influence climate because they trap a large fraction of the carbon buried annually in the oceans. We propose an inter-disciplinary investigation to determine how NSW coastal environments responded to past climate change. This will help to understand factors such as flood chronologies and acid sulphate soil potential and to predict the response to these environments to future climate change. Coastal environments support an increasing global population that will benefit from a better understanding of processes and responses within this critical zone.Read moreRead less
The Southern Ocean's role in determining atmospheric CO2 levels: new insights from novel biogenic silica records of seawater pH. About half the emissions from the burning of fossil fuel since the Industrial Revolution have been absorbed by the oceans. However, considerable uncertainty surrounds the consequences of and the extent to which the oceans will continue to sequester CO2 into the future. This research will improve existing limited knowledge of the key biological and related ocean process ....The Southern Ocean's role in determining atmospheric CO2 levels: new insights from novel biogenic silica records of seawater pH. About half the emissions from the burning of fossil fuel since the Industrial Revolution have been absorbed by the oceans. However, considerable uncertainty surrounds the consequences of and the extent to which the oceans will continue to sequester CO2 into the future. This research will improve existing limited knowledge of the key biological and related ocean processes that transfer CO2 between the surface and depth, and the poorly understood effects on marine ecosystems of increasing ocean acidity due to CO2 absorption. This knowledge will contribute to predicting the course of future climate change and gauging the impacts on marine life and production systems.Read moreRead less
The Impact of Changing Climatic Conditions inferred from the Isotope Abundances of Trace Metals in Global Ice Sheets and Glaciers. In this project Greenland and Antarctic ice-cores more than 3 km long will be used to investigate climatic variation extending back more that 4 complete glacial cycles. Some of these ice-cores include sections of refrozen water formed from sub-glacial Antarctic lake water. This project will use naturally occurring lead and strontium isotopic tracers to fingerprint ....The Impact of Changing Climatic Conditions inferred from the Isotope Abundances of Trace Metals in Global Ice Sheets and Glaciers. In this project Greenland and Antarctic ice-cores more than 3 km long will be used to investigate climatic variation extending back more that 4 complete glacial cycles. Some of these ice-cores include sections of refrozen water formed from sub-glacial Antarctic lake water. This project will use naturally occurring lead and strontium isotopic tracers to fingerprint impurities in the ice, because they have the potential to simultaneously signal the timing and location of past episodes of climate change. This will lead to an improvement in our understanding of the processes that cause these changes.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775533
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$700,000.00
Summary
A New Generation Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer Facility for Advanced Research in the Earth, Planetary and Environmental Sciences. The current proposal, to establish a new Noble Gas Analytical Consortium for noble gas chronological and geochemical analyses, will generate new knowledge on the evolution of the Earth, with profound implications for past climate change, landscape evolution, formation of ore bodies, and terrestrial geodynamics. Consequently, the facility will conform to the National Res ....A New Generation Noble Gas Mass Spectrometer Facility for Advanced Research in the Earth, Planetary and Environmental Sciences. The current proposal, to establish a new Noble Gas Analytical Consortium for noble gas chronological and geochemical analyses, will generate new knowledge on the evolution of the Earth, with profound implications for past climate change, landscape evolution, formation of ore bodies, and terrestrial geodynamics. Consequently, the facility will conform to the National Research Priority of 'An Environmentally Sustainable Australia'. The new facility will ensure that Australian research remains at the forefront of international science development and will also provide essential training for the next generation of Australian scientists.Read moreRead less
Continental temperature and rainfall change during past global warming - a multiproxy approach involving clumped isotopes in speleothems. Global climate simulation and prediction models depend on accurate and quantitative measurements of key climatic parameters such as temperature and rainfall, and their temporal changes and spatial distributions. Our research will combine the revolutionary clumped isotope thermometry with other climatic proxies archived in stalagmites to quantify temperature an ....Continental temperature and rainfall change during past global warming - a multiproxy approach involving clumped isotopes in speleothems. Global climate simulation and prediction models depend on accurate and quantitative measurements of key climatic parameters such as temperature and rainfall, and their temporal changes and spatial distributions. Our research will combine the revolutionary clumped isotope thermometry with other climatic proxies archived in stalagmites to quantify temperature and rainfall changes in Australia and China during the past two major episodes of global warming (Terminations I and II). This pilot project directly addresses national research priority goals 'Water - a critical resource', 'Responding to climate change and variability', provide an excellent platform for cross-institutional research training and enhance scientific exchange with China.Read moreRead less
Improving climate models through new insights on long-term inter-hemispheric climate synchronicity from speleothems. It is important that palaeoclimatologists continue to improve understanding of how the Earth responds to climate forcing, so that climate models can be rigorously validated and refined. Since the Earth responds to most of this forcing over time scales that exceed the length of instrumental weather measurements, the recovery of datable palaeoclimate archives that are highly sensiti ....Improving climate models through new insights on long-term inter-hemispheric climate synchronicity from speleothems. It is important that palaeoclimatologists continue to improve understanding of how the Earth responds to climate forcing, so that climate models can be rigorously validated and refined. Since the Earth responds to most of this forcing over time scales that exceed the length of instrumental weather measurements, the recovery of datable palaeoclimate archives that are highly sensitive to past climate changes is essential. Our project will provide important new palaeoclimate data from both hemispheres on how key regions of the Earth responded to past climate changes. This will bring improved understanding of past oceanic-atmospheric processes that can be fed into climate models, ultimately producing better forecasts to the benefit of all Australians.Read moreRead less
Untangling the links between El Nino and the changing global climate. Australia is a country of 'drought and flooding rain', and a key factor governing these cycles is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Our project will provide the following benefits to the nation (i) increased understanding of ENSO variability; (ii) increased knowledge of the extremes of ENSO; (iii) insights into what causes ENSO to vary; and (iv) improved ability to forecast ENSO. Understanding ENSO is essential for anti ....Untangling the links between El Nino and the changing global climate. Australia is a country of 'drought and flooding rain', and a key factor governing these cycles is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Our project will provide the following benefits to the nation (i) increased understanding of ENSO variability; (ii) increased knowledge of the extremes of ENSO; (iii) insights into what causes ENSO to vary; and (iv) improved ability to forecast ENSO. Understanding ENSO is essential for anticipating changes in drought and rain in the future. This understanding will help us to adapt Australia's valuable agricultural and farming industries to climate change, and to manage our precious water resources.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560734
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,000.00
Summary
Accelerated solvent extractor and evaporator for molecular and stable isotope analyses of sedimentary organic matter. The accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) uses pressurised liquid extraction to obtain the bitumen fraction easily measurable for molecular and isotopic composition of organic sediments in just a few minutes. This compares favourably to traditional extraction procedures, which can take two to three days. Our projects often require the analyses of large numbers of sediment extracts ....Accelerated solvent extractor and evaporator for molecular and stable isotope analyses of sedimentary organic matter. The accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) uses pressurised liquid extraction to obtain the bitumen fraction easily measurable for molecular and isotopic composition of organic sediments in just a few minutes. This compares favourably to traditional extraction procedures, which can take two to three days. Our projects often require the analyses of large numbers of sediment extracts to obtain chemical data at high geological resolution. The ASE/Evaporator will greatly assist these endeavours which aim to improve our understanding of Australian environments (incorporating the effects of natural and human-related processes) and identify source rocks offering good petroleum reserves.Read moreRead less