Antarctica's leaky defence to poleward heat transport. Southern Ocean currents are barriers to the oceanic transport of heat toward Antarctica. This barrier breaks down at key locations along their path and the poleward heat transport is enhanced. Changing winds are expected to accelerate heat transport, threatening ice shelves that protect Antarctic glaciers from ocean-driven melt. This project aims to advance understanding of the small-scale processes that control heat transport across the Sou ....Antarctica's leaky defence to poleward heat transport. Southern Ocean currents are barriers to the oceanic transport of heat toward Antarctica. This barrier breaks down at key locations along their path and the poleward heat transport is enhanced. Changing winds are expected to accelerate heat transport, threatening ice shelves that protect Antarctic glaciers from ocean-driven melt. This project aims to advance understanding of the small-scale processes that control heat transport across the Southern Ocean. By combining funded international field campaigns that harness new advances in observing systems with next-generation numerical modelling, this research will create a step-change in our ability to predict Southern Ocean environmental change.Read moreRead less
Using animal-borne sensors to unravel East Antarctic coastal productivity. This project will examine the mechanisms underpinning the high productivity in Antarctic coastal polynyas, which are ice-free oases within the sea ice supporting abundant marine life. The study expects to generate essential new biochemical and biological observations using autonomous platforms to understand phytoplankton dynamics in these inaccessible habitats along Australia’s Antarctic Territory. Expected outcomes inclu ....Using animal-borne sensors to unravel East Antarctic coastal productivity. This project will examine the mechanisms underpinning the high productivity in Antarctic coastal polynyas, which are ice-free oases within the sea ice supporting abundant marine life. The study expects to generate essential new biochemical and biological observations using autonomous platforms to understand phytoplankton dynamics in these inaccessible habitats along Australia’s Antarctic Territory. Expected outcomes include novel insight into the role of iron supply from melting glaciers in supporting marine production. This should reduce the high uncertainty in prognoses for polynya activity under anthropogenic climate change, and support Australia’s international leadership in conservation and management of important Antarctic ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies an ....Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies and their interactions across multiple spatio-temporal scales, revealing their impacts on productivity along Australia’s most populous coastline. This will provide significant benefits such as improved ocean forecasting and sustainable management of Australian marine industries and seafood sector, supporting economic growth. Read moreRead less
Southern Ocean Sea Ice – what happened and what happens next? This project will adress our lack of confidence in future projections of sea ice around Antarctica by elucidating the mechanisms controlling sea ice in the Southern Ocean.
There is low confidence is current sea ice projections, limiting our ability to predict ice shelf melt and sea level rise.
This project will lead to a detailed understanding of the future of sea ice in the Southern Ocean, improving our understanding of ocean dynam ....Southern Ocean Sea Ice – what happened and what happens next? This project will adress our lack of confidence in future projections of sea ice around Antarctica by elucidating the mechanisms controlling sea ice in the Southern Ocean.
There is low confidence is current sea ice projections, limiting our ability to predict ice shelf melt and sea level rise.
This project will lead to a detailed understanding of the future of sea ice in the Southern Ocean, improving our understanding of ocean dynamics, ice shelf melt, and sea level rise.
The results from this project will enhance projections of sea ice, and therefore also ice shelf melt and sea level rise. Improved sea level projections will aid policy decisions for coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100267
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$444,000.00
Summary
Great Antarctic uncertainties: How to better predict rising sea levels. This DECRA project aims to significantly reduce the uncertainties in future projections of the Antarctic contribution to global and regional sea-level rise. This will be achieved by including, for the first time, the influence of interactions with the subglacial hydrologic system and surrounding ocean circulation on the ice sheet dynamics, using a coupled ice–ocean–hydrology model. This research will build on Dr Zhao's inter ....Great Antarctic uncertainties: How to better predict rising sea levels. This DECRA project aims to significantly reduce the uncertainties in future projections of the Antarctic contribution to global and regional sea-level rise. This will be achieved by including, for the first time, the influence of interactions with the subglacial hydrologic system and surrounding ocean circulation on the ice sheet dynamics, using a coupled ice–ocean–hydrology model. This research will build on Dr Zhao's international expertise in ice sheet modelling and coupled ice–ocean modelling. This project provide substantial benefits to Australia and internationally, particularly in regions vulnerable to rising sea levels, by producing more accurate sea-level rise projections for policy and mitigation strategies.Read moreRead less