First-order reversal curve diagrams & quantitative environmental magnetism. The project intends to enable full quantitative separation of magnetic mineral mixtures in natural materials to unlock details of important environmental processes. Most efforts to understand ancient variations of Earth’s magnetic field using palaeomagnetism, or climate change using environmental magnetism, are complicated by the presence of mixed assemblages of magnetic rock-forming minerals. Understanding the recording ....First-order reversal curve diagrams & quantitative environmental magnetism. The project intends to enable full quantitative separation of magnetic mineral mixtures in natural materials to unlock details of important environmental processes. Most efforts to understand ancient variations of Earth’s magnetic field using palaeomagnetism, or climate change using environmental magnetism, are complicated by the presence of mixed assemblages of magnetic rock-forming minerals. Understanding the recording of palaeomagnetic information or decoding environmental processes requires separate quantification of each mineral component. The main aim of the project is to develop a method to unmix the magnetic components present in environmental and geological materials. The proposed approach is expected to unlock a new quantitative era in rock magnetism, and to have impacts in physics as well as Earth science.Read moreRead less
A 140,000 year insight into the imprint of climate and humans on Australia. Before the arrival of Europeans, two events shaped Australia's current landscapes and biota more than any others: climate change during the glacial cycle and the arrival of humans on the continent. However, the full scale of these events is not well understood. High resolution analyses of two continuous 140 000 year old sediment deposits will be used in this project to fill this void and answer fundamental questions abou ....A 140,000 year insight into the imprint of climate and humans on Australia. Before the arrival of Europeans, two events shaped Australia's current landscapes and biota more than any others: climate change during the glacial cycle and the arrival of humans on the continent. However, the full scale of these events is not well understood. High resolution analyses of two continuous 140 000 year old sediment deposits will be used in this project to fill this void and answer fundamental questions about how current Australian environments came to be.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100177
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$290,000.00
Summary
A regional optical dating facility in Australia. This project aims to establish an open access, end-user friendly optical dating facility in Australia. This will address shortcomings in the capacity and geographical coverage of the existing national geochronology infrastructure and enable Australian researchers to reconstruct past records of climate change, human evolution, ecological vulnerabilities, natural and man-made hazards and environmental disturbance over historical to near-million-year ....A regional optical dating facility in Australia. This project aims to establish an open access, end-user friendly optical dating facility in Australia. This will address shortcomings in the capacity and geographical coverage of the existing national geochronology infrastructure and enable Australian researchers to reconstruct past records of climate change, human evolution, ecological vulnerabilities, natural and man-made hazards and environmental disturbance over historical to near-million-year timeframes. This project is expected to increase commercial demand for geoscience services and lead to better understanding of Australia’s natural heritage and its long-term vulnerabilities.Read moreRead less
The pace and rhythm of climate: 600,000 years in a biological hotspot. This project aims to generate knowledge of long-term changes in vegetation and rainfall for the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). The IPWP exerts enormous influence on the Earth’s climate through its interactions with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Austral–Asian monsoons and the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. Yet despite its importance, the response of the IPWP to global climate change remains uncertain. Through palynol ....The pace and rhythm of climate: 600,000 years in a biological hotspot. This project aims to generate knowledge of long-term changes in vegetation and rainfall for the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP). The IPWP exerts enormous influence on the Earth’s climate through its interactions with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Austral–Asian monsoons and the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. Yet despite its importance, the response of the IPWP to global climate change remains uncertain. Through palynology, ancient sedimentary DNA and compound specific stable isotope analyses, this project aims to produce a terrestrial vegetation, fire and biodiversity record for the last 600 000 years in Sulawesi. The unrivalled length and resolution of this record for the region would make it a benchmark reconstruction of palaeoclimate that may transform our understanding of the IPWP.Read moreRead less
Kiacatoo Man: biology, archaeology and environment at the Last Glacial Maximum. What were the origins of the first Australians, and how have they changed through time? This project will focus on the riverine environment, archaeology and human biology of 'Kiacatoo Man', ancient remains that were excavated last year from glacial-age sands of the southern Murray-Darling Basin.
Sedimentary processes on sandy coasts in southern Australia. This project aims to reconstruct sedimentary processes and evolution of key coastal plains in southern Australia. These low-lying coasts, and the settlements and infrastructure on them, are vulnerable to inundation and shoreline erosion. Past behaviour of different types of coasts will be determined by combining innovative geospatial techniques to map morphology and past changes, geophysical imaging of stratigraphy and geochronology. T ....Sedimentary processes on sandy coasts in southern Australia. This project aims to reconstruct sedimentary processes and evolution of key coastal plains in southern Australia. These low-lying coasts, and the settlements and infrastructure on them, are vulnerable to inundation and shoreline erosion. Past behaviour of different types of coasts will be determined by combining innovative geospatial techniques to map morphology and past changes, geophysical imaging of stratigraphy and geochronology. The outcome will be models that explain responses to sediment availability, past storm history and sea-level changes. This will benefit sustainable coastal planning and management, providing geomorphological evidence to support erosion hazard assessments of these and adjacent coasts.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Long-term variability of the Australian monsoon. This project aims to address large uncertainties in Australia’s hydroclimate projections, by reconstructing Australian monsoon variability over the past three million years. The project expects to generate new knowledge to quantify the frequency and amplitudes of extreme rainfall and drought in Northwest Australia. By providing essential new information about the timing, frequency, and intensity of past drought and extreme rainfall, the project is ....Long-term variability of the Australian monsoon. This project aims to address large uncertainties in Australia’s hydroclimate projections, by reconstructing Australian monsoon variability over the past three million years. The project expects to generate new knowledge to quantify the frequency and amplitudes of extreme rainfall and drought in Northwest Australia. By providing essential new information about the timing, frequency, and intensity of past drought and extreme rainfall, the project is expected to enable more accurate climate projections required for effective adaptation and mitigation. This project will also benefit the Australian archaeology community, by providing a much-needed environmental context for mapping Australian pre-history.Read moreRead less
From prehistory to history: landscape and cultural change on the South Alligator River, Kakadu National Park. This project explores the archaeology, history and palaeoecology of the Kakadu floodplains to better understand social and environmental changes that have taken place in this landscape from the mid-Holocene to historical times. The outcome will be a contextualised understanding of potential climate change impacts against a history of past change.
Equator to Pole: Reconstructing tropical and Antarctic climate variability over the last millennium and their impacts on southern Australian rainfall. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges facing sustainable agriculture and urban populations across southern Australia. Key players driving catastrophic droughts in southern Australia are the tropical Indian Ocean Dipole and polar Southern Annual Mode climate systems, which affect moisture availability and transport pathways. T ....Equator to Pole: Reconstructing tropical and Antarctic climate variability over the last millennium and their impacts on southern Australian rainfall. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges facing sustainable agriculture and urban populations across southern Australia. Key players driving catastrophic droughts in southern Australia are the tropical Indian Ocean Dipole and polar Southern Annual Mode climate systems, which affect moisture availability and transport pathways. This collaborative research project draws together a uniquely-skilled research team to develop targeted coral, ice and cave reconstructions of these climate systems and their impacts on Australian rainfall through the last millennium. This fundamental new knowledge of the drivers of Australian rainfall variability will aid improved predictability of future changes in our valuable water resources. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100088
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research. A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research: This project is for a high temperature, elemental analysis, gas chromatography, isotope mass spectrometry facility. This would permit the analysis of the isotopes of up to four elements in a range of environmental samples such as tree cell ....A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research. A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research: This project is for a high temperature, elemental analysis, gas chromatography, isotope mass spectrometry facility. This would permit the analysis of the isotopes of up to four elements in a range of environmental samples such as tree cellulose, ecological samples and dissolved nutrients in surface and ground waters. Results will help improve our understanding of climate - surface water - ground water interactions, ecosystem function, and past climate and environmental change. The new facility will meet the need for organic isotope analyses to better understand the underlying physical processes.Read moreRead less