Groundwater dynamics and surface water interactions in the Lower Murrumbidgee Catchment, New South Wales. Water is Australia's most limiting resource. This research will contribute to the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the regional and rural areas of the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment, an important agricultural and horticultural region of Australia. Strategies for sustainable use of water resources will be improved by understanding the impacts of irrigation on groundwater quali ....Groundwater dynamics and surface water interactions in the Lower Murrumbidgee Catchment, New South Wales. Water is Australia's most limiting resource. This research will contribute to the sustainable management of groundwater resources in the regional and rural areas of the Lower Murrumbidgee catchment, an important agricultural and horticultural region of Australia. Strategies for sustainable use of water resources will be improved by understanding the impacts of irrigation on groundwater quality and aquifer extractions. The project will train new scientists in current and new groundwater techniques and improve strategic linkages between the Industry and University sectors through support of student research and a Linkage Fellowship for the key industry partner participant.Read moreRead less
Soil erosion and river system response to climate change and early human activity in Australia. This project will provide a much needed quantitative understanding of how soils and rivers have responded and adapted to climate change and human activity in Australia. The outcomes will inform models to predict how our environment is likely to adapt to new conditions in the future as a result of indirect (global warming) and direct (intensive land use) human-related stresses. This project will contri ....Soil erosion and river system response to climate change and early human activity in Australia. This project will provide a much needed quantitative understanding of how soils and rivers have responded and adapted to climate change and human activity in Australia. The outcomes will inform models to predict how our environment is likely to adapt to new conditions in the future as a result of indirect (global warming) and direct (intensive land use) human-related stresses. This project will contribute to the innovative character of Australian research through the development and implementation of new approaches to study soil and river processes.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL120100050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,079,069.00
Summary
Sea level change and climate sensitivity. This project will aim to improve understanding of climate and sea-level change on timescales relevant to longer-term planning, by characterising the relationship between past sea-level/ice-volume change and other key climate factors such as temperature and greenhouse gases, and by quantifying how rapidly sea level may adjust to climate change.
The response of soil and river processes to climate change and human activity in Australia. This project will provide a much needed quantitative understanding of how soils and rivers have responded and adapted to climate change and human activity in Australia. The outcomes will inform models to predict how our environment is likely to adapt to new conditions in the future as a result of indirect (global warming) and direct (intensive land use) human-related stresses. This project will assess the ....The response of soil and river processes to climate change and human activity in Australia. This project will provide a much needed quantitative understanding of how soils and rivers have responded and adapted to climate change and human activity in Australia. The outcomes will inform models to predict how our environment is likely to adapt to new conditions in the future as a result of indirect (global warming) and direct (intensive land use) human-related stresses. This project will assess the extent and rate of depletion of soil resources in Australia and also contribute to the innovative character of Australian research through the development and implementation of a new approach to study soil and river processes.Read moreRead less
Weathering History and Cenozoic Landscape Evolution in Northern Queensland and New Caledonia. Rates of rock weathering impose a major control on the CO2 global budget. Increased weathering rates consume atmospheric CO2, possibly resulting in cooler climates. We intend to determine rock weathering rates on similar lithologies currently placed on equatorial positions, Northeastern Australia and New Caledonia, but possibly differing in climatic history. Geochronology of continental weathering prof ....Weathering History and Cenozoic Landscape Evolution in Northern Queensland and New Caledonia. Rates of rock weathering impose a major control on the CO2 global budget. Increased weathering rates consume atmospheric CO2, possibly resulting in cooler climates. We intend to determine rock weathering rates on similar lithologies currently placed on equatorial positions, Northeastern Australia and New Caledonia, but possibly differing in climatic history. Geochronology of continental weathering profiles in the areas will permit correlating known paleoclimatic cycles, derived from the isotopic composition of ocean floor sediments, with the variation in continental weathering rates. This comparison will test current models proposing that cooling of Cenozoic climates results from increase rates of rock weathering.Read moreRead less
Water resource management of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme catchment and the Murray-Darling River system - a new perspective on system reliability from drought history reconstruction. The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme assists in underwriting the production of $3 billion of agricultural products in the Murray-Darling Basin each year by providing a reliable source of water west of the Great Dividing Range, while Hydro-electric generation from the Scheme is worth annually severa ....Water resource management of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme catchment and the Murray-Darling River system - a new perspective on system reliability from drought history reconstruction. The Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme assists in underwriting the production of $3 billion of agricultural products in the Murray-Darling Basin each year by providing a reliable source of water west of the Great Dividing Range, while Hydro-electric generation from the Scheme is worth annually several hundred million dollars and provides 70% of the renewable energy supplied to the eastern mainland grid, thereby avoiding 5Mt of carbon dioxide emissions each year. This study will ensure the ongoing sustainable and efficient management of the Schemes water resources in response to predicted climate variability and most importantly, severe drought. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100045
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,000.00
Summary
A mass spectrometer to analyse carbonate isotope records of Australia's climate, soil and groundwater history. Water is a critical resource in Australia, yet there is a fundamental lack of knowledge about the causes and timing of groundwater recharge in the past. This facility will allow researchers to better understand climate and groundwater interactions through high resolution isotope analysis of deposits, such as cave stalagmites and marine corals.
The Australian expression of the Pliocene warm period, an analog for future greenhouse conditions. Records of the planet's response to past climate are important for predicting the future under conditions of global warming. This project will assemble one such record but, in contrast to much existing data, it emphasises the palaeoclimate of southern Australian through a time interval widely regarded as an analog for our climate in the year 2100.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL160100028
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,847,675.00
Summary
Understanding the past to predict and manage the climate of the future. Understanding the past to predict and manage the climate of the future. Using key analogues from the geological record, this project aims to understand seasonal and spatial changes in Australia’s rainfall under a warming climate, and to chart the nature of the ecological responses. Shifts in rainfall patterns will have a greater societal impact for Australia than changes in temperature, but are difficult to predict with exis ....Understanding the past to predict and manage the climate of the future. Understanding the past to predict and manage the climate of the future. Using key analogues from the geological record, this project aims to understand seasonal and spatial changes in Australia’s rainfall under a warming climate, and to chart the nature of the ecological responses. Shifts in rainfall patterns will have a greater societal impact for Australia than changes in temperature, but are difficult to predict with existing numerical models. The research is expected to forge important international links between researchers studying past and future climates, anticipate and manage change, and demonstrate the critical scientific value of Australia’s geological heritage.Read moreRead less
Australia as the world warmed: our regional response to rapid global warming events in the geological past. Projections of global climate change over the next century are so negative we must look to the Pliocene Epoch, more than 2.5 million years ago, for past analogues. Nonetheless, more recent episodes of rapid global warming during the late Pleistocene might approximate those expected for coming decades. This project will study past Australian regional temperature and rainfall responses to th ....Australia as the world warmed: our regional response to rapid global warming events in the geological past. Projections of global climate change over the next century are so negative we must look to the Pliocene Epoch, more than 2.5 million years ago, for past analogues. Nonetheless, more recent episodes of rapid global warming during the late Pleistocene might approximate those expected for coming decades. This project will study past Australian regional temperature and rainfall responses to these events, on a high-resolution absolute timescale. The necessary analytical technologies are new, meaning a study of this scope could not previously be attempted, and they will be further developed under this project. Outputs will include spatial patterns and lead/lag relationships which can be used to supplement climate model predictions for Australia.Read moreRead less