Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100219
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A modern, high-tech mineral separation facility for geochemistry and isotope science. This project will support geoscience research in Western Australia that incorporates a new conservative way of fragmenting rocks to their constituent grains. The facility will provide mineral samples for discovery science and for applied research for the minerals and petroleum industries.
Fish fingerprints - signatures of oil contamination. The project aims to integrate chemical characterisation of crude oil with inorganic and organic markers in living organisms. Linking harmful effects on ecosystems with exposure to spilled crude oil remains a major challenge due to the ever-changing nature of oil in the environment. This project will expose fish to a range of fresh/weathered oils to mimic various exposure scenarios. The transition of oil to metabolites will be characterised in ....Fish fingerprints - signatures of oil contamination. The project aims to integrate chemical characterisation of crude oil with inorganic and organic markers in living organisms. Linking harmful effects on ecosystems with exposure to spilled crude oil remains a major challenge due to the ever-changing nature of oil in the environment. This project will expose fish to a range of fresh/weathered oils to mimic various exposure scenarios. The transition of oil to metabolites will be characterised in a suite of environmental and biological matrices using multi-dimensional chromatography/mass spectrometry, trace metals and compound-specific isotope analyses. This project will provide significant benefits by providing an improved capacity to link source oil with specific markers in living organisms.Read moreRead less
Unravelling how aquatic coastal networks regulate nitrogen removal . The aim of this project is to determine the nitrogen removal pathways of the coastal zone using a number of innovative field and modelling approaches. Little is known about how the complex coastal landscape controls trade-offs that maximise nitrogen removal but minimise nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions. The outcomes of this study will significantly advance our understanding of the coastal zone in regional and g ....Unravelling how aquatic coastal networks regulate nitrogen removal . The aim of this project is to determine the nitrogen removal pathways of the coastal zone using a number of innovative field and modelling approaches. Little is known about how the complex coastal landscape controls trade-offs that maximise nitrogen removal but minimise nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) emissions. The outcomes of this study will significantly advance our understanding of the coastal zone in regional and global nitrogen budgets. This will provide significant benefits such as a new science-based quantitative framework to facilitate best practice management to reduce terrestrial nitrogen loads and associated downstream impacts such as eutrophication, and reduce nitrous oxide emissions and associated global warming.
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Unravelling the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions in estuaries. The aim of this project is to understand and quantify the factors controlling the emission of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from estuaries. Coastal systems play a disproportionately large role in the global emissions of greenhouse gases, but this is poorly quantified. The project plans to use a combination of continuous concentration and stable isotope measurements, process measurements and advanced numerical modelling ....Unravelling the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions in estuaries. The aim of this project is to understand and quantify the factors controlling the emission of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from estuaries. Coastal systems play a disproportionately large role in the global emissions of greenhouse gases, but this is poorly quantified. The project plans to use a combination of continuous concentration and stable isotope measurements, process measurements and advanced numerical modelling across a range of undisturbed to disturbed systems. It is intended that this project will provide information for conceptualising, calibrating and verifying models, including green-house gas production. Good models, and the data that support them, such as that provided by this study, are critical for the efficient allocation of management resources in Australian coastal systems, including by our partners. The findings from this project will have direct implications to the management, rehabilitation and protection of waterways (including biodiversity) in Australia.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (Orbitrap) for analyses of polar compounds in biomass, petroleum, potable and reclaimed water. Climate change and human impact can harm sensitive ecosystems, significantly threatening Australian biodiversity and water resources. Chemical and biological characterisation of aquatic and terrestrial environments is paramount to assessing and responding to these threats, as well as assisting natural resource utilisation. The high structural pola ....High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (Orbitrap) for analyses of polar compounds in biomass, petroleum, potable and reclaimed water. Climate change and human impact can harm sensitive ecosystems, significantly threatening Australian biodiversity and water resources. Chemical and biological characterisation of aquatic and terrestrial environments is paramount to assessing and responding to these threats, as well as assisting natural resource utilisation. The high structural polarity of many environmentally occurring organics from biological, petroleum and anthropogenic sources, unamenable to gas chromatographic resolution, can now be accommodated by the advanced organic analytical technology sought in this proposal. This project will enable scholars and young professionals to be skilled in state-of-the-art technology, and prepare quality scientists, ready for employment.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$860,000.00
Summary
Laser ablation multiple split streaming. Laser ablation multiple split streaming: This geochemical facility with an innovative, world-leading micro-analytical capability intends to support research of fundamental and strategic problems at the frontiers of the Earth and Environmental Sciences. The facility aims to allow new insight into the age, composition, thermal history and structure of the Australian continent, as necessary for delineating mineral endowment and for tracing the sources of ore ....Laser ablation multiple split streaming. Laser ablation multiple split streaming: This geochemical facility with an innovative, world-leading micro-analytical capability intends to support research of fundamental and strategic problems at the frontiers of the Earth and Environmental Sciences. The facility aims to allow new insight into the age, composition, thermal history and structure of the Australian continent, as necessary for delineating mineral endowment and for tracing the sources of ore metals. It will provide a higher resolution record of climate and environmental change which will better inform assessment of the impacts, both locally and regionally. It is intended that the facility will amplify national and international scientific collaboration and create unique research opportunities for Australian-based scientists.Read moreRead less
How warm and how wet? New perspectives on paleoclimate records and hydrological regimes in arid zones of Australia. This project will develop a new and precise palaeotemperature record for southern Australia, and will investigate the hydrologic dynamics of inland Australia. Together, this research will lead to new discoveries in the way Australian ecosystems respond to climate variability and will enable better understanding of its impacts.
Unravelling the cycling of nitrogen along a subtropical freshwater-marine continuum using a multi-isotope, multi-tracer and modelling approach. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the sources, cycling and pathways of nitrogen along a sub-tropical catchment-river-estuary. As such, the findings from this research will have direct implications to the management, rehabilitation and protection of waterways (including biodiversity) in Australia.