Southern Ocean oxygen variability since the last glacial maximum. Recently observed decreases in ocean oxygen concentration could decrease ocean biodiversity and accelerate climate change. This project will determine the links between climate change and ocean oxygenation since the last ice age, and provide a way to predict future oxygen concentrations.
Hot iron: Are submarine volcanoes important for Southern Ocean iron supply? The scarcity of iron limits biological productivity and carbon uptake in the nutrient rich waters of the Southern Ocean. This project will explore for the first time the role of undersea "hot spot" volcanoes in supplying iron to surface waters, thus linking the solid earth and the biosphere. The project will measure iron abundance, reactivity and nutritional value in buoyant plumes emanating from vents near Heard/McDonal ....Hot iron: Are submarine volcanoes important for Southern Ocean iron supply? The scarcity of iron limits biological productivity and carbon uptake in the nutrient rich waters of the Southern Ocean. This project will explore for the first time the role of undersea "hot spot" volcanoes in supplying iron to surface waters, thus linking the solid earth and the biosphere. The project will measure iron abundance, reactivity and nutritional value in buoyant plumes emanating from vents near Heard/McDonald Islands, Australia's only active volcanoes. The project aims to estimate the hydrothermal contribution to regional biological productivity and extrapolate to the whole Southern Ocean. Successful outcomes will benefit Australia by identifying iron sources that govern productivity and carbon uptake of an economically important ecosystem.Read moreRead less
Calcification and shell chemistry response of Southern Ocean planktic foraminifers to ocean acidification and changing climates. Plankton that form tiny calcium carbonate shells will be cultured to determine how they will respond to acidification of the Southern Ocean caused by rising CO2 in the atmosphere. The same experiments will be used to gauge from their fossil shells how the Southern Ocean has caused and responded to changing atmosphere CO2 over the last glacial climate cycle