Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100180
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
An Australian fluid-inclusion facility for climate-change science. Understanding past temperature and rainfall changes is essential for improving climate projections. The proposed facility will generate new palaeotemperature and palaeorainfall information from cave deposits, leading to a better understanding of natural climate variability and change.
The application of clumped isotope thermometry to the terrestrial environment. Clumped-isotope geochemistry, a novel method for measuring the temperature of formation of carbonate minerals, will be applied to terrestrial materials (soil carbonates, lake deposits and speleothems) from Australia and New Zealand. The method relates the abundance or 'clumping' of rare isotopes (for example, carbon dioxide of mass 47 as carbon-13, oxygen-18, oxygen-16) extracted from carbonates to their formation tem ....The application of clumped isotope thermometry to the terrestrial environment. Clumped-isotope geochemistry, a novel method for measuring the temperature of formation of carbonate minerals, will be applied to terrestrial materials (soil carbonates, lake deposits and speleothems) from Australia and New Zealand. The method relates the abundance or 'clumping' of rare isotopes (for example, carbon dioxide of mass 47 as carbon-13, oxygen-18, oxygen-16) extracted from carbonates to their formation temperature and is independent of the oxygen-18:oxygen-16 value of the host water from which the mineral precipitated. The materials to be investigated span the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition and will provide robust past temperature estimates and the delta-oxygen-18 values of waters, thereby permitting hydrological balances (for example, precipitation/evaporation) to be constructed. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100139
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$160,000.00
Summary
Isotope analyser with delta17O capability to examine water fluxes. Isotope analyser with delta-17-O capability to examine water fluxes: This project aims to investigate a range of processes, including quantifying evaporative losses, moisture recycling, groundwater-surface water interactions, and records of past climate in ice cores using novel capabilities for continuous measurement of triple oxygen isotopes (16-O, 17-O, 18-O) in water vapour. Enhanced understanding of water cycles is critical f ....Isotope analyser with delta17O capability to examine water fluxes. Isotope analyser with delta-17-O capability to examine water fluxes: This project aims to investigate a range of processes, including quantifying evaporative losses, moisture recycling, groundwater-surface water interactions, and records of past climate in ice cores using novel capabilities for continuous measurement of triple oxygen isotopes (16-O, 17-O, 18-O) in water vapour. Enhanced understanding of water cycles is critical for understanding the discrete changes occurring in water regimes under changing climates and land use to efficiently manage our limited freshwater resources. The instrumentation is intended to put Australia at the forefront of new and emerging research in d17O analysis of water, an area that has potential to greatly improve our understanding of the water cycle within arid climates including Antarctica.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100185
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$464,531.00
Summary
Mass spectrometry for next generation isotope analysis of silicate minerals. This project aims to establish a facility for mass spectrometry and sample preparation to enhance Australian capacity to analyse the stable isotope composition of silicate minerals. The project seeks to implement innovations that will greatly enhance the use of stable isotopes in silicate minerals by increasing analytical throughput and reducing cost. This will provide better understanding of the trajectories of environ ....Mass spectrometry for next generation isotope analysis of silicate minerals. This project aims to establish a facility for mass spectrometry and sample preparation to enhance Australian capacity to analyse the stable isotope composition of silicate minerals. The project seeks to implement innovations that will greatly enhance the use of stable isotopes in silicate minerals by increasing analytical throughput and reducing cost. This will provide better understanding of the trajectories of environmental change, formation of mineral deposits and identifying trade networks in prehistoric societies.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102504
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Old stalagmites, new techniques: South African palaeoclimate records linked to early human evolution. Caves in South Africa preserve a rich hominin (early human) fossil and archaeological record dating back over two million years. This project uses stalagmites from various South African caves to provide a new, detailed record of the palaeoclimate, forming the backdrop to the evolutionary changes that took place during this period.
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