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
Unraveling the nitrogen cycle in a periodically anoxic estuary. Climate change is likely to lead to reduced river inflows to estuaries which can lead to oxygen depletion and major changes in nutrient cycling. This project will help inform the public and policy makers about the role of environmental flows in maintaining estuarine function, and thus guide future decisions on environmental flow requirements in the Yarra River Estuary. The benefits of this understanding will also flow on to improv ....Unraveling the nitrogen cycle in a periodically anoxic estuary. Climate change is likely to lead to reduced river inflows to estuaries which can lead to oxygen depletion and major changes in nutrient cycling. This project will help inform the public and policy makers about the role of environmental flows in maintaining estuarine function, and thus guide future decisions on environmental flow requirements in the Yarra River Estuary. The benefits of this understanding will also flow on to improved understanding and management of nitrogen loads to Port Phillip Bay. This project will form a close collaborative partnership between Monash University, Melbourne Water and the EPA. This collaboration will ensure the integration of cutting edge science with innovative management regimes Read moreRead less
A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal valley evolution in NSW: A magnetic, geochemical, sedimentological and microfossil investigation. Coastal environments are a critical interface between land and ocean. They are sensitive to sea level change and they can influence climate because they trap a large fraction of the carbon buried annually in the oceans. We propose an inter-disciplinary investigation to determine how NSW coastal environments responded to past climate change. Th ....A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene coastal valley evolution in NSW: A magnetic, geochemical, sedimentological and microfossil investigation. Coastal environments are a critical interface between land and ocean. They are sensitive to sea level change and they can influence climate because they trap a large fraction of the carbon buried annually in the oceans. We propose an inter-disciplinary investigation to determine how NSW coastal environments responded to past climate change. This will help to understand factors such as flood chronologies and acid sulphate soil potential and to predict the response to these environments to future climate change. Coastal environments support an increasing global population that will benefit from a better understanding of processes and responses within this critical zone.Read moreRead less
Hyper-accumulations of monosulfidic sediments: Exploring a biogeochemical extreme to resolve fundamental sulfur biomineralisation pathways. The hyper-accumulation of monosulfidic sediments has a directsocial, economic and environmental impact on communities in many parts of Australia, including highly valued wetland systems such as the Ramsar wetlands of the lower Murray Darling Basin and internationally recognised Peel-Harvey Estuary of WA. Maintenance dredging of these materials alone costs th ....Hyper-accumulations of monosulfidic sediments: Exploring a biogeochemical extreme to resolve fundamental sulfur biomineralisation pathways. The hyper-accumulation of monosulfidic sediments has a directsocial, economic and environmental impact on communities in many parts of Australia, including highly valued wetland systems such as the Ramsar wetlands of the lower Murray Darling Basin and internationally recognised Peel-Harvey Estuary of WA. Maintenance dredging of these materials alone costs the nation millions of dollars annually. The hyper monosulfidic sediments are also linked to severe environmental impacts. This project will inform how these materials develop and accumulate. This new knowledge will be of immediate relevance for the management of eutrophic estuaries.Read moreRead less