Growth and Decay of ice sheets during glacial cycles:the example of Europe. The proposal is to develop a comprehensive model for the growth and decay of the ice sheets of Europe during the last glacial cycle, using a combination of diverse field evidence with geophysical modelling. The outcomes provide boundary conditions for climate models (times of inception and decay, ice limits, ice thickness) including processes driving climate as well as constraints on the Earth's mantle viscosity. Thu ....Growth and Decay of ice sheets during glacial cycles:the example of Europe. The proposal is to develop a comprehensive model for the growth and decay of the ice sheets of Europe during the last glacial cycle, using a combination of diverse field evidence with geophysical modelling. The outcomes provide boundary conditions for climate models (times of inception and decay, ice limits, ice thickness) including processes driving climate as well as constraints on the Earth's mantle viscosity. Thus the project contributes to the quantitative characterisation of both climate change and planetary structure. In an Australian context, these outcomes form important elements in the development of predictive models for sea-level change.Read moreRead less
Sea-level change in the Australasian region during the past 6000 years: Understanding the past to predict the future. Interactions of climate, ice, oceans, and solid earth result in complex variations sea level in time and space. This proposal develops a predictive understanding of this change through an interdisciplinary integration of geophysical theory and geologic observations. Focus is on the Australian area and on the present interglacial but the outcomes will be placed in a global frame. ....Sea-level change in the Australasian region during the past 6000 years: Understanding the past to predict the future. Interactions of climate, ice, oceans, and solid earth result in complex variations sea level in time and space. This proposal develops a predictive understanding of this change through an interdisciplinary integration of geophysical theory and geologic observations. Focus is on the Australian area and on the present interglacial but the outcomes will be placed in a global frame. Outcomes will include estimates of rates and amplitudes of sea-level change, of changes in ice volume, of land movements from isostatic and tectonic causes. It also provides the framework necessary for separating natural change from anthropogenic change during the recent past and for predicting future regional and global sea-level change on a century time scale.Read moreRead less