Reconstructing changes in atmospheric circulation over the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the past 3000 years. The climate of the mid-latitudes of the southern hemisphere is of global significance and yet past changes have proved difficult to reconstruct due to the dearth of records. Working across the Southern Ocean region using tree rings, lake sediments and ice cores, the project will produce the first comprehensive reconstruction spanning the last 3000 years.
Equator to Pole: Reconstructing tropical and Antarctic climate variability over the last millennium and their impacts on southern Australian rainfall. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges facing sustainable agriculture and urban populations across southern Australia. Key players driving catastrophic droughts in southern Australia are the tropical Indian Ocean Dipole and polar Southern Annual Mode climate systems, which affect moisture availability and transport pathways. T ....Equator to Pole: Reconstructing tropical and Antarctic climate variability over the last millennium and their impacts on southern Australian rainfall. Water resource management is one of the greatest challenges facing sustainable agriculture and urban populations across southern Australia. Key players driving catastrophic droughts in southern Australia are the tropical Indian Ocean Dipole and polar Southern Annual Mode climate systems, which affect moisture availability and transport pathways. This collaborative research project draws together a uniquely-skilled research team to develop targeted coral, ice and cave reconstructions of these climate systems and their impacts on Australian rainfall through the last millennium. This fundamental new knowledge of the drivers of Australian rainfall variability will aid improved predictability of future changes in our valuable water resources. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100218
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$254,078.00
Summary
A world-class rock magnetic facility to support Australian palaeomagnetic and environmental research. Magnetic properties of rocks and environmental particles provide information about a vast range of geological and environmental processes. We propose to develop a facility that will enable detection and interpretation of these magnetic signals to aid understanding of climate change, mineral exploration, and the geological development of Australia.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100220
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
Sonic drilling to provide contamination-free core sampling of rock and unconsolidated sediment. Australia is the world's driest inhabited continent. Understanding environmental and climatic changes, from the temperate period when humans arrived about 50,000 years ago to the present state of widespread aridity, is crucial for modelling future climate change. This facility will provide new generation drilling equipment which is necessary to obtain accurate records.
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
The last glaciation maximum climate conundrum and environmental responses of the Australian continent to altered climate states. This project will show how climate systems in south east Australia responded to large scale global change the last time this happened, which was about 21,000 years ago. By determining the climate response in Australia to this change, this project will help predict future response in rainfall and temperature to human-induced and natural climate change.
Quantitative reconstructions of Australian climates since the last Interglacial. A crucial test of the models used to project future climate is how well they reproduce past climates. The project will reconstruct Australian regional climates, from vegetation, fire and runoff records, and use these for climate-model evaluation - helping to provide a more solid basis for management of Australian resources in the future.
The dynamics of human environment interactions in late Pleistocene and Holocene highland New Guinea: a study of the Ivane valley. The project will investigate how access to starchy plant foods facilitated the movement of colonizing peoples into new environments, and was critical to survival in Sahul (Ice Age Australia/New Guinea). It will aid in understanding the dynamics of human responses to the impacts of climate change.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120103033
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The wet and dry of tropical Australia: past, present and future. This project investigates rivers in the tropical 'Top End' of Australia and how flooding and long-term flow have changed over the recent geologic past. Such knowledge adds important components to our understanding of past climate in Australia, and is crucial in assessing the impacts of future global change on the continent's water resources.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100907
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,715.00
Summary
Investigating the synchroneity of global atmospheric shifts in the Holocene. The austral mid-latitude westerly winds dominate Southern Hemisphere climate variability today (including the Australasian region) and are tightly coupled to the Southern Ocean, modulating the air-sea CO2 flux. However, short instrumental records in the south make future climate projections uncertain. This Project will develop the first highly-detailed reconstructions of westerly airflow from targeted Southern Ocean isl ....Investigating the synchroneity of global atmospheric shifts in the Holocene. The austral mid-latitude westerly winds dominate Southern Hemisphere climate variability today (including the Australasian region) and are tightly coupled to the Southern Ocean, modulating the air-sea CO2 flux. However, short instrumental records in the south make future climate projections uncertain. This Project will develop the first highly-detailed reconstructions of westerly airflow from targeted Southern Ocean islands during key periods of change, representing a range of climate states over the Holocene (the last 11,650 yrs). Intensive radiocarbon dating will allow precise alignment to a network of palaeoclimate records to test the timing, drivers and impacts of circulation change across Australia and globally.Read moreRead less