Eruption and disruption: how Earth’s deep interior and surface communicate. Massive volcanic eruptions are a fundamental part of the Earth System, responsible for globally disruptive events, from airspace disturbance, to extinction of the dinosaurs. This project will reveal relationships between hot, deep sources of volcanic material, and the tectonic processes at the Earth's surface. Expected outcomes of this project include assembling an unprecedented set of new observations from underwater vo ....Eruption and disruption: how Earth’s deep interior and surface communicate. Massive volcanic eruptions are a fundamental part of the Earth System, responsible for globally disruptive events, from airspace disturbance, to extinction of the dinosaurs. This project will reveal relationships between hot, deep sources of volcanic material, and the tectonic processes at the Earth's surface. Expected outcomes of this project include assembling an unprecedented set of new observations from underwater volcanoes offshore Eastern Australia, and the development of innovative geodynamic models of how the deep Earth interacts with the surface to form these volcanoes. This will provide significant benefits by advancing our understanding of the deep Earth, and its impact on Earth’s surface, natural hazards, and mineral systems.Read moreRead less
How the complexity of continental breakup controls ocean circulation. This project aims to address the evolution of oceanic seaways formed during separation of tectonic plates (such as Australia and Antarctica). The seaways that form are key components modulating the global ocean circulation system and are implicated in major glacial expansion events. This project aims to unravel their role relative to other drivers for example carbon dioxide (CO2). Unravelling the influence of seaway opening co ....How the complexity of continental breakup controls ocean circulation. This project aims to address the evolution of oceanic seaways formed during separation of tectonic plates (such as Australia and Antarctica). The seaways that form are key components modulating the global ocean circulation system and are implicated in major glacial expansion events. This project aims to unravel their role relative to other drivers for example carbon dioxide (CO2). Unravelling the influence of seaway opening compared with declining CO2 in the onset of Antarctic and Northern hemisphere glaciation will enable more accurate future climate simulations. The project will also give international exposure and training to the next generation of numerically adept geoscientists and oceanographers.Read moreRead less
Pyrite: a deep-time capsule of ocean chemistry and atmosphere oxidation. Surprisingly little is known about trace element trends in past oceans, even though these data are vital for interpreting the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere, evolutionary pathways of marine life and cycles of major mineral deposits. Using laser-based analysis of sedimentary pyrite in deep marine rocks, this project aims to produce, for the first time, temporal variation curves for 25 trace elements in seawater over the ....Pyrite: a deep-time capsule of ocean chemistry and atmosphere oxidation. Surprisingly little is known about trace element trends in past oceans, even though these data are vital for interpreting the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere, evolutionary pathways of marine life and cycles of major mineral deposits. Using laser-based analysis of sedimentary pyrite in deep marine rocks, this project aims to produce, for the first time, temporal variation curves for 25 trace elements in seawater over the last 3.5 billion years. Preliminary research has validated the technique and demonstrated major changes in certain trace elements over geologically short periods. Outcomes will assist the minerals industry in the discovery of new deposits of zinc, copper, gold and iron ore in Australia.Read moreRead less
Effect of Global Change on the Primary Production of Antarctic coastal Ecosystems. As the climate warms, sea ice in Antarctic coastal areas will reduce. Most primary production currently occurs within the sea ice. We propose that a reduction in ice extent will lead to a reduction in ice production but greater benthic production; phytoplankton production will stay relatively constant. These changes will significantly effect the size of pelagic (ie fish) and benthic (starfish, sea urchins etc) st ....Effect of Global Change on the Primary Production of Antarctic coastal Ecosystems. As the climate warms, sea ice in Antarctic coastal areas will reduce. Most primary production currently occurs within the sea ice. We propose that a reduction in ice extent will lead to a reduction in ice production but greater benthic production; phytoplankton production will stay relatively constant. These changes will significantly effect the size of pelagic (ie fish) and benthic (starfish, sea urchins etc) stocks, which in turn will impact on the size of seal and penguin populations. Our project will allow predictions of these changes that have been induced by a reduction in sa ice extentRead moreRead less
Dynamic resilience and stability properties of marine systems: the importance of environment-engineer feedbacks in kelp forests. Kelp forests form complex habitats that support diverse, productive and economically important food-webs. This project will determine whether healthy kelp forests engineer their environment to make conditions more suitable for their continued recruitment and survivorship, thus increasing their stability and resilience in response to anthropogenic threats.
Physics-aware machine learning for data-driven fire risk prediction. The 2019/20 Australian fire season was unprecedented in its extent, impact, and the response of fire agencies. In this project, we aim to answer the question: was the scale of these fires driven by known drivers of fire (drought, weather, fuels and ignitions), or were fundamentally new undescribed processes and phenomena involved? We will accomplish this by developing an innovative, physics-aware machine learning model of fire ....Physics-aware machine learning for data-driven fire risk prediction. The 2019/20 Australian fire season was unprecedented in its extent, impact, and the response of fire agencies. In this project, we aim to answer the question: was the scale of these fires driven by known drivers of fire (drought, weather, fuels and ignitions), or were fundamentally new undescribed processes and phenomena involved? We will accomplish this by developing an innovative, physics-aware machine learning model of fire risk and spread, trained and validated on a two-decade satellite fire record. The predictive ability of the model will be tested on the 2019/20 fire season to determine if novel drivers of fire can be identified, and the model itself will be operationalised into a novel short-to-mid term fire risk prediction tool. Read moreRead less
Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies an ....Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies and their interactions across multiple spatio-temporal scales, revealing their impacts on productivity along Australia’s most populous coastline. This will provide significant benefits such as improved ocean forecasting and sustainable management of Australian marine industries and seafood sector, supporting economic growth. Read moreRead less
Impact of Metal - Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Interactions on Growth and Toxicity of Ichthyotoxic Algae in Australian Coastal Waters. Toxic algal blooms in estuarine and coastal waters can have devastating economic and ecological impacts but remarkably little is known about the factors that control either organism growth or toxin severity. Recent studies suggest that the interplay between delivery of the nutrient trace metals iron and copper and the method via which the organism acts to assimi ....Impact of Metal - Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Interactions on Growth and Toxicity of Ichthyotoxic Algae in Australian Coastal Waters. Toxic algal blooms in estuarine and coastal waters can have devastating economic and ecological impacts but remarkably little is known about the factors that control either organism growth or toxin severity. Recent studies suggest that the interplay between delivery of the nutrient trace metals iron and copper and the method via which the organism acts to assimilate these metals is critical to the generation and aggressiveness of the toxins produced. These processes will be investigated in this study and conceptual and mathematical models will be developed which will assist in assessing management options for estuarine and coastal environments.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.
Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially co ....Enhancing marine bathymetry using new generation satellite sensors. Highly accurate marine bathymetry are currently lacking in 72% of the global ocean including around Australia, particularly in shallow seas and near-shore coastal zones, contributing to various navigation and marine safety accidents. Ship surveys of the seafloor are time-consuming and expensive. Satellite altimetry data provide an alternative solution. This project will improve Australia’s marine bathymetry by using spatially comprehensive and unprecedented data from new radar and laser satellite sensors. We aim to develop techniques for integration of the new data with other independent data sources, producing the most precise marine bathymetry for coastal terrain mapping, marine transport and safety management.Read moreRead less