The abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in tropical savannas. Tropical savanna burning represents an important but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. This project will quantify the dynamics of pyrogenic carbon (charcoal, soot, biochar) production and dispersal during savanna fires. Pyrogenic carbon is important because it can persist in the environment for thousands of years. Hence it represents both a 'sink' for carbon and a source of information about pas ....The abundance and isotope composition of pyrogenic carbon in tropical savannas. Tropical savanna burning represents an important but poorly understood component of the global carbon cycle. This project will quantify the dynamics of pyrogenic carbon (charcoal, soot, biochar) production and dispersal during savanna fires. Pyrogenic carbon is important because it can persist in the environment for thousands of years. Hence it represents both a 'sink' for carbon and a source of information about past environments. The project will also assist in validating 'biochar' as a new tool for carbon sequestration, an enable a deeper understanding of the interactions between fire, humans, vegetation and climate.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100064
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well ....A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well as opening new areas of research. It will be the instrument of choice for analysing small, rare samples such as those returned by space missions. The Australian-built high sensitivity source and ion detection systems can be retrofitted onto other mass spectrometers, opening a new area of commercialisation.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775590
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$200,000.00
Summary
A single crystal X-ray diffractometer with CCD detector for structural analysis of small molecules. In recent years their have been major advances in the capacity of instrumentation to determine the crystal and molecular structure of chemical compounds and materials which in turn has resulted in a rapidly growing understanding of the relationship between the structure of molecules and their function in the design of new materials and as drugs for the treatment of disease and pain. This infrastr ....A single crystal X-ray diffractometer with CCD detector for structural analysis of small molecules. In recent years their have been major advances in the capacity of instrumentation to determine the crystal and molecular structure of chemical compounds and materials which in turn has resulted in a rapidly growing understanding of the relationship between the structure of molecules and their function in the design of new materials and as drugs for the treatment of disease and pain. This infrastructure also provides training of an international standard for undergraduate and post graduate students, thus building the skills capabilities of Australian scientists in the workforce.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0346515
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$507,000.00
Summary
Fluorescence Detector for the Australian National Beamline Facility. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an extremely important synchrotron radiation tool for determining the local structure around an X-ray absorbing atom. This has many applications in the study of materials, minerals, metal complexes, and metalloproteins and can often be used to obtain information that is not available by other techniques, because structural information can be obtained in the solid or solution state and in ....Fluorescence Detector for the Australian National Beamline Facility. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an extremely important synchrotron radiation tool for determining the local structure around an X-ray absorbing atom. This has many applications in the study of materials, minerals, metal complexes, and metalloproteins and can often be used to obtain information that is not available by other techniques, because structural information can be obtained in the solid or solution state and in mixtures. The current proposal is aimed at introducing new technology into the Australian National Beamline Facility that will greatly improve the quality and quantity of experiments that can be performed and extend studies into dilute solutions and protein samples.Read moreRead less
From dust to planets: New initiatives to refine models of the inner Solar System's earliest history. This project will help continue the proud tradition of Australia as an international leader in mass spectrometric analyses and cosmochemistry. The questions surrounding the origin and significance of terrestrial planets are closely related to our very presence: "Are we alone"?
Research into meteorites is one of the few areas of science that truly captures the imagination of the general public. T ....From dust to planets: New initiatives to refine models of the inner Solar System's earliest history. This project will help continue the proud tradition of Australia as an international leader in mass spectrometric analyses and cosmochemistry. The questions surrounding the origin and significance of terrestrial planets are closely related to our very presence: "Are we alone"?
Research into meteorites is one of the few areas of science that truly captures the imagination of the general public. This project, through its integration with the WA Museum, gives the public a possibility to share in this experience.Read moreRead less
Computer simulation to study emergence of material texture in the Earth and Plate Tectonics. Plate tectonics has played a crucial role in the evolution and dynamics of the earth impacting on the diversity of life, mineralisation, and crustal dynamics. Despite its significance, how and under what conditions material texture and plate tectonics emerge from a proto-planet is not well understood. New computational methodologies to simulate the evolution of the plate-mantle system will be used to stu ....Computer simulation to study emergence of material texture in the Earth and Plate Tectonics. Plate tectonics has played a crucial role in the evolution and dynamics of the earth impacting on the diversity of life, mineralisation, and crustal dynamics. Despite its significance, how and under what conditions material texture and plate tectonics emerge from a proto-planet is not well understood. New computational methodologies to simulate the evolution of the plate-mantle system will be used to study how the upper mantle emerges as a thermo-mechanically distinct boundary layer, how this emergent structure relates to anisotropy in the upper mantle, and how it is affected by cross-scale effects controlling fault zone behaviour and crustal dynamics.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$6,000,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) will provide high-leverage access to the largest, and most effective international geoscience program.
Results from drilling within Australia's marine jurisdiction will give understanding of the oceans' state under past climates through high resolution records of the range of oceanographic and biological responses to climate change, the role of the deep biosphere in shapin ....Australian Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) will provide high-leverage access to the largest, and most effective international geoscience program.
Results from drilling within Australia's marine jurisdiction will give understanding of the oceans' state under past climates through high resolution records of the range of oceanographic and biological responses to climate change, the role of the deep biosphere in shaping oil and gas deposits, hydrothermal and igneous processes involved in ore genesis, and enhanced understanding of some of the world's largest earthquake- and tsunami-generating processes.
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The early evolution of the Earth system from multiple sulfur isotope records of sediments and seafloor mineral systems. This project addresses the early evolution of the Earth system that is one of the most important questions in Earth Sciences. It will use Australia's unique rock record and analytical techniques developed in Australia in collaboration with leading international researchers. The National Research Priority area 'An environmentally sustainable Australia: developing deep Earth reso ....The early evolution of the Earth system from multiple sulfur isotope records of sediments and seafloor mineral systems. This project addresses the early evolution of the Earth system that is one of the most important questions in Earth Sciences. It will use Australia's unique rock record and analytical techniques developed in Australia in collaboration with leading international researchers. The National Research Priority area 'An environmentally sustainable Australia: developing deep Earth resources' will benefit through the development of better exploration models for Archaean submarine metal deposits. Students will obtain a high level understanding of the early Earth system, ore deposits, stable isotope and transition metal geochemistry, which are directly applicable in both pure and applied research and mineral exploration.Read moreRead less
Weathering on Mars and Australian Analogues: Developing Suitable Chronological Tools and Theoretical Approaches. The research outlined in this proposal will place Australia at the forefront of Mars exploration research. It will lead to the development of new approaches for the analysis of minerals formed by low temperature water-rock interaction and for the interpretation of geochronological results obtained from supergene minerals. The new analytical approaches developed in this project will ha ....Weathering on Mars and Australian Analogues: Developing Suitable Chronological Tools and Theoretical Approaches. The research outlined in this proposal will place Australia at the forefront of Mars exploration research. It will lead to the development of new approaches for the analysis of minerals formed by low temperature water-rock interaction and for the interpretation of geochronological results obtained from supergene minerals. The new analytical approaches developed in this project will have direct application in the study of the paleoclimatological and environmental evolution of Earth and Mars. It will also result in improved understanding of environmental and landscape evolution in Australia, helping to reach the objectives of an Environmentally Sustainable Australia, a national research priority.Read moreRead less
Crustal Growth in the Northern Tasmanides. The Australian and Queensland governments have invested over $3 million to undertake deep crustal seismic imaging in northern Queensland, providing an extensive new geophysical dataset capable of modelling crustal architecture and geological evolution to unprecedented levels. However, such models will remain untested unless the data is groundtruthed by analysis of rocks at the surface, providing a geological framework for extrapolation into the deep Ea ....Crustal Growth in the Northern Tasmanides. The Australian and Queensland governments have invested over $3 million to undertake deep crustal seismic imaging in northern Queensland, providing an extensive new geophysical dataset capable of modelling crustal architecture and geological evolution to unprecedented levels. However, such models will remain untested unless the data is groundtruthed by analysis of rocks at the surface, providing a geological framework for extrapolation into the deep Earth. The framework critically describes when and how crustal blocks were assembled, and the integrated information will generate evolutionary 3D models that will substantially improve mineral exploration targeting in the region.Read moreRead less