Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality c ....High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality changes, pollution histories, recent geomorphological change, land-use change, introduction of invasive species and the occurrence of bushfires. A better understanding of the occurrence and timing of these major environmental issues is of national and regional importance.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453555
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$109,595.00
Summary
Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g. ....Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g., individual sand grains) and sediments deposited during the past 0.5-1 million years. We request funds for a Risø TL/OSL system with single-grain attachment to resolve the timing of sea-level, climate and landscape changes, and the chronology of human evolution and dispersal, in Australia and Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.Read moreRead less
The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfa ....The evolution of Australian rainforest faunas and the implications of continuing climate change. Australia's rainforest animals and ecosystems have been evolving for millions of years yet we routinely use only the last 200 years to assess changes that will affect their future - far too short a time interval to distinguish short-term perturbations from long-term trends in lineage health or community response. Our multidisciplinary team proposes to learn from 55 million years of response to rainfall and other climate change documented by the spectacular national, natural treasures in the fossil deposits of Tingamarra, Riversleigh and Rockhampton, to assess probable impacts of future environmental change and inform development of effective, long-term conservation strategies for rainforest communities. Read moreRead less
The African origins of Asian and Australian lithic technologies: Exploring modern human origins and dispersals using new techniques of core analysis. This project will demonstrate that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving research problems within and beyond our geographic region. The history of modern human evolution in Africa has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, Indians and Asians and will contribute to an understandi ....The African origins of Asian and Australian lithic technologies: Exploring modern human origins and dispersals using new techniques of core analysis. This project will demonstrate that Australia is committed to understanding the origins of modern humans and solving research problems within and beyond our geographic region. The history of modern human evolution in Africa has significant implications for the origins of the first Australians, Indians and Asians and will contribute to an understanding of our shared and recent common ancestry and the emergence of human diversity. Australian archaeological innovations, especially when applied to global issues such as human evolution, will continue to showcase Australian scientific expertise and achievements. The study of problem-solving and technological innovation will help understand the sophisticated nature of early Australian peoples.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to deter ....ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to determine how best to describe Australia's current biodiversity and the biological and environmental history leading up to the present. A major outcome will be the ability to predict the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity to assist management decisions across Australia, with lessons of global importance.Read moreRead less
Environmental change, carbon cycling and human impact in tropical Australia. This fellowhip will provide the fundamental science outputs required to understand the complex linkages between terrestrial ecosystems, environmental change and human impact in the tropics - in Australia and globally - thereby assisting in
(i) predicting the response of tropical ecosystems to future environmental change and respond to the impacts of tropical climate variability
(ii) developing and validating method ....Environmental change, carbon cycling and human impact in tropical Australia. This fellowhip will provide the fundamental science outputs required to understand the complex linkages between terrestrial ecosystems, environmental change and human impact in the tropics - in Australia and globally - thereby assisting in
(i) predicting the response of tropical ecosystems to future environmental change and respond to the impacts of tropical climate variability
(ii) developing and validating methodologies for improved carbon sequestration, verifiable carbon accounting and emissions trading
(iii) achieving sustainability in the utilization of the natural resource base of tropical Australia by optimizing the balance between wealth creation and environmental impact
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