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Australia is embarking on the establishment of the East Antarctic Monitoring Program. East-ANTOS will be an integral component of this exciting new initiative and links into whole of Antarctica monitoring network providing opportunities for collaborations with other Antarctic Nations.
Laboratory experiments, using ice from Law Dome ice cores, will replicate the microstructural changes previously identified in fast flowing ice streams. We will systematically measure the effects of deformation on natural polycrystalline ice and compare this to patterns observed in ice cores.
Mantle plumes are cylinders of buoyant hot rock that rise from the deep Earth. Active since ~135 million years ago, the Kerguelen plume is thought to be the magma source of Australia's active hot spot volcanoes, Heard and McDonald islands on the central Kerguelen Plateau in the Southern Ocean.
This project will coordinate and deliver research, analysis and aligned activities to address the requirements of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Marine Reserve management plan.
Australia is one of the most climate-exposed developed countries. Feedbacks between ocean and cryosphere can alter the pace and impacts of climate change. In Antarctica these feedbacks occur through exchange between the open ocean and the continental shelf.
Sustained, coordinated, and long-term observations of essential climate and ocean variables in the Southern Ocean at the appropriate temporal and spatial scales are critical to improve our understanding of the role of the Southern Ocean in the broader Earth system…
The Rayner Complex in East Antarctica exposes rocks that formed deep in the Earth’s crust. These rocks are part of a larger terrane that is one of the largest and longest-lived ultra-high temperature (>1000 °C) metamorphic terranes on Earth.
A key component of ecosystem monitoring programs that aim to support the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem function is sound knowledge of species composition and food web linkages.
Antarctic krill is a key component of the Southern Ocean (SO) food web, providing the link between lower trophic levels and higher-order predators. Therefore perturbations in the krill population will have ramifications throughout the SO ecosystem.
The Southern Ocean and Antarctica is the most climate-data sparse region on the planet, and this is particularly true for the Indian Ocean sector.