We are measuring the amount of mixing that occurs when two fluids of different density exchange in opposite directions through a constriction or over a sill. Such exchange flows commonly occur through ocean straits and over bottom sills. The constrictions control the rate of transport of water into or out of...

In lakes and oceans, organic matter from dead organisms is usually recycled back into CO 2 and water. However, a small fraction of this dead biomass, particularly pigments and lipids, escapes the remineralization process and accumulates in the bottom sediment. Over millions of years, the lipids will turn into...

Utilize the state of the art AMS and radiocarbon preparation labs at RSES to trace carbon through the environment.

The Indonesian throughflow (ITF) is thought to play an important role in global thermohaline circulation and influence global climate by funneling Pacific Warm Pool water into the Indian Ocean. Observations suggest the ITF is composed of North Pacific subtropical and thermocline waters that flow through Makassar...

Convection is one of the major modes of heat transfer in fluids and is especially important given the large scales of most geophysical flows. Heat transfer by natural convection plays a significant role in the structure of Earth's atmosphere, oceans and mantle. Flow in a horizontal...

The melting of Antarctica’s marine-terminating ice sheets is controlled by heat delivered from the Southern Ocean to the Antarctic margins, and is the largest uncertainty in future sea level rise. This project will use a combination of ocean modelling, theory and observations to predict future Antarctic melt rate.

Turbulent mixing plays an important role in the oceanic circulation energy balance. Energy is input at large scales from tides and surface wind stresses, and provides the energy required to bring deep, dense water back towards the surface via mixing. Mixing can...

The global meridional overturning circulation of the oceans (a major component of the thermohaline circulation) is forced by density differences owing to heat and water fluxes at the sea surface. Wind stress on the surface and injections of energy into turbulent mixing from the winds and tides modify this...

Microstructural analysis with micro-scale based 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology has been used to differentiate between different deformational events in the extensional zone of the central Agean Sea, Greece. North/south directed extension in the central Aegean has been largely accommodated by the...

A Virtual Earth Project by Tomas O'Kane, PhD Candidate
The Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands region is located within the transition zone between SE Asia and the SW Pacific, one of the best-endowed metallogenic belts and most actively deforming areas on Earth. Interactions between the WNW-moving Pacific...

Changes in mass balance (or the amount of ice that has melted) can be measured using space-geodetic techniques that detect variations in the Earth's gravity field and changes in ice height. Both satellite altimetry (used to measure ice topography heights) and GRACE (measures changes in potential) are sensitive to...

One of the most fundamental gaps in our understanding of mantle convection lies in the dynamics of upwelling mantle flow (i.e. mantle plumes) and the signature of such flow at Earth's surface. While mantle plumes have been extensively studied, certain aspects of their evolution remain poorly understood.

A Tectonic Reconstruction Project by Clemens Augenstein, PhD Candidate
Palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Alpine-Carpathian Arc have until now been done largely by rotating and translating rigid 2D components. These reconstructions were usually complemented by cross-sections through a few areas...

At 4.567 billion years old, refractory inclusions are the oldest known objects to have formed in the solar system. They are often referred to as calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAI) because their chemistry is dominated by the refractory oxides of Ca and Al, as well as Ti, forming minerals such as hibonite (CaAl...

A Tectonic Reconstruction Project by Lloyd White, PhD Candidate
A number of 2D rigid plate reconstructions have been made to model the history of convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Most of these models have attempted to determine the timing of "the collision" between India and Eurasia on...