Project Leader: Mr Jon Brodie, James Cook University
Project 3.7.2 will characterise and obtain a distinct
'fingerprint' of the fine sediments (mud fraction) and dissolved
materials entering the marine environment using their isotopic and
elemental properties, and link these to their sources in the major
terrestrial catchments.
The Project will also examine historical changes in the delivery
of terrestrial materials, from the major river systems in the
Townsville and Cairns regions, to the marine environment using
coral and sediment cores. This will involve determining the
transport mechanism, residences time and fate of terrigenous
sediments, nutrients and pesticides in the inshore and mid-reef
regions of the Great Barrier Reef, and develop and apply new
technologies to specifically trace pathways of the key nutrient
elements phosphorus and nitrogen from the terrestrial catchments,
through estuaries, to inshore coastal zones and to the mid-reef of
the Great Barrier Reef.
