Funding for Three New Science Projects

NEWS RELEASE, 7 SEPTEMBER 2007
GNS Science Wins Funding for Three New Science Projects

Government-owned research and consultancy company GNS Science has won funding of $2.16 million from the Marsden Fund for three new science projects.

GNS Science has a strong track record in submitting successful proposals to this highly competitive fund that supports the very best in long-term scientific research. Just 93 projects won funding out of 910 proposals submitted this year. The total pool of funding available was $44 million.

The successful GNS Science projects will investigate earthquakes on the Alpine Fault, the influence of greenhouse gases on the Antarctic ice sheet, and the possibility of using bacteria to reduce the level of methane in the atmosphere.

A project led by geologist Kelvin Berryman, together with international researchers, has received a Marsden grant to investigate whether the Alpine Fault ruptures at regular intervals, or whether the quakes come in clusters.

This major fault, that runs 450km along the spine of the South Island between Milford Sound and Marlborough, has ruptured four times in the past 1000 years, each time producing an earthquake of about magnitude 8.

The team will examine evidence of up to 25 earthquakes from the past 7000 years preserved in lake sediments in Fiordland. Geological records of this quality are rare worldwide.

The researchers will use detailed analysis of the sediments and their fossils to discover evidence of past earthquakes. In addition, radiocarbon dating will be used to indicate when and how frequently the earthquakes occurred.

Through this work, New Zealand geologists have the potential to make an important contribution to international research, as well as dramatically improve earthquake hazard estimates for the Alpine Fault. The project has received $690,000 in funding over three years.

Another project will be led by paleontologist Chris Hollis. This group will investigate the factors that have caused repeated cycles of growth and melting of the Antarctic ice sheet in the geological past. At present it is unclear how much influence greenhouse gas levels have on ice sheet stability.

Some computer models indicate that Antarctic ice sheets will form whenever atmospheric carbon dioxide falls below a certain level. The group wants to test the hypothesis that the growth and melting of Antarctic ice sheets may be directly linked to greenhouse gas levels.

“ Given that global sea levels could rise by 60m if all the ice currently trapped in Antarctica melted, understanding the controls on ice sheet stability is of crucial importance in a warming world,” Dr Hollis said.

The group will use fossils and geochemical tracers in New Zealand sedimentary rocks to search for evidence for ice sheet growth in a greenhouse climate 60 million years ago.
The project has received Marsden funding of $870,000 over three years.

A third project, led by micro-geobiologists Peter Dunfield and Matthew Stott, will investigate the possibility of using bacteria to reduce atmospheric methane concentrations and thereby reduce global warming.

Methane-loving bacteria are a highly specialised life form and little is known about their biochemistry and genetic makeup.

In collaboration with American colleagues, GNS Science researchers will sequence the genomes of several methane-loving bacteria recently found in New Zealand.

The aim is to understand in detail how they live and what they are capable of doing. As a result, scientists will be able to use these bacteria in ways that will be useful to industry and the environment. This project has been awarded $607,000 over three years.

ENDS

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