U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research in Marine Geochemistry: The Phosphate Research Project (PHOSREP)

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Three senior U.S. scientists, S. R. Riggs (East Carolina University), R. E. Garrison (U.C. Santa Cruz), and J. A. McKenzie (University of Florida), in addition to the principal investigator, will work with Dr. R. J. Cook, Chief of the Division of Continental Geology of the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Canberra, and colleagues in a project aimed at increasing our understanding of the nature and origin of sedimentary phosphate deposits in various on- and off-shore areas of Australia. This knowledge may shed light on the use of phosphorites to explain how major chemical and biological changes occur through geologic time. Phosphate deposits in Australia will be studied both in the field and in the laboratory through sedimentological and geochemical research methods jointly by the U.S. and Australian scientists. Such questions as: how phosphates are precipitated to form phosphorites; whether the biota of phosporites is unique; under what depositional conditions phosphorites are formed; what chemical/biochemical processes are involved in the weathering of phosphorites; and, whether the processes involved in the formation of phosphorite have varied over time, will be addressed. The Australian and U.S. groups have complementary expertise for this study, and both sides will benefit from a synergetic approach. The project fulfills the Program's objective of supporting research of scientific benefit both to Australia and the United States, and of providing access for U.S. scientists to the research environments and expertise of their Australian colleagues. The research propsed here extends studies being conducted by the investigators under other NSF grants (e.g., OCE 85-20724), to include _ _ data on Australian phosphates, and the use of various cross- disciplinary techniques available in Australia. This award provides travel and subsistence for one trip to Australia for each of the four senior researchers involved in the work. Results of the proposed research should lead to increased understanding of the processes involved in the evolution of the earth. In addition, both Australian and U.S. investigators will benefit from bringing the varied experimental techniques of sedimentology, paleobiology, oceanography, microbial ecology, and remote sensing to problems of this type. The project will take place under the aegis of the Agreement betweeen Australia and the United States for Scientific and Technical Cooperation.