International Research Fellow Awards Program: Late Quaternary Changes of Vegetation and Climate in Northern Australia

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9600284 Johnson The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twentyfour months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a fifteen-month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Beverly J. Johnson, which will consist of a twelve-month research project working with Professor Allan R. Chivas at the University of Wollongong in Australia, and a three month re-entry award at the University of Colorado to work with Professor Gifford H. Miller. Vegetation in northern Australia is heavily influenced by the intensity of the monsoon and appears to have the potential to influence the intensity of the monsoon. An evaluation of the vegetation regimes responding to variations in the monsoon both prior to and after human arrival in conjunction with the fire-history of this area will allow for an evaluation of the role humans played on vegation and subsequent climate change in the continental interior. Dr. Johnson will analyze the stable isotope geochemistry of organic compounds extracted from core material in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The techniques proposed in this study provide some of the most powerful methods for tracking paleovegetation in marine vegetation currently known. If the predicted vegetation changes are measured, they will provide evidence linking the effects of human burning on vegetation and climate change in the Australian interior. Paleovegetation records reconstructed from the sediments in the Gulf will provide the ground truthing data necessary to verify the paleoclimate models. Upon her return to the United States, Dr. Johnson will complete any remaining analyses and write up the results of her research. She will receive additional support for her re-entry period through a grant from NSF's ATM program. ***