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Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Au ....Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Australian, Queensland and Richmond Marine Fossil museums. This project intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the evolution, environment, lifestyle and distribution of Cretaceous marine reptiles by improving their fossil record and analysing newly discovered Australian specimens, including the world's first plesiosaur embryo.Read moreRead less
Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.Read moreRead less
Deep time extinctions and environments in Australian underwater caves. This project aims to investigate the unique submerged Mt Gambier fossil deposits to determine the role environmental change had on large Australian mammal extinctions. By using a combination of technical diving and scientific expertise to study untouched fossil deposits from underwater caves, this project expects to provide greater understanding of past ecosystems and animals, advancements in geochronological techniques, and ....Deep time extinctions and environments in Australian underwater caves. This project aims to investigate the unique submerged Mt Gambier fossil deposits to determine the role environmental change had on large Australian mammal extinctions. By using a combination of technical diving and scientific expertise to study untouched fossil deposits from underwater caves, this project expects to provide greater understanding of past ecosystems and animals, advancements in geochronological techniques, and data critical to prepare Australians for action in protecting our biological heritage. Expected outcomes include insights into cave conservation and protection of underwater cave systems, updated policies on cave management, and promotion of our understanding of Australian geo-heritage through education and displays.Read moreRead less
From exploration to mining: new geological strategies for sustaining high levels of copper production from the Mount Isa district. Mineral production at the Mount Isa copper and Ernest Henry copper-gold mines is worth more than $ 1 billion per year and this has underpinned the northern Queensland economy for a number of years. These resources are being depleted at a high rate, and no significant new discoveries have been made in over a decade. This project will provide some of the tools to defin ....From exploration to mining: new geological strategies for sustaining high levels of copper production from the Mount Isa district. Mineral production at the Mount Isa copper and Ernest Henry copper-gold mines is worth more than $ 1 billion per year and this has underpinned the northern Queensland economy for a number of years. These resources are being depleted at a high rate, and no significant new discoveries have been made in over a decade. This project will provide some of the tools to define new resources for the next generation, ensuring the prosperity of the region and bolstering the Australian economy. The timing is critical given the long lead time between discovery and production (in the order of 5 to 10 years). If successful the research may have major financial impacts at local, regional and national scales. It may also improve mine safety.Read moreRead less
The Missing link in the Tasmanides: evaluating tectonic evolution and resource exploration potential of the southern Thomson Fold belt. Understanding the Thomson Orogen, a geological region which straddles the New South Wales and Queensland border, is critical for developing geodynamic models for the evolution of eastern Australia, and assessing resource potential. However, it lies under the Great Artesian Basin. This project focusses on ground truthing geophysical acquisition studies using dril ....The Missing link in the Tasmanides: evaluating tectonic evolution and resource exploration potential of the southern Thomson Fold belt. Understanding the Thomson Orogen, a geological region which straddles the New South Wales and Queensland border, is critical for developing geodynamic models for the evolution of eastern Australia, and assessing resource potential. However, it lies under the Great Artesian Basin. This project focusses on ground truthing geophysical acquisition studies using drill core from a targeted drilling program, designed to maximise the available tectono-stratigraphic information. The outcome intends to be a 3D geological map of the region, which can be interrogated for mineral exploration targeting, and from which 4D evolutionary geodynamic models of eastern Australian can be integrated.Read moreRead less
Crustal Growth in the Northern Tasmanides. The Australian and Queensland governments have invested over $3 million to undertake deep crustal seismic imaging in northern Queensland, providing an extensive new geophysical dataset capable of modelling crustal architecture and geological evolution to unprecedented levels. However, such models will remain untested unless the data is groundtruthed by analysis of rocks at the surface, providing a geological framework for extrapolation into the deep Ea ....Crustal Growth in the Northern Tasmanides. The Australian and Queensland governments have invested over $3 million to undertake deep crustal seismic imaging in northern Queensland, providing an extensive new geophysical dataset capable of modelling crustal architecture and geological evolution to unprecedented levels. However, such models will remain untested unless the data is groundtruthed by analysis of rocks at the surface, providing a geological framework for extrapolation into the deep Earth. The framework critically describes when and how crustal blocks were assembled, and the integrated information will generate evolutionary 3D models that will substantially improve mineral exploration targeting in the region.Read moreRead less
Four dimensional lithospheric evolution and controls on mineral system distribution in Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic terranes. This project will resolve important questions about the links between the evolution and preservation of continents and important mineral deposits in Australia and West Africa between 2.7 and 1.8 billion years ago. The results will improve the understanding of a key period of Earth history and make a major contribution to mineral exploration.
A mineral systems analysis of Australia's largest gold producing deposit: Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, Western Australia. This project will augment existing mineral resources at Australia's largest current gold producing mine, and guide exploration for additional resources in the surrounding district. By understanding the genesis of this exceptional deposit, the study will spawn a new set of targeting criteria that can be used to explore for other world-class deposits in Western Australia and similar ....A mineral systems analysis of Australia's largest gold producing deposit: Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, Western Australia. This project will augment existing mineral resources at Australia's largest current gold producing mine, and guide exploration for additional resources in the surrounding district. By understanding the genesis of this exceptional deposit, the study will spawn a new set of targeting criteria that can be used to explore for other world-class deposits in Western Australia and similar geological terranes throughout the world. In the context of high and rising gold prices, the project has the potential to generate billion dollar revenues and substantial employment, and it will deliver advanced training at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional Bayesian Modelling of Geological and Geophysical data. The project aims to develop technologies enabling rapid informed decision-making related to the management of natural resources, including critical metals, copper and water. This new technology will support a greener future, securing our energy future, our access to clean water and reduce the mining footprint. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capability in interoperable, integrated three-dimensional geological and geop ....Three-dimensional Bayesian Modelling of Geological and Geophysical data. The project aims to develop technologies enabling rapid informed decision-making related to the management of natural resources, including critical metals, copper and water. This new technology will support a greener future, securing our energy future, our access to clean water and reduce the mining footprint. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capability in interoperable, integrated three-dimensional geological and geophysical modelling in order to predictively characterise sub-surface geology. The outcome will be an open-source forecasting dashboard enabling decision making while considering underlying risk related to resource extractions and management with significant benefits to the Australian society (lower emissions, clean water).Read moreRead less
Enabling three dimensional stochastic geological modelling. This project aims to develop technologies to mitigate three dimensional (3D) geological risk in resources management. This project expects to create new knowledge and methods in the field of 3D geological modelling through the innovative application of mathematical methods, structural geology concepts and probabilistic programming. The expected outcomes are an enhanced capability to model the subsurface, characterise model uncertainty a ....Enabling three dimensional stochastic geological modelling. This project aims to develop technologies to mitigate three dimensional (3D) geological risk in resources management. This project expects to create new knowledge and methods in the field of 3D geological modelling through the innovative application of mathematical methods, structural geology concepts and probabilistic programming. The expected outcomes are an enhanced capability to model the subsurface, characterise model uncertainty and test multiple geological scenarios. This enhanced capability is important for the future of Australia's subsurface management, including urban geology and our continuously growing sustainable resources industry.Read moreRead less