Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100181
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
Strengthening merit-based access and support at the new National Computing Infrastructure petascale supercomputing facility. World-leading high-performance computing is fundamental to Australia's international research success. This facility will provide access to the new National Computational Infrastructure facility by world-leading researchers from six research universities, and sustain ground-breaking work in an increasingly competitive environment.
Multiscale dynamics of ore body formation. Future discoveries of giant ore-bodies will undoubtedly be under surface cover. Modelling of new data from South Australia and Western Australia will define targeting criteria for new major ore-bodies, thus exploiting Australia's deep earth resource potential. New understanding of controls on mineralisation decrease exploration risk. Ore-bodies, such as Olympic Dam, have made major contributions to Australia's economy over past decades and promise to ad ....Multiscale dynamics of ore body formation. Future discoveries of giant ore-bodies will undoubtedly be under surface cover. Modelling of new data from South Australia and Western Australia will define targeting criteria for new major ore-bodies, thus exploiting Australia's deep earth resource potential. New understanding of controls on mineralisation decrease exploration risk. Ore-bodies, such as Olympic Dam, have made major contributions to Australia's economy over past decades and promise to add increased value over future decades. This project enhances the probability that at least one other ore-body of this type will be discovered. Such discoveries contribute directly to the wealth of Australia through export earnings and accelerate the development of regional infrastructure and new technological development.Read moreRead less
Craton modification and growth: the east Albany-Fraser Orogen in three-dimensions. The objective of this work is to achieve new, synergistic techniques for delineating the three-dimensional structure of the east Albany-Fraser Orogen in Western Australia, and the lithospheric structure below it. These methods will guide understanding of the potential for mineral resources in this region with little surface geological exposure.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems. Water is essential for human existence, indeed for life's beginning. The circulation of water between the surface and the deep interior lubricates the internal dynamics that keep Earth geologically alive; it is crucial to most Earth systems, including the evolution of the hydrospher/atmosphere/biosphere, and the development of giant ore deposits. However, the origin, abundance, speciation and movements of fluids inside Earth are largely u ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems. Water is essential for human existence, indeed for life's beginning. The circulation of water between the surface and the deep interior lubricates the internal dynamics that keep Earth geologically alive; it is crucial to most Earth systems, including the evolution of the hydrospher/atmosphere/biosphere, and the development of giant ore deposits. However, the origin, abundance, speciation and movements of fluids inside Earth are largely unknown, and represent key issues in modern geoscience. This CoE will integrate previously disparate fields - geology, tectonics, geochemistry, petrophysics, geophysics and dynamic modelling - to understand the workings of Earth's deep plumbing system.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100145
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$170,000.00
Summary
The South Australian Thermochronometry Hub (SA Thermo). A thermochronometry hub: This project aims to set up a thermochronometry hub which will complement existing Australian geo- and thermochronological facilities by focussing on zircon fission track dating. This method will enable characterisation of the evolution of Australia's landscape, uncovering of its mineral deposits and constraining the formation of its petroleum reservoirs. The facility will enhance capacity to undertake thermochronol ....The South Australian Thermochronometry Hub (SA Thermo). A thermochronometry hub: This project aims to set up a thermochronometry hub which will complement existing Australian geo- and thermochronological facilities by focussing on zircon fission track dating. This method will enable characterisation of the evolution of Australia's landscape, uncovering of its mineral deposits and constraining the formation of its petroleum reservoirs. The facility will enhance capacity to undertake thermochronological research and aid in securing the economic future of Australia.Read moreRead less
Subsurface fluid flow through fractures in sedimentary basins. This project aims to improve understanding of subsurface fluid transport through fractures. Fractures in rock provide interconnected, hydraulically conductive networks enabling large-volume fluid transport through sedimentary basins. The ability of a fracture to transmit fluid is primarily controlled by the in situ stress field, but also by rock strength, fracture plane orientation and roughness and pore-fluid pressure. We have a goo ....Subsurface fluid flow through fractures in sedimentary basins. This project aims to improve understanding of subsurface fluid transport through fractures. Fractures in rock provide interconnected, hydraulically conductive networks enabling large-volume fluid transport through sedimentary basins. The ability of a fracture to transmit fluid is primarily controlled by the in situ stress field, but also by rock strength, fracture plane orientation and roughness and pore-fluid pressure. We have a good understanding of in situ stress within many sedimentary basins, but know very little about the nature and origin of natural fractures. This project aims to provide a detailed, quantitative understanding of the nature and origin of natural fractures in the subsurface, which is critical for predicting fluid migration within aquifers, carbon dioxide storage sites, and geothermal and hydrocarbon reservoirs.Read moreRead less
How the Earth moves: Developing a novel seismological approach to map the small-scale dynamics of the upper mantle. The concept of small-scale convection currents from about 100-400 km below the Earth’s surface is a model proposed to explain the origins of intraplate volcanoes and mountains. However, direct evidence for the physical reality of small-scale convection cells is generally weak. This project will develop a novel seismological approach combining both ambient noise and earthquake data ....How the Earth moves: Developing a novel seismological approach to map the small-scale dynamics of the upper mantle. The concept of small-scale convection currents from about 100-400 km below the Earth’s surface is a model proposed to explain the origins of intraplate volcanoes and mountains. However, direct evidence for the physical reality of small-scale convection cells is generally weak. This project will develop a novel seismological approach combining both ambient noise and earthquake data that can image such small-scale upper mantle convection. The outcomes of this project will help to fill the gap left in the Plate Tectonic paradigm by its inability to explain intraplate geological activity (volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains), which would be a significant step towards unifying conceptual models about how the Earth works.Read moreRead less
Dynamic earth models for frontier diamond exploration. This project aims to investigate the link between continent motion and mantle upwelling over the last billion years by combining tectonic reconstructions and recently developed dynamic earth models with the global and Australian rock record. Mantle upwelling is thought to cause eruptions of large volcanic provinces and kimberlites, the primary source rock for diamonds. The project expects to develop a technique to map kimberlite potential in ....Dynamic earth models for frontier diamond exploration. This project aims to investigate the link between continent motion and mantle upwelling over the last billion years by combining tectonic reconstructions and recently developed dynamic earth models with the global and Australian rock record. Mantle upwelling is thought to cause eruptions of large volcanic provinces and kimberlites, the primary source rock for diamonds. The project expects to develop a technique to map kimberlite potential in under-explored regions such as Australia. Significant benefits from the project will be the reduction of economic risks in diamond exploration, the training of a researcher in exploration geodynamics, and understanding the link between supercontinents and mantle upwelling.Read moreRead less
Roles of deep-Earth fluid cycling in the generation of intra-continental magmatism. This project aims to test a provocative and potentially ground-breaking hypothesis that fluid released from subducted oceanic slabs and stored in the mantle transition zone, may trigger or control some major intra-plate geotectonic phenomena. It aims to provide a self-consistent model that links geological processes occurring at plate boundaries with those far-field effects well away from plate boundaries via dee ....Roles of deep-Earth fluid cycling in the generation of intra-continental magmatism. This project aims to test a provocative and potentially ground-breaking hypothesis that fluid released from subducted oceanic slabs and stored in the mantle transition zone, may trigger or control some major intra-plate geotectonic phenomena. It aims to provide a self-consistent model that links geological processes occurring at plate boundaries with those far-field effects well away from plate boundaries via deep-Earth fluid cycling. The outcomes of this project aim to help to better understand links between plume and plate tectonic processes in the first-order dynamic system of Earth, and identify ways to improve success in future mineral exploration.Read moreRead less