LATE PALAEOZOIC PALAEOGEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA: A PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHICAL APPROACH USING IMPROVED BIOSTRATIGRAPHY. Fossil data from Central Asia (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, NW China, Mongolia, Altaids) indicate significant degree of palaeo-latitudinal variation in biogeographical patterns across the Palaeo-Tethys and its flanking shelves during Late Palaeozoic, but details of these patterns and implications for enhancing contemporaneous palaeogeographical models are virtually unknown. Thi ....LATE PALAEOZOIC PALAEOGEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA: A PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHICAL APPROACH USING IMPROVED BIOSTRATIGRAPHY. Fossil data from Central Asia (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, NW China, Mongolia, Altaids) indicate significant degree of palaeo-latitudinal variation in biogeographical patterns across the Palaeo-Tethys and its flanking shelves during Late Palaeozoic, but details of these patterns and implications for enhancing contemporaneous palaeogeographical models are virtually unknown. This project will analyse the biogeographical patterns of Late Palaeozoic brachiopod, coral, fusulinid faunas using advanced statistical methods, and integrate biogeographical signals with palaeomagnetic data to constrain models for the Late Palaeozoic geological evolution of Central Asia-a vast region that is known to bear enormous potential for natural resources but remains geologically little explored.Read moreRead less
The early history of atmospheric oxygen. Atmospheric oxygen is essential for advanced life and its accumulation on the ancient Earth was accompanied by profound environmental, climatic and biological change. This project will clarify the complex interactions between the rise in atmospheric oxygen and changes in the Earth's surface environment, extreme climate change and biospheric evolution.
Kinematica: Inference-Based Rapid Resource Exploration Scenario Testing. This project aims to build a new workflow for improving resource exploration evaluation by Australian companies and applied to three practical industry cases in frontier basins. The expected outcomes of this proposal are: detailed risk analysis of oil and gas prospectivity in frontier basins onshore and offshore Australia; a new strategic collaboration between Australian industry, government and universities; students train ....Kinematica: Inference-Based Rapid Resource Exploration Scenario Testing. This project aims to build a new workflow for improving resource exploration evaluation by Australian companies and applied to three practical industry cases in frontier basins. The expected outcomes of this proposal are: detailed risk analysis of oil and gas prospectivity in frontier basins onshore and offshore Australia; a new strategic collaboration between Australian industry, government and universities; students trained in advanced computational methods suitable for the evolving Australian oil and gas industry; and a software product that has high commericalisation potential. The project will transfer knowledge from European industry and universities to Australia and has applications for mineral prospectivity in sedimentary basins. Read moreRead less
New tools for old rocks: first cycle provenance information. The aims of this research are to enhance stratigraphic understanding of sedimentary sequences in Western Australia through application of novel provenance fingerprinting tools in K-feldspar (Pb isotopes) & apatite (U-Pb, Sr isotopes and grain chemistry). While much stratigraphic characterization has been based on detrital zircon ages & their correlation to basement sources, two major limitations are apparent: a) zircon may be multicycl ....New tools for old rocks: first cycle provenance information. The aims of this research are to enhance stratigraphic understanding of sedimentary sequences in Western Australia through application of novel provenance fingerprinting tools in K-feldspar (Pb isotopes) & apatite (U-Pb, Sr isotopes and grain chemistry). While much stratigraphic characterization has been based on detrital zircon ages & their correlation to basement sources, two major limitations are apparent: a) zircon may be multicycle, blurring source-sink relationships, b) zircon may be absent in mafic lithologies thus biasing investigations. In this work K-feldspar & apatite provenance investigation will be undertaken on a state wide basis and include case studies in the Yilgarn Craton and Canning & Northern Carnarvon Basins.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality c ....High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality changes, pollution histories, recent geomorphological change, land-use change, introduction of invasive species and the occurrence of bushfires. A better understanding of the occurrence and timing of these major environmental issues is of national and regional importance.Read moreRead less