Unraveling the geology of Mars. This project aims to use a suite of innovative conceptual and technical tools that target specific weaknesses in existing Mars exploration programs – where comparatively modest investment could deliver transformative change in one of the largest global research efforts, on which current expenditure is in billions of dollars. The project expects to provide context for the geologic processes that affected Mars. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of the ....Unraveling the geology of Mars. This project aims to use a suite of innovative conceptual and technical tools that target specific weaknesses in existing Mars exploration programs – where comparatively modest investment could deliver transformative change in one of the largest global research efforts, on which current expenditure is in billions of dollars. The project expects to provide context for the geologic processes that affected Mars. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of the habitability and geological history of Mars as well as facilitating both future mission landing site selection and providing context for comparison to the early history of Earth.Read moreRead less
Uncovering the Chronology of Mars. This project aims to answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the solar system by utilizing innovative machine learning techniques developed by our group. Starting with Mars, we will interrogate the highest resolution image data to automatically generate the ultimate resolution global age map. The expected outcomes of this project include determining the absolute ages of geologic processes on Mars to deliver a groundbreaking look at the ge ....Uncovering the Chronology of Mars. This project aims to answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the solar system by utilizing innovative machine learning techniques developed by our group. Starting with Mars, we will interrogate the highest resolution image data to automatically generate the ultimate resolution global age map. The expected outcomes of this project include determining the absolute ages of geologic processes on Mars to deliver a groundbreaking look at the geology of another planet at the centimeter scale. A major benefit of this project will be enhancing Australia’s role as a leader in space and planetary science through this interdisciplinary, international collaboration across engineering, geology, computing, and chronology.Read moreRead less
Determining fossilisation processes of a rare iron-rich Lagerstätte. Most fossil sites only preserve resistant elements such as bones and teeth, leading to questions about how soft animals and structures have evolved over time. The recent discovery of a fossil deposit in New South Wales appears to demonstrate a new set of conditions for the preservation of soft tissues. This project aims to constrain the age of and assess the fossilisation processes that produced this unique fossil site. We will ....Determining fossilisation processes of a rare iron-rich Lagerstätte. Most fossil sites only preserve resistant elements such as bones and teeth, leading to questions about how soft animals and structures have evolved over time. The recent discovery of a fossil deposit in New South Wales appears to demonstrate a new set of conditions for the preservation of soft tissues. This project aims to constrain the age of and assess the fossilisation processes that produced this unique fossil site. We will use an integrative approach to reconstruct the formation of this Lagerstätte. The work will provide significant advances in our understanding of the process of fossilisation and guide the discovery of other exceptionally-well preserved fossil deposits, critical in reconstructing the biological history of Australia.Read moreRead less