Resolving the influence of intraplate orogenesis on continental margin tectonics. Novel, multi-dating of continental sedimentary rocks will be undertaken to examine the effects of a high sediment flux from an enigmatic, major mountain-building event on a distant continental margin. This will expand our understanding of the range of tectonic influences between continental interiors and margins and onshore resource potential.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100047
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
Events through time: eruptions, extinctions, impacts, ore-bodies and orogenies - upgrading the national argon geochronology network. Nine universities and the CSIRO will replace aged and obsolete equipment with new mass spectrometers which will be strategically placed at opposite ends of our continent to improve access for Australian researchers to these instruments for which there is high demand. These instruments will allow more exact dating of events such as eruptions, impacts, climate change ....Events through time: eruptions, extinctions, impacts, ore-bodies and orogenies - upgrading the national argon geochronology network. Nine universities and the CSIRO will replace aged and obsolete equipment with new mass spectrometers which will be strategically placed at opposite ends of our continent to improve access for Australian researchers to these instruments for which there is high demand. These instruments will allow more exact dating of events such as eruptions, impacts, climate change, biological extinctions, mineral deposits and mountain building.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100070
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$966,283.00
Summary
Cutting-edge electron probe microanalysis driving Western Australia’s resource geosciences. This project aims to provide a new generation electron microprobe, with advances in trace element mapping and cathodoluminescence analysis to enable superior characterisation of a wide range of materials. The overwhelming demand for electron probe microanalysis from research groups in Western Australia requires renewal of over-subscribed, ageing facilities to drive innovation and alleviate bottlenecks in ....Cutting-edge electron probe microanalysis driving Western Australia’s resource geosciences. This project aims to provide a new generation electron microprobe, with advances in trace element mapping and cathodoluminescence analysis to enable superior characterisation of a wide range of materials. The overwhelming demand for electron probe microanalysis from research groups in Western Australia requires renewal of over-subscribed, ageing facilities to drive innovation and alleviate bottlenecks in advanced geosciences multi-capability workflows. The electron probe will drive underpinning geoscience, resources science and economic geology, as well as support a broad range of disciplines and diverse fields, such as nanotechnology, microelectronics and aquatic sciences.Read moreRead less
Realising Australia’s rare earth resource potential. This project aims to reveal the potential for undiscovered economic deposits of rare earth elements within the Australian continent. Future supply of these elements underpins societies transition to clean energy and embrace of high-tech applications. The project expects to greatly enhance our knowledge of Australia’s endowment of rare earth element resources using an array of traditional and innovative geological research methods. Expected out ....Realising Australia’s rare earth resource potential. This project aims to reveal the potential for undiscovered economic deposits of rare earth elements within the Australian continent. Future supply of these elements underpins societies transition to clean energy and embrace of high-tech applications. The project expects to greatly enhance our knowledge of Australia’s endowment of rare earth element resources using an array of traditional and innovative geological research methods. Expected outcomes of this project include a greater understanding of how, where and when rare earth element orebodies form in the Earth's crust. This should provide significant benefits to exploring for––and discovering––new orebodies that are required to secure global critical metal supplies. Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC230100035
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources for the Future. The proposed ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources aims to train the next generation of geoscientists needed to enable resourcing of the transition to a high-tech, clean energy society. Training of PhD students and postdoctoral scientists will primarily focus on bridging the gap between mineral systems science, mineral exploration protocols and ore processing/metallurgical extraction. This will provide geoscientists with an essential ....ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources for the Future. The proposed ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources aims to train the next generation of geoscientists needed to enable resourcing of the transition to a high-tech, clean energy society. Training of PhD students and postdoctoral scientists will primarily focus on bridging the gap between mineral systems science, mineral exploration protocols and ore processing/metallurgical extraction. This will provide geoscientists with an essential understanding of the whole value chain of the critical resources of the future.
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
From organo-mineral nanocomposite to Australian basins; an integrated approach to unconventional gas exploration and development. Gas production from unconventional shale reservoirs is a potential major energy boom in Australia that will lower carbon emissions over comparable coal and oil use. The geological controls of shale are currently too poorly understood to direct effective exploration. This project will be the largest international effort to develop this knowledge.
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354605
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
The Earth System Dynamics Network for a Sustainable Australia. Earth comprises systems of enormous complexity that sustain all life and control the distribution of mineral, energy and water resources. Thus understanding these dynamic systems provides the key to sustainable resource usage. The aim of The Earth System Dynamics Network is to facilitate scientific interactions through establishment of an earth and environmental sciences grid that links national and regional data assets with high per ....The Earth System Dynamics Network for a Sustainable Australia. Earth comprises systems of enormous complexity that sustain all life and control the distribution of mineral, energy and water resources. Thus understanding these dynamic systems provides the key to sustainable resource usage. The aim of The Earth System Dynamics Network is to facilitate scientific interactions through establishment of an earth and environmental sciences grid that links national and regional data assets with high performance computing through open sourced middleware. The result will be an unparalleled predictive capacity for complex Earth systems. The outcome will be confidence in the knowledge that underpins our decisions as stakeholders to keep Australia sustainable.Read moreRead less
Experimental and empirical insight into melting of the early Earth's mantle. The early Earth's mantle produced melt at much higher temperature than today, creating rocks with unique chemistries and mineralogies. But pressing knowledge gaps about hot mantle melting remain. The aim of this project is to generate new experimental and empirical knowledge to help closing these gaps by:
(i) conducting high pressure experiments to refine phase-composition relationships and element partitioning;
(ii) qu ....Experimental and empirical insight into melting of the early Earth's mantle. The early Earth's mantle produced melt at much higher temperature than today, creating rocks with unique chemistries and mineralogies. But pressing knowledge gaps about hot mantle melting remain. The aim of this project is to generate new experimental and empirical knowledge to help closing these gaps by:
(i) conducting high pressure experiments to refine phase-composition relationships and element partitioning;
(ii) quantifying mineral fabrics in cratonic peridotites to understand the movement of early continents; and
(iii) constructing the first petrological deep time model for greenstone belt volcanic rocks.
The expected outcomes are better models for the early Earth's melting and tectonic regimes and insight into the emergence of land.Read moreRead less
Deep time in the deep Earth: using trace element diffusivities to constrain durations of deep Earth processes. Evaluation of deep Earth resources requires knowing how long geological processes took, some record of which is often preserved by gradients in the chemical compositions of minerals. Experiments at very high temperatures and pressures will determine how this evidence can be used to constrain the durations of a rich variety of geological processes.