Ore deposits and tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia. Ore deposits and tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia. This project aims to develop and test models to evaluate past tectonic processes and configurations in South-east Australia, using both new and existing geological, geophysical and isotopic data. Over the past 550 million years, plate tectonic processes have formed metal-rich mineral deposits in South-east Australia. The project will identify areas of ....Ore deposits and tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia. Ore deposits and tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia. This project aims to develop and test models to evaluate past tectonic processes and configurations in South-east Australia, using both new and existing geological, geophysical and isotopic data. Over the past 550 million years, plate tectonic processes have formed metal-rich mineral deposits in South-east Australia. The project will identify areas of high potential for economically valuable ore deposits, enabling more efficient prioritisation of mineral exploration efforts. This is expected to increase the probability of significant ore deposit discoveries leading to national economic benefit.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.
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.
Down under down under: using multi-scale seismic tomography to image beneath Australia's Great Artesian Basin. Seismic arrays will be deployed in the Great Artesian Basin to image the crust and mantle using distant earthquake and ambient noise sources. This will answer fundamental questions about the tectonic evolution of eastern Australia and elucidate the structure of a region containing significant deep Earth resources.
Earth's best-preserved Archean boninites: do they finally resolve the Archean mantle plume - plate tectonics controversy? Subduction typically starts on the modern Earth with the eruption of chemically distinctive rocks known as boninites. This project will study remarkably well preserved 2.85 billion year old boninites from Western Australia that may finally establish whether modern-style plate tectonics operated in the first half of Earth's history.
Where to find giant porphyry and epithermal gold and copper deposits. This project will determine when and where giant gold or copper deposits should form, consolidating links with Indonesia, and using South East Asia as a vast natural laboratory in which to examine the effect of large-scale tectonic processes. The project will produce a four-dimensional virtual exploration toolkit to show how to apply the methods.
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
Multiple vertical tectonic movements in a continental interior: consequences of flat-subduction and foundering of an oceanic plateau? This project will investigate how the subduction of particularly thick oceanic crust impacts on the landscape, climate, structure and composition of the adjacent continent. It will help in understanding the history and distribution of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, of similar provinces in Australia.
Beneath Bass Strait: linking Tasmania and mainland Australia using a novel seismic experiment. A new low-cost approach based on background seismic energy and earthquake recordings will be used to construct three-dimensional maps of the deep structure beneath Bass Strait. Understanding the broad scale geology of southeast Australia is of national importance because the area is host to an abundance of petroleum, geothermal and mineral resources.
From core to ore: emplacement dynamics of deep-seated nickel sulphide systems. This project will investigate the genesis of ore deposits containing nickel, copper and the immensely valuable platinum group elements. These systems provide insights into fundamental questions regarding the evolution and dynamics of the Earth system, because these ore deposits are windows into the deep mantle of our planet.