Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100205
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$367,000.00
Summary
Searching for Life on Mars on Earth. Australia continues to play a world-leading role in researching planetary habitability. This project will deliver the most comprehensive investigation of Earth’s oldest known river/lake deposits, uniquely preserved in 2.8 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. Using the candidate’s expertise in field investigation in combination with a cutting-edge analytical approach, the project will produce a detailed reconstruction of the ancient lake environment. S ....Searching for Life on Mars on Earth. Australia continues to play a world-leading role in researching planetary habitability. This project will deliver the most comprehensive investigation of Earth’s oldest known river/lake deposits, uniquely preserved in 2.8 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. Using the candidate’s expertise in field investigation in combination with a cutting-edge analytical approach, the project will produce a detailed reconstruction of the ancient lake environment. Similar settings will be explored by NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission at it's landing site in Jezero Crater. Mission data will be analysed by the candidate, who will guide the selection of samples and address the overarching question of whether microbal life ever existed on Mars.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100654
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$468,367.00
Summary
Critical metal fluid migration in shear zones during tectonic switches. This project aims to investigate why critical metal ore deposits form in inverted shear zones, which are zones of deformation that result from tectonic plates moving away from then towards each other. Numerical modelling of inverted shear zones will reveal drivers of ore fluid migration and will be combined with investigation of mineralised and non-mineralised inverted shear zones. This project will generate a new understand ....Critical metal fluid migration in shear zones during tectonic switches. This project aims to investigate why critical metal ore deposits form in inverted shear zones, which are zones of deformation that result from tectonic plates moving away from then towards each other. Numerical modelling of inverted shear zones will reveal drivers of ore fluid migration and will be combined with investigation of mineralised and non-mineralised inverted shear zones. This project will generate a new understanding of how inverted shear zones pump fluids through rocks to cause enrichment and ore deposition. This type of deposit is common in Queensland and the expected outcomes are improved exploration models, leading to discovery of new ore deposits, which is pivotal as the global demand for critical metals increases.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101361
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$403,866.00
Summary
The Australian tectonic stress state: Far-field forces and local impacts. This project aims to investigate the present-day tectonic stress field of Australia using detailed analysis of stress magnitude data and state-of-the-art 3D geomechanical-numerical modelling across spatial scales. Tectonic stresses control the Earth’s deformation and are a primary cause of collapse of subsurface structures. This project expects to improve our knowledge of the causes of the tectonic stress field of Australi ....The Australian tectonic stress state: Far-field forces and local impacts. This project aims to investigate the present-day tectonic stress field of Australia using detailed analysis of stress magnitude data and state-of-the-art 3D geomechanical-numerical modelling across spatial scales. Tectonic stresses control the Earth’s deformation and are a primary cause of collapse of subsurface structures. This project expects to improve our knowledge of the causes of the tectonic stress field of Australia and its consequences for earthquake risk assessment, safe and sustainable usage of underground environments for groundwater exploration and production, CO2 sequestration, waste disposal, mine stability, exploration and production of hydrocarbon and geothermal resources.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100553
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,570.00
Summary
Exploring links between climate change, ocean chemistry, and the rise of multicellular life: The Ediacaran sedimentary record of central Australia. For most of Earth’s history, single-celled organisms were the only forms of life on the planet. Not until roughly 600 million years ago do fossils of multicellular animals appear in the rock record. Explanations for the Ediacaran rise of multicellularity include extreme climate change, meteorite impact and oxygenation of the global ocean. Evaluation ....Exploring links between climate change, ocean chemistry, and the rise of multicellular life: The Ediacaran sedimentary record of central Australia. For most of Earth’s history, single-celled organisms were the only forms of life on the planet. Not until roughly 600 million years ago do fossils of multicellular animals appear in the rock record. Explanations for the Ediacaran rise of multicellularity include extreme climate change, meteorite impact and oxygenation of the global ocean. Evaluation of these hypotheses is complicated by the fact that stratigraphic records that span the appropriate time interval are rare. This project is focused on the carbon, oxygen, and zinc isotopic records preserved by Ediacaran marine rocks in the Amadeus Basin of central Australia. Results will contribute to a more complete record of fluctuations in ocean chemistry during a key interval of Earth history.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101533
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding faunal responses to climate change and environmental perturbations through the Quaternary in north-eastern Australia. To understand life, it is essential to know its history; and to conserve biodiversity into the future, it is essential to learn lessons from the past. This project will use information from the fossil record to identify climate- and human-forced threats to the environment and fully understand the adaptive response of native fauna to climate change.