Origin of the New England contorted mountain belt: implications for plate tectonics, magmatism and mineralisation. The southern New England mountain chain in eastern Australia is characterised by a tight curved geometry. This research will reconstruct the formation of these, hitherto unexplained, mountain curves, unravelling their driving mechanisms and tectonic processes. Results will provide a plate tectonic model for the formation of economic resources, thus facilitating future discoveries of ....Origin of the New England contorted mountain belt: implications for plate tectonics, magmatism and mineralisation. The southern New England mountain chain in eastern Australia is characterised by a tight curved geometry. This research will reconstruct the formation of these, hitherto unexplained, mountain curves, unravelling their driving mechanisms and tectonic processes. Results will provide a plate tectonic model for the formation of economic resources, thus facilitating future discoveries of ore deposits in the New England belt, or energy resources in the associated sedimentary basins. The project will foster a pool of highly trained professionals and researchers in the fields of structural geology and tectonics, and will enhance Australia's scientific reputation, maintaining its leading international standing in plate tectonic research.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100064
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,000.00
Summary
A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well ....A facility for sensitive and precise isotopic dating of the earth's and extraterrestrial rocks. SPIDE2R will be a new generation mass spectrometer for very precise and sensitive dating and forensics applications in earth and planetary sciences, hydrology, climate studies, and nuclear and archaeological fingerprinting. The unprecedented sensitivity of this unique instrument will provide enhanced capabilities for solving long-standing problems requiring precise geological time resolution, as well as opening new areas of research. It will be the instrument of choice for analysing small, rare samples such as those returned by space missions. The Australian-built high sensitivity source and ion detection systems can be retrofitted onto other mass spectrometers, opening a new area of commercialisation.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882818
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
Investigating the Structure and Evolution of the Continental Crust: A Virtual Facility for Thermochronology, Noble Gas Geochemistry and Geochronology. Australian research groups have been responsible for a number of leading technical developments in geological dating. This project will continue that track record and provide the core infrastructure to support a major collaborative research strength that can address both fundamental scientific questions about the evolution of the Earth's crust and ....Investigating the Structure and Evolution of the Continental Crust: A Virtual Facility for Thermochronology, Noble Gas Geochemistry and Geochronology. Australian research groups have been responsible for a number of leading technical developments in geological dating. This project will continue that track record and provide the core infrastructure to support a major collaborative research strength that can address both fundamental scientific questions about the evolution of the Earth's crust and surface environment, as well as important economic applications of that knowledge. These include the search for petroleum and mineral deposits, thereby addressing the National Priority Goal: Developing deep-earth resources. The project will strengthen links with other national and international researchers, and build Australia's research profile in an area of significant worldwide scientific interest.Read moreRead less
The enigmatic link between crustal growth and supercontinent formation. This project links with major energy and resource initiatives from the Australian Government. It will provide detailed geological information that will help constrain our understanding of the deep structure of the Earth in northern and central Australia. This knowledge will assist in mineral and energy resource exploration of these highly prospective regions. The information will also link with other ARC-funded geological st ....The enigmatic link between crustal growth and supercontinent formation. This project links with major energy and resource initiatives from the Australian Government. It will provide detailed geological information that will help constrain our understanding of the deep structure of the Earth in northern and central Australia. This knowledge will assist in mineral and energy resource exploration of these highly prospective regions. The information will also link with other ARC-funded geological studies, to help understand how a large, but enigmatic, part of the Australian continental grew rapidly, almost 2 billion years ago.
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A test for Pangean breakup models. This project addresses a core issue of planetary-geology, with project outcomes providing an unparalleled synthesis of global-scale Earth processes that highlight hitherto unsuspected links between peripheral orogenic systems and Pangean breakup. The project directly addresses the key problem 'How do the continents work?', outlined by the National Committee of Earth Sciences. It links internationally to [ERAS], a multi-national proposal to investigate accretion ....A test for Pangean breakup models. This project addresses a core issue of planetary-geology, with project outcomes providing an unparalleled synthesis of global-scale Earth processes that highlight hitherto unsuspected links between peripheral orogenic systems and Pangean breakup. The project directly addresses the key problem 'How do the continents work?', outlined by the National Committee of Earth Sciences. It links internationally to [ERAS], a multi-national proposal to investigate accretionary orogens through geologic time, and nationally via the seed-funded ARC Network (AEON) to ACcess, RSES (ANU) and with a National Key Centre, (GEMOC), with whom the University of Newcastle is a research partner. 2PhD projects are involved.Read moreRead less
Trace element geochemistry of microbialites: towards an independent record of biogenicity, microbial communities, and seawater chemistry. A vast amount of Australia's mineral wealth is held in rocks of Precambrian age, yet those rocks are notoriously difficult to date and correlate owing to the rarity of fossils. Successful discrimination of different microbialites using biochemically sensitive trace elements will provide a firm basis and rationale for stromatolite biostratigraphy and greatly in ....Trace element geochemistry of microbialites: towards an independent record of biogenicity, microbial communities, and seawater chemistry. A vast amount of Australia's mineral wealth is held in rocks of Precambrian age, yet those rocks are notoriously difficult to date and correlate owing to the rarity of fossils. Successful discrimination of different microbialites using biochemically sensitive trace elements will provide a firm basis and rationale for stromatolite biostratigraphy and greatly increase our ability to understand the geological evolution and distribution of Precambrian rocks and resources. Additionally, a better understanding of the information content of stromatolites will yield considerable insight into the origin of life on Earth and its relationship to Earth's evolving chemistry and environment. Read moreRead less
Stable isotopic studies and isotopic dating, Woodleigh Impact Structure, Western Australia: implications for the Late Devonian mass extinction. The 120 km diameter Woodleigh impact structure in the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia is the third largest Phanerozoic impact structure. K-Ar dating of impact-induced alteration minerals indicates a Late Devonian age for Woodleigh. The precise timing of impact, nature of the impacting body and processes responsible for redistribution of meteoritic com ....Stable isotopic studies and isotopic dating, Woodleigh Impact Structure, Western Australia: implications for the Late Devonian mass extinction. The 120 km diameter Woodleigh impact structure in the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia is the third largest Phanerozoic impact structure. K-Ar dating of impact-induced alteration minerals indicates a Late Devonian age for Woodleigh. The precise timing of impact, nature of the impacting body and processes responsible for redistribution of meteoritic components will be investigated using a range of analytical methodologies. A search will be made for impact-related sedimentary deposits to see if an extraterrestrial component can be identified and correlated with Woodleigh. The expected outcome is proof of an impact-extinction connection for the Late Devonian mass extinction, one of the largest in Earth history.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453555
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$109,595.00
Summary
Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g. ....Luminescence stimulation and detection facility for dating of Quaternary geological and archaeological sediments. Reliable ages are required in the Earth and archaeological sciences. Luminescence dating is a flexible geochronological technique for diverse deposits. It exploits the radiation-induced thermally (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) emissions from minerals exposed to sunlight before burial. Recent technical developments have made feasible OSL dating of small samples (e.g., individual sand grains) and sediments deposited during the past 0.5-1 million years. We request funds for a Risø TL/OSL system with single-grain attachment to resolve the timing of sea-level, climate and landscape changes, and the chronology of human evolution and dispersal, in Australia and Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
Life and environments of the Lower Cretaceous Winton Formation, western Queensland: The Winton Dinosaur Project. This proposal is for research into vertebrate assemblages from newly discovered fossil sites in the Winton Formation, western Queensland. These sites indicate that the Winton Formation is one of the most palaeontologically productive Lower Cretaceous continental sequences in Australia. Within it are preserved vertebrates (including several new types of dinosaurs, crocodilians, turtles ....Life and environments of the Lower Cretaceous Winton Formation, western Queensland: The Winton Dinosaur Project. This proposal is for research into vertebrate assemblages from newly discovered fossil sites in the Winton Formation, western Queensland. These sites indicate that the Winton Formation is one of the most palaeontologically productive Lower Cretaceous continental sequences in Australia. Within it are preserved vertebrates (including several new types of dinosaurs, crocodilians, turtles, lungfish and freshwater sharks), invertebrates, plants and trace-fossils of a restricted biome over a relatively short time span. Research into these new sites will provide us with our first-ever detailed window on northern Australia's Lower Cretaceous lowland and coastal environments during the final break-up of Gondwana.Read moreRead less
Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Au ....Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Australian, Queensland and Richmond Marine Fossil museums. This project intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the evolution, environment, lifestyle and distribution of Cretaceous marine reptiles by improving their fossil record and analysing newly discovered Australian specimens, including the world's first plesiosaur embryo.Read moreRead less