Dynamics and Chemical Evolution of the Earth's Early Mantle. Preliminary numerical results demonstrate that the Earth's mantle may have been compositionally stratified early in its history through a novel interaction between compositional buoyancies and viscosity stratification. This result has important implications for the evolution of the crust and for the chemical and isotopic evolution of the mantle. It also complements recent geochemical evidence for the extraction of a basaltic componen ....Dynamics and Chemical Evolution of the Earth's Early Mantle. Preliminary numerical results demonstrate that the Earth's mantle may have been compositionally stratified early in its history through a novel interaction between compositional buoyancies and viscosity stratification. This result has important implications for the evolution of the crust and for the chemical and isotopic evolution of the mantle. It also complements recent geochemical evidence for the extraction of a basaltic component from the early upper mantle. It is proposed to explore the robustness of this phenomenon in two and three dimensions, its longer-term behaviour, and the evolution of the stratification as the mantle cools to its present condition.Read moreRead less
Seismic tomography using signal and noise: A new window into deep Earth. This project will combine traditional imaging techniques based on earthquake records, and state of the art ambient noise tomography, which exploits oceanic and atmospheric disturbances, to construct detailed models of the crust and upper mantle beneath southeast Australia. The national benefits of this research include: a vastly improved understanding of the deep architecture of the Australian Plate, and how it has evolved ....Seismic tomography using signal and noise: A new window into deep Earth. This project will combine traditional imaging techniques based on earthquake records, and state of the art ambient noise tomography, which exploits oceanic and atmospheric disturbances, to construct detailed models of the crust and upper mantle beneath southeast Australia. The national benefits of this research include: a vastly improved understanding of the deep architecture of the Australian Plate, and how it has evolved over time; a paradigm shift in the interpretation of seismic data, which will enhance Australia's reputation in the international scientific community; and important new constraints on the broad scale geology of prospective regions that host world class mineral deposits.Read moreRead less
3D seismic velocity structure for geothermal exploration: a novel approach combining ambient and passive seismic methods. Australia hosts many geological locations that have the potential for geothermal energy production. This is a sustainable power resource and employs diverse technological approaches depending on local conditions. We aim to pilot a new seismic imaging method, which could become a standard in geothermal exploration around the world, to investigate natural heat sources buried ....3D seismic velocity structure for geothermal exploration: a novel approach combining ambient and passive seismic methods. Australia hosts many geological locations that have the potential for geothermal energy production. This is a sustainable power resource and employs diverse technological approaches depending on local conditions. We aim to pilot a new seismic imaging method, which could become a standard in geothermal exploration around the world, to investigate natural heat sources buried in the crust. Tasmania is an ideal pilot location with active geothermal exploration tenements held by a locally-based company.Read moreRead less
What lies beneath: unveiling the fine-scale 3D compositional and thermal structure of the sub continental lithosphere and upper mantle. We will produce the first high-resolution images of the thermal and mineralogical structure of the earth's mantle beneath Australia, western USA, and South Africa. This information represents the key to our understanding of society-relevant activities such as ore and energy exploration and natural hazard assessment.
The seismic signature of crustal fluids. Fluids are expected to profoundly modify the seismic properties of the cracked rocks of Earth's upper crust (to depths of about 15 km) but there are so far few relevant laboratory measurements. Through the development and application of novel experimental techniques we plan to build a better laboratory-based understanding of the seismic properties of fluid-saturated crustal rocks. The outcome will be an improved capacity to monitor the presence of fluid ....The seismic signature of crustal fluids. Fluids are expected to profoundly modify the seismic properties of the cracked rocks of Earth's upper crust (to depths of about 15 km) but there are so far few relevant laboratory measurements. Through the development and application of novel experimental techniques we plan to build a better laboratory-based understanding of the seismic properties of fluid-saturated crustal rocks. The outcome will be an improved capacity to monitor the presence of fluids in diverse situations ranging from geothermal power generation and waste disposal to earthquake fault zones. Read moreRead less
Growth and Decay of ice sheets during glacial cycles:the example of Europe. The proposal is to develop a comprehensive model for the growth and decay of the ice sheets of Europe during the last glacial cycle, using a combination of diverse field evidence with geophysical modelling. The outcomes provide boundary conditions for climate models (times of inception and decay, ice limits, ice thickness) including processes driving climate as well as constraints on the Earth's mantle viscosity. Thu ....Growth and Decay of ice sheets during glacial cycles:the example of Europe. The proposal is to develop a comprehensive model for the growth and decay of the ice sheets of Europe during the last glacial cycle, using a combination of diverse field evidence with geophysical modelling. The outcomes provide boundary conditions for climate models (times of inception and decay, ice limits, ice thickness) including processes driving climate as well as constraints on the Earth's mantle viscosity. Thus the project contributes to the quantitative characterisation of both climate change and planetary structure. In an Australian context, these outcomes form important elements in the development of predictive models for sea-level change.Read moreRead less
Taming the nonlinearity of geophysical inversions. This project will develop new ways to extract information from complex geophysical data sets used to construct images of the Earth's interior. Applications will be important to indirect imaging problems in the physical and engineering sciences and particularly to the discovery of resources within the Earth upon which Australian society is dependent.
Plate kinematics to plate dynamics: understanding plate boundary processes at the global scale. This proposal aims to create geodynamic models which can be used a basis for a new, smart resource exploration and extraction industry which uses simulation to help characterize regions where traditional geophysical imaging alone is not able to penetrate. It provides essential scientific underpinnings for
The Australian Computational Earth System Simulator Major National Research Facility (ACcESS).
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100431
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,000.00
Summary
Optimising the use of geophysical data for modelling the Australian crust. This project aims to determine the optimal use of geophysical methods to model the Australian crust in four dimensions. These models provide an understanding of the tectonic history of a region and thus its mineral potential. Mineral resources are mostly being found undercover, requiring geophysical data to locate them. This project will combine recent developments in modelling geological uncertainty with data acquired fo ....Optimising the use of geophysical data for modelling the Australian crust. This project aims to determine the optimal use of geophysical methods to model the Australian crust in four dimensions. These models provide an understanding of the tectonic history of a region and thus its mineral potential. Mineral resources are mostly being found undercover, requiring geophysical data to locate them. This project will combine recent developments in modelling geological uncertainty with data acquired for locating zones of mineralisation. The outcomes will help guide Australian government policy to draw on publicly-available datasets that provide a basis for mineral exploration performed by companies, and supported by research institutions.Read moreRead less
NUMERICAL MODELS OF PLATE TECTONICS, MANTLE CONVECTION AND SLAB DYNAMICS WITH EVOLVING FAULTS. We plan to develop a method for simulating large-scale
geological structures with a much improved treatment
of tectonic faults in 3D.
Current computer models have sharp geological faults at plate
boundaries represented by broad, blurred zones. New techniques
for modeling cracks in engineering structures will be scaled up to
the whole Earth.
This will help us to understand how the Earth's p ....NUMERICAL MODELS OF PLATE TECTONICS, MANTLE CONVECTION AND SLAB DYNAMICS WITH EVOLVING FAULTS. We plan to develop a method for simulating large-scale
geological structures with a much improved treatment
of tectonic faults in 3D.
Current computer models have sharp geological faults at plate
boundaries represented by broad, blurred zones. New techniques
for modeling cracks in engineering structures will be scaled up to
the whole Earth.
This will help us to understand how the Earth's plates move and
interact now and in the past and how the structure of the continents
arose.
Not only is this intrinsically interesting, it
will also be of immediate practical benefit to geological modelers.Read moreRead less