Pressure waves on the mechanics of earthquakes and faulting. This project aims to decipher the physics of faulting and earthquakes from damage zones around seismogenic faults. It will examine a mechanism for instability in solids: volumetric collapse due to a dissipative pressure wave. This pressure wave may control damage-zone geometry and relate to earthquake stress and rock material properties. The project will research the instability through theoretical, laboratory and field studies. Antici ....Pressure waves on the mechanics of earthquakes and faulting. This project aims to decipher the physics of faulting and earthquakes from damage zones around seismogenic faults. It will examine a mechanism for instability in solids: volumetric collapse due to a dissipative pressure wave. This pressure wave may control damage-zone geometry and relate to earthquake stress and rock material properties. The project will research the instability through theoretical, laboratory and field studies. Anticipated outcomes include advances in earthquake and fault prediction, tools to determine the stress state and material properties of Earth’s crust, and knowledge of a class of solid instabilities.Read moreRead less
Early Palaeozoic radiolarian evolution. This project will apply a new transformative technology, X-ray micro computed tomography, to the study of Early Palaeozoic (530-300 million year old) radiolarian microfossils. It is expected that this will allow, for the first time, non-destructive examination to elucidate the internal skeletal architecture of these fossils that is critical to understanding their evolution. Computer reconstruction of three-dimensional images will reveal details upon which ....Early Palaeozoic radiolarian evolution. This project will apply a new transformative technology, X-ray micro computed tomography, to the study of Early Palaeozoic (530-300 million year old) radiolarian microfossils. It is expected that this will allow, for the first time, non-destructive examination to elucidate the internal skeletal architecture of these fossils that is critical to understanding their evolution. Computer reconstruction of three-dimensional images will reveal details upon which an understanding of early phylogenetic relationships within this phylum can be developed. This in turn will allow realisation of the full biostratigraphic potential of this important long-ranging group of marine protozoans that commonly occur in great abundance in deep marine sedimentary rocks.Read moreRead less
The reptile-mammal jaw transition as revealed by 3D imaging, embryology, and computational biomechanics: new approaches to some age old questions. The extraordinary transformation of the mammalian middle ear through biomechanical 're-tooling' of the ancestral reptilian jaw joint, also recapitulated in mammalian development, yielded the greatly improved feeding and hearing efficiency that are key to the mammalian success story. Building on recent methodological advances, this project will employ ....The reptile-mammal jaw transition as revealed by 3D imaging, embryology, and computational biomechanics: new approaches to some age old questions. The extraordinary transformation of the mammalian middle ear through biomechanical 're-tooling' of the ancestral reptilian jaw joint, also recapitulated in mammalian development, yielded the greatly improved feeding and hearing efficiency that are key to the mammalian success story. Building on recent methodological advances, this project will employ cutting-edge two-dimensional protocols to explain these mechanical details of this transition. This includes integration of the first undistorted embryological soft-tissue evidence for muscular arrangements in the transitioning jaw. Through vastly improving on conventional two-dimensional approaches, the project will maintain Australia's leading position in the fast developing field of virtual biomechanics.Read moreRead less
Life and death of Australopithicus sediba: how a potential ancestor ended up dead in a cave in a world heritage site in South Africa. In August 2008 the remarkable Malapa fossil site was discovered with remains of the first and only fossils of Australopithecus sediba, a potential direct human ancestor. The fossils are in an exceptional state of preservation, and excavations will start in late 2013, creating a unique opportunity to develop a detailed understanding of the chemical, physical and bi ....Life and death of Australopithicus sediba: how a potential ancestor ended up dead in a cave in a world heritage site in South Africa. In August 2008 the remarkable Malapa fossil site was discovered with remains of the first and only fossils of Australopithecus sediba, a potential direct human ancestor. The fossils are in an exceptional state of preservation, and excavations will start in late 2013, creating a unique opportunity to develop a detailed understanding of the chemical, physical and biological factors that led to burial and fossilisation. This research will focus on the complex interplay between termites, sediment chemistry, landscape conditions and palaeo-climate as contributing factors to fossil preservation. The results will document the environment in which sediba lived and died, and assist future exploration for hominid fossils.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary dynamics in deep time: faunal turnover during the Ediacaran. This project aims to investigate the world’s oldest faunal succession in the fossil record by determining the presence and extent of a sedimentary gap and confirming the role of time in the control of fossil distribution. Significant breakthroughs and capacity building are expected in the areas of palaeontology, evolutionary biology and geology using a hitherto unrecognised hiatus in the rock succession. Project outcomes i ....Evolutionary dynamics in deep time: faunal turnover during the Ediacaran. This project aims to investigate the world’s oldest faunal succession in the fossil record by determining the presence and extent of a sedimentary gap and confirming the role of time in the control of fossil distribution. Significant breakthroughs and capacity building are expected in the areas of palaeontology, evolutionary biology and geology using a hitherto unrecognised hiatus in the rock succession. Project outcomes include enhanced understanding of the first animal communities on Earth – these should provide significant benefits, such as revealing Australia's unique record of oldest complex organisms, while bringing additional tourism to the region, and increasing the strength of the Flinders Ranges UNESCO World Heritage nomination.Read moreRead less
Finite Strain with large rotations: A new hybrid numerical/experimental approach. Deformation up to large strains and rotations is important in rocks, metals, polymers, and biomaterials. Computational mechanics is a standard tool for modelling such deformations. However, in earth sciences, mechanical theories use small-strain formulations or large-strain approaches with classical stress rates. Classical stress rates can lead to incorrect stored energies. This project proposes to test a new large ....Finite Strain with large rotations: A new hybrid numerical/experimental approach. Deformation up to large strains and rotations is important in rocks, metals, polymers, and biomaterials. Computational mechanics is a standard tool for modelling such deformations. However, in earth sciences, mechanical theories use small-strain formulations or large-strain approaches with classical stress rates. Classical stress rates can lead to incorrect stored energies. This project proposes to test a new large-strain theory tailored to rocks experimentally, and to apply it to a pivotal geological problem: shear zone formation. The project will advance our fundamental understanding of the mechanics and energetics of rock deformation and provide a novel tool for the modelling of large deformations.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
Analysis of asteroid samples returned by Hayabusa 2 and Osiris-REx . This year sees the highly anticipated return of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to Woomera carrying samples of the asteroid Ryugu. This is only the fifth extraterrestrial sample return mission in history. The research team has been invited to participate in the preliminary examination which will take place in Japan in early 2021. The investigators have developed unique analytical skills that allow measurement of small amounts of rock ....Analysis of asteroid samples returned by Hayabusa 2 and Osiris-REx . This year sees the highly anticipated return of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to Woomera carrying samples of the asteroid Ryugu. This is only the fifth extraterrestrial sample return mission in history. The research team has been invited to participate in the preliminary examination which will take place in Japan in early 2021. The investigators have developed unique analytical skills that allow measurement of small amounts of rock for oxygen isotope compositions at unprecedented precision. This project aims to characterise a suite of carbonaceous chondrites, which appear to be the best match to Ryugu, and therefore will provide the exemplar data to understand the provenance of Ryugu, and place it in the context of solar system materials.
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Precise cross-calibration of 40Ar/39Ar, Rb-Sr and U-Pb chronometers: towards an integrated geochronology toolbox. Application of the 40Ar/39Ar isotopic geochronometer to dating rocks, minerals, fossils and meteorites is limited by insufficient precision and consistency in existing determinations of the half-life of its parent isotope 40K. This project proposes novel methods for determination of the half-life and branching ratio of 40K, by age comparison against well calibrated 87Rb-87Sr and 40K- ....Precise cross-calibration of 40Ar/39Ar, Rb-Sr and U-Pb chronometers: towards an integrated geochronology toolbox. Application of the 40Ar/39Ar isotopic geochronometer to dating rocks, minerals, fossils and meteorites is limited by insufficient precision and consistency in existing determinations of the half-life of its parent isotope 40K. This project proposes novel methods for determination of the half-life and branching ratio of 40K, by age comparison against well calibrated 87Rb-87Sr and 40K-40Ca geochronometers. The ages with all isotopic systems will be determined in the same minerals, thus eliminating the main source of uncertainty in the previous studies. Independently The project will measure the 40K decay rate by decay counting of highly enriched 40K salt and expects a five-fold improvement in precision and accuracy of known 40K decay rate.Read moreRead less
Unravelling vanadium biogeochemistry in modern marine sediments. This project aims to unravel the biogeochemistry of vanadium in modern marine sediments for use as a tracer of ancient oxygen concentrations in the oceans of the early Earth. This project will generate fundamental knowledge on the behaviour of vanadium in modern marine sediments by applying advanced analytical tools for imaging its concentration and chemical form at ultra-high resolution. This information is critical for accurate i ....Unravelling vanadium biogeochemistry in modern marine sediments. This project aims to unravel the biogeochemistry of vanadium in modern marine sediments for use as a tracer of ancient oxygen concentrations in the oceans of the early Earth. This project will generate fundamental knowledge on the behaviour of vanadium in modern marine sediments by applying advanced analytical tools for imaging its concentration and chemical form at ultra-high resolution. This information is critical for accurate interpretation of the geological record to infer the oxygen concentration of the oceans at various points in Earth's history. This interdisciplinary project will facilitate strong collaboration between Australian and Danish researchers in the field of marine geochemistry and paleoceanography.Read moreRead less