Southern gateways - the icehouse cometh: Eocene to Oligocene evolution of southeast Australia. The 50 to 30 million years old strata of southeastern Australia have great economic importance for Australia. Most of the gas and oil extracted in the region comes from strata of this age. The research will lead to better age constraints on these reserves, thus enhancing petroleum prospectivity in the area. The global environment changes from 50 to 30 million years charted in this project will lead ....Southern gateways - the icehouse cometh: Eocene to Oligocene evolution of southeast Australia. The 50 to 30 million years old strata of southeastern Australia have great economic importance for Australia. Most of the gas and oil extracted in the region comes from strata of this age. The research will lead to better age constraints on these reserves, thus enhancing petroleum prospectivity in the area. The global environment changes from 50 to 30 million years charted in this project will lead to a better understanding of the geological record of greenhouse-icehouse change. Knowledge of the nature of this change in the past is critical to predicting how our climate is going to behave in the future.Read moreRead less
Coupled subduction dynamics and continent deformations: understanding the Asian and Red Sea tectonics. Modeling slab pull forces and lithospheric deformation provides a new insight in the dynamics of plate tectonics. Unraveling the self-consistent formation of faults, rifts, shear zones and up to passive margin will further the understanding of our planet. Furthermore the application of these models to specific geological contexts will support the exploration and assessment of inaccessible Ear ....Coupled subduction dynamics and continent deformations: understanding the Asian and Red Sea tectonics. Modeling slab pull forces and lithospheric deformation provides a new insight in the dynamics of plate tectonics. Unraveling the self-consistent formation of faults, rifts, shear zones and up to passive margin will further the understanding of our planet. Furthermore the application of these models to specific geological contexts will support the exploration and assessment of inaccessible Earth's resources, such as hydrocarbons pools, located along the deep Australian continent margins, and diamonds and ore deposits, associated with continental shear zones, which potential is still to be fully discovered.Read moreRead less
Deciphering the tectonic history of the Musgrave Block to assist mineral explorers and regional synthesis programs. Effective mineral exploration strategies in complex basement terrains are increasingly reliant on integrated, data-rich, tectonic models. In this project we will focus a large multidisciplinary team to develop a tectonic model for the evolution of the Musgrave Block in central Australia. This large, poorly understood terrain occupies a critical structural location, separating the ....Deciphering the tectonic history of the Musgrave Block to assist mineral explorers and regional synthesis programs. Effective mineral exploration strategies in complex basement terrains are increasingly reliant on integrated, data-rich, tectonic models. In this project we will focus a large multidisciplinary team to develop a tectonic model for the evolution of the Musgrave Block in central Australia. This large, poorly understood terrain occupies a critical structural location, separating the northern and southern Australian cratons. By constraining models of crustal evolution and architecture, the project will underpin future mineral exploration programs in this highly prospective greenfields region and define the role of the Musgrave Block in the assembly of Proterozoic Australia.Read moreRead less
Developing a Tectonic Framework for the Gawler Craton: Paving the Way for Successful Mineral Exploration Programs. The late Archaean to Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton is the major Precambrian province in southern Australia. However, despite containing one of the largest orebodies on Earth, exploration expenditure in the craton has been comparatively low, and hampered by insufficient knowledge of the craton's tectonic systems. This project uses an integrated package of geochemical, isotopic and ....Developing a Tectonic Framework for the Gawler Craton: Paving the Way for Successful Mineral Exploration Programs. The late Archaean to Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton is the major Precambrian province in southern Australia. However, despite containing one of the largest orebodies on Earth, exploration expenditure in the craton has been comparatively low, and hampered by insufficient knowledge of the craton's tectonic systems. This project uses an integrated package of geochemical, isotopic and geophysical tools to develop a comprehensive model for the tectonic evolution of the Gawler Craton. The project will constrain the development of the Gawler Craton in the context of Precambrian Australian evolution, and offer insights into universal processes of lithosphere formation, growth and stabilisation.Read moreRead less
Seismic velocity problems associated with Cretaceous-Tertiary carbonate sediments that overlie oil and gas fields of the North West Shelf. The major aim of this collaborative study between Partner Oil Companies and The University of Melbourne is to understand seismic velocity problems associated with tropical carbonate sediments on Australias? North West Shelf. These problems can hinder the hydrocarbon exploration efforts below these carbonates. The project is a multi faceted study and will invo ....Seismic velocity problems associated with Cretaceous-Tertiary carbonate sediments that overlie oil and gas fields of the North West Shelf. The major aim of this collaborative study between Partner Oil Companies and The University of Melbourne is to understand seismic velocity problems associated with tropical carbonate sediments on Australias? North West Shelf. These problems can hinder the hydrocarbon exploration efforts below these carbonates. The project is a multi faceted study and will involve integration of seismic stratigraphy with sedimentological, micropaleontological, and geophysical data. The methods outlined below would underpin any seismic depth migration applications, thereby assisting with the delineation of new gas and oil fields, and help with the estimation of reserves in existing fields.
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ARC Centre of Excellence - in Ore Deposits. Australia's minerals industry faces a two-fold challenge - to find new ore deposits and to mine them with maximum efficiency and minimal environmental impact. Those challenges demand a new generation of focused ore deposit research, tailored specifically for the Australian context. The Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits will provide the foundation of fundamental research required by a successful, efficient and sustainable Australian minerals industry ....ARC Centre of Excellence - in Ore Deposits. Australia's minerals industry faces a two-fold challenge - to find new ore deposits and to mine them with maximum efficiency and minimal environmental impact. Those challenges demand a new generation of focused ore deposit research, tailored specifically for the Australian context. The Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits will provide the foundation of fundamental research required by a successful, efficient and sustainable Australian minerals industry. The Centre will also play a leading role in the undergraduate and postgraduate training of future geoscientists. The concentration of internationally recognised researchers in the Centre will ensure it maintains its premier position in the international ore deposit research arena.Read moreRead less
Investigating mineral alteration and infilling of discontinuities in naturally deformed rocks as a guide to rock mass rheology. Structural analysis of naturally deformed rock will be used to investigate the origin, physical characteristics and frictional behaviour of naturally formed discontinuity surfaces. Discontinuities in naturally deformed rock masses are typically altered and infilled with complex combinations of mineral matter and are a major control on the rheology, including strength a ....Investigating mineral alteration and infilling of discontinuities in naturally deformed rocks as a guide to rock mass rheology. Structural analysis of naturally deformed rock will be used to investigate the origin, physical characteristics and frictional behaviour of naturally formed discontinuity surfaces. Discontinuities in naturally deformed rock masses are typically altered and infilled with complex combinations of mineral matter and are a major control on the rheology, including strength and stability, of rock masses in engineering excavations. By combining structural geology techniques and laboratory experiments, and with reference to existing data on field-scale rock mass deformation derived from engineering rock mechanics investigations, a methodology for predicting rock mass rheology from fundamental geological observations will be devised and tested.Read moreRead less
Unearthing the Marginal Terranes of the South Australian Craton: Keystone of Proterozoic Australia. This project will investigate the buried geology of vast regions of northern South Australia that is likely to be compatible with rocks that host enormous mineral wealth including the giant Broken Hill and Olympic Dam deposits. We will access these buried rocks using a program of on-shore scientific drilling that will provide the ground truth for multi-million dollar federal and state government ....Unearthing the Marginal Terranes of the South Australian Craton: Keystone of Proterozoic Australia. This project will investigate the buried geology of vast regions of northern South Australia that is likely to be compatible with rocks that host enormous mineral wealth including the giant Broken Hill and Olympic Dam deposits. We will access these buried rocks using a program of on-shore scientific drilling that will provide the ground truth for multi-million dollar federal and state government funded geophysical data acquisition. Results will help identify prospective mineral belts and determine the processes responsible for their formation.Read moreRead less
The Early Stages of Granite Evolution: Extraction and Transport Through Ductile Crust . This research is aimed at understanding how the continents develop through several stages of rock melting. Rock melts deep in the continents to form granite magmas which rise, transporting to the upper crust important metals, such as gold, copper and tin, and heat producing elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium. This research proposal seeks to understand how granite melts form and rise transporting ....The Early Stages of Granite Evolution: Extraction and Transport Through Ductile Crust . This research is aimed at understanding how the continents develop through several stages of rock melting. Rock melts deep in the continents to form granite magmas which rise, transporting to the upper crust important metals, such as gold, copper and tin, and heat producing elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium. This research proposal seeks to understand how granite melts form and rise transporting these all important elements, which control not only our wealth but also the stability of the continents we live in.Read moreRead less
Relationship between subduction zone geometry, trench kinematics and great subduction earthquakes. The devastating Boxing Day 2004 earthquake near Sumatra and the four other largest earthquakes in recorded history all occurred along subduction zones. This research will compare the geodynamic setting of these subduction zones with those surrounding the Australian continent and assess whether the Australian subduction zones are capable of producing great earthquakes and tsunamis that might pose a ....Relationship between subduction zone geometry, trench kinematics and great subduction earthquakes. The devastating Boxing Day 2004 earthquake near Sumatra and the four other largest earthquakes in recorded history all occurred along subduction zones. This research will compare the geodynamic setting of these subduction zones with those surrounding the Australian continent and assess whether the Australian subduction zones are capable of producing great earthquakes and tsunamis that might pose a risk for the east and northwest coast of Australia. Also, Eastern Australia is a composite of fossil arcs rich in ore deposits and the Tasman Sea region is composed of basins that host hydrocarbons, all of which formed by subduction processes. The proposed research will thus improve the basis for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.Read moreRead less