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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101222
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,132.00
Summary
Australia's key role in the evolution of songbirds. This project aims to provide novel insights into the evolutionary history of songbirds, which originated in Australia and now make up over half of the world's birds. The project will combine fossil, morphological, and genomic data to describe early songbird diversity in Australia, reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fossil species, estimate the timescale of their diversification, and resolve the timing and nature of key evolutionary c ....Australia's key role in the evolution of songbirds. This project aims to provide novel insights into the evolutionary history of songbirds, which originated in Australia and now make up over half of the world's birds. The project will combine fossil, morphological, and genomic data to describe early songbird diversity in Australia, reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fossil species, estimate the timescale of their diversification, and resolve the timing and nature of key evolutionary changes in songbirds. The project is expected to produce critical new fossil evidence and to strengthen international and multidisciplinary collaborations. Expected outcomes include significant advances in our understanding of a major component of the Australian and global fauna.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101052
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,959.00
Summary
All you can eat: evolution of feeding in the largest animals on Earth. This project aims to establish how Baleen whales, the largest animals on Earth and major ecosystem engineers, evolved their signature filter-feeding strategy. Unlike other mammals, whales are toothless, and instead use a keratinous, comb-like sieve to filter vast amounts of small prey from seawater. Various approaches, including biomechanics, three-dimensional imaging, geochemistry and quantitative palaeobiology will unravel ....All you can eat: evolution of feeding in the largest animals on Earth. This project aims to establish how Baleen whales, the largest animals on Earth and major ecosystem engineers, evolved their signature filter-feeding strategy. Unlike other mammals, whales are toothless, and instead use a keratinous, comb-like sieve to filter vast amounts of small prey from seawater. Various approaches, including biomechanics, three-dimensional imaging, geochemistry and quantitative palaeobiology will unravel how and when filter feeding emerged, how it diversified over time, and whether its evolution correlated with past environmental change. The project is expected to reveal clues on how whales became one of the greatest ecological actors in the sea, and will benefit conservation by providing a glimpse into their future.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL180100134
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,007,316.00
Summary
Deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen. This project aims to understand the roles of carbon, water and nitrogen in the development of plate tectonics as drivers of mantle evolution. Through improved understanding of the impact of melting on the deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen, this project intends to better understand how key elements are enriched towards economically viable concentrations. This project will generate knowledge of long-term benefit for decision-making in ....Deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen. This project aims to understand the roles of carbon, water and nitrogen in the development of plate tectonics as drivers of mantle evolution. Through improved understanding of the impact of melting on the deep earth cycles of carbon, water and nitrogen, this project intends to better understand how key elements are enriched towards economically viable concentrations. This project will generate knowledge of long-term benefit for decision-making in the minerals exploration industry and key government agencies. The project will establish a new generation of Australian scientists with a deep interdisciplinary understanding of earth sciences, and pave the way for eventual unification of plate tectonic with climate systems.Read moreRead less
Plumbing the gap: a mantle solution to the enigma of bimodal arc volcanism. Subduction zones and volcanic arcs are the most tectonically active regions on Earth and are crucial to understanding, geochemical cycles, tectonic-climate coupling, ore genesis and natural hazards. Bimodal volcanism is a long-recognised characteristic of arc crust that has never been satisfactorily explained, yet, it controls many of these processes. This project will test a new hypothesis that the two types of magmas .... Plumbing the gap: a mantle solution to the enigma of bimodal arc volcanism. Subduction zones and volcanic arcs are the most tectonically active regions on Earth and are crucial to understanding, geochemical cycles, tectonic-climate coupling, ore genesis and natural hazards. Bimodal volcanism is a long-recognised characteristic of arc crust that has never been satisfactorily explained, yet, it controls many of these processes. This project will test a new hypothesis that the two types of magmas originate from distinct mantle sources. It integrates novel high-pressure experiments with database analysis of natural volcanic rocks, covering magmatic systems from mantle source to volcano. This project will improve our understanding of arc processes, including the association of economic metals with bimodal arc volcanism.Read moreRead less
Chemical influences on the seismic structure of the Earth's upper mantle. This project aims to determine the sensitivity of the seismic properties of Earth’s upper mantle (to 400 km depth) to variations in the prevailing chemical environment. The unique capability of the ANU Rock Physics Laboratory for low-frequency measurement of wave speeds and attenuation will be exploited to clarify the newly discovered importance of redox conditions, and document the effect of varying proportions of the mos ....Chemical influences on the seismic structure of the Earth's upper mantle. This project aims to determine the sensitivity of the seismic properties of Earth’s upper mantle (to 400 km depth) to variations in the prevailing chemical environment. The unique capability of the ANU Rock Physics Laboratory for low-frequency measurement of wave speeds and attenuation will be exploited to clarify the newly discovered importance of redox conditions, and document the effect of varying proportions of the most abundant upper-mantle minerals olivine and pyroxene. The expected outcome will be a robust and comprehensive model to guide the interpretation of the complex architecture of the upper mantle, and thereby provide an improved understanding of the tectonic processes responsible for its evolution through geological time.Read moreRead less
Glauconite: Archive Recording Timing and Triggers of Cambrian Radiation . This project aims to constrain the timing and speed of the Cambrian radiation of complex animals, and to test potential environmental triggers of this milestone bioevent. New laser mass spectrometry and mineral mapping technology will be integrated to precisely date glauconite – a silicate mineral commonly formed in Cambrian shallow marine animal habitats. This innovative and cost-effective approach will produce the first ....Glauconite: Archive Recording Timing and Triggers of Cambrian Radiation . This project aims to constrain the timing and speed of the Cambrian radiation of complex animals, and to test potential environmental triggers of this milestone bioevent. New laser mass spectrometry and mineral mapping technology will be integrated to precisely date glauconite – a silicate mineral commonly formed in Cambrian shallow marine animal habitats. This innovative and cost-effective approach will produce the first high-resolution timeline of early animal evolution, where the glauconite-based marine isotope record identifies the most likely environmental trigger for the Cambrian Radiation. Outcomes of this study include improved understanding of the drivers of animal evolution, and a new dating tool for basic and applied research.Read moreRead less
Diamonds in ophiolite: recycling deep mantle into supra-subduction zones. This project aims to investigate whether the discovery of diamonds in oceanic rocks, known as ophiolites, is a global phenomenon. Even half a century after the introduction of plate tectonic theory, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding the fate of subducted lithosphere and Earth processes deep within the mantle. This project will use Australasian examples to test the hypothesis that diamonds are ubiquitous in the ma ....Diamonds in ophiolite: recycling deep mantle into supra-subduction zones. This project aims to investigate whether the discovery of diamonds in oceanic rocks, known as ophiolites, is a global phenomenon. Even half a century after the introduction of plate tectonic theory, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding the fate of subducted lithosphere and Earth processes deep within the mantle. This project will use Australasian examples to test the hypothesis that diamonds are ubiquitous in the mantle and occur widely in ophiolites. Results will have major implications for our understanding of how ocean crust grows and how rocks in the upper mantle form, as well as providing insight into how organic carbon is cycled from the seabed deep into the mantle before being returned back to Earth's surface.Read moreRead less
What goes on inside subduction zones? This project aims to decipher how rocks behave inside subduction zones. Subduction is a central tenant of plate tectonic theory and the project will test the hypothesis rocks can become trapped within giant long-lived eddies that circulate material within subduction zones. This international collaborative project will generate new knowledge regarding the time scales rocks can remain trapped inside subduction zones using pressure–temperature–age constraints f ....What goes on inside subduction zones? This project aims to decipher how rocks behave inside subduction zones. Subduction is a central tenant of plate tectonic theory and the project will test the hypothesis rocks can become trapped within giant long-lived eddies that circulate material within subduction zones. This international collaborative project will generate new knowledge regarding the time scales rocks can remain trapped inside subduction zones using pressure–temperature–age constraints from subducted rocks. We will use this information as a framework for numerical simulations of subduction zone behaviour. The project will provide significant benefits in training a new generation of Earth scientists, and in broadening public awareness of fundamental Earth science.Read moreRead less
Lifting the lid on a supercontinent. This project will reveal the time-integrated growth and collapse of a supercontinental orogen in order to advance knowledge on the influence that mountain-building events have on the cycling of materials between the major near surface Earth reservoirs. Given that this cycling is key to understanding deep-time climate and the formation of mineral resources the outcomes of this study will have important economic benefits for targeting mineral resources and plac ....Lifting the lid on a supercontinent. This project will reveal the time-integrated growth and collapse of a supercontinental orogen in order to advance knowledge on the influence that mountain-building events have on the cycling of materials between the major near surface Earth reservoirs. Given that this cycling is key to understanding deep-time climate and the formation of mineral resources the outcomes of this study will have important economic benefits for targeting mineral resources and placing the geochemical proxies for the deep-time climate in context. Read moreRead less
Island fauna evolution through deep time: the Flores experiment. This project aims to reveal the evolutionary patterns of insular fauna, including hominins, as exemplified by the island of Flores. Through multidisciplinary analyses of securely dated fossils, artefacts and environmental data spanning 1.4 million years, the project expects to provide a deep and broad reconstruction of faunal adaptations to insular conditions and environmental fluctuations through deep geological time. The signific ....Island fauna evolution through deep time: the Flores experiment. This project aims to reveal the evolutionary patterns of insular fauna, including hominins, as exemplified by the island of Flores. Through multidisciplinary analyses of securely dated fossils, artefacts and environmental data spanning 1.4 million years, the project expects to provide a deep and broad reconstruction of faunal adaptations to insular conditions and environmental fluctuations through deep geological time. The significance of this research includes the first comprehensive testing of hypotheses associated with island dwarfing (where megafauna, over time, become smaller), and providing the first palaeo-ecological context for the only known insular hominin, Homo floresiensis.Read moreRead less