Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities ....Environmental change in northern Cenozoic Australia: a multidisciplinary approach. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that by 2020 to 2050, Australia will suffer significant biodiversity loss and water shortages. Our research will document and date the evolution of Australia's biota through three cycles of climate change over the last 25 million years to quantify and thereby better anticipate the nature and dimension of threats facing our natural and cultural communities. We will develop innovative techniques to date prehistoric biotic and climatic events and, using a range of tracers, characterize ancient environments and groundwater. This project will assist rural and regional Australia through education and job creation in geotourism and natural resource interpretation and provide a mechanism to combat generational skill shortage.Read moreRead less
Kinematica: Inference-Based Rapid Resource Exploration Scenario Testing. This project aims to build a new workflow for improving resource exploration evaluation by Australian companies and applied to three practical industry cases in frontier basins. The expected outcomes of this proposal are: detailed risk analysis of oil and gas prospectivity in frontier basins onshore and offshore Australia; a new strategic collaboration between Australian industry, government and universities; students train ....Kinematica: Inference-Based Rapid Resource Exploration Scenario Testing. This project aims to build a new workflow for improving resource exploration evaluation by Australian companies and applied to three practical industry cases in frontier basins. The expected outcomes of this proposal are: detailed risk analysis of oil and gas prospectivity in frontier basins onshore and offshore Australia; a new strategic collaboration between Australian industry, government and universities; students trained in advanced computational methods suitable for the evolving Australian oil and gas industry; and a software product that has high commericalisation potential. The project will transfer knowledge from European industry and universities to Australia and has applications for mineral prospectivity in sedimentary basins. Read moreRead less
From organo-mineral nanocomposite to Australian basins; an integrated approach to unconventional gas exploration and development. Gas production from unconventional shale reservoirs is a potential major energy boom in Australia that will lower carbon emissions over comparable coal and oil use. The geological controls of shale are currently too poorly understood to direct effective exploration. This project will be the largest international effort to develop this knowledge.
The Cambrian Population Explosion of Arthropods in Australia: Ediacaran origins, evolution and biodiversity. This project addresses key questions on the origin and diversification of life, by investigating the evolution of the most important fossil group (arthropods) across arguably the most important event after the origin of life (the Cambrian explosion of macroscopic life). It will also excavate, promote and conserve two key geological resources of national importance, in the Flinders Ranges ....The Cambrian Population Explosion of Arthropods in Australia: Ediacaran origins, evolution and biodiversity. This project addresses key questions on the origin and diversification of life, by investigating the evolution of the most important fossil group (arthropods) across arguably the most important event after the origin of life (the Cambrian explosion of macroscopic life). It will also excavate, promote and conserve two key geological resources of national importance, in the Flinders Ranges and Kangaroo Island. Also, it will lead to increased knowledge of the palaeoecology and geology of the economically-important Adelaide geosyncline, and benefit rural SA communities through ecotourism, a rural schools education program, and public outreach.Read moreRead less
Three-dimensional Bayesian Modelling of Geological and Geophysical data. The project aims to develop technologies enabling rapid informed decision-making related to the management of natural resources, including critical metals, copper and water. This new technology will support a greener future, securing our energy future, our access to clean water and reduce the mining footprint. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capability in interoperable, integrated three-dimensional geological and geop ....Three-dimensional Bayesian Modelling of Geological and Geophysical data. The project aims to develop technologies enabling rapid informed decision-making related to the management of natural resources, including critical metals, copper and water. This new technology will support a greener future, securing our energy future, our access to clean water and reduce the mining footprint. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capability in interoperable, integrated three-dimensional geological and geophysical modelling in order to predictively characterise sub-surface geology. The outcome will be an open-source forecasting dashboard enabling decision making while considering underlying risk related to resource extractions and management with significant benefits to the Australian society (lower emissions, clean water).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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Determining the relative roles of dispersal and vicariance in the assembly of the New Zealand fauna. New fossils from New Zealand's St Bathans Fauna (19-16 million years) will revolutionise our understanding of the shared biodiversity and evolutionary history of New Zealand and Australia through the first views of the origin and evolution of major Gondwanan groups including frogs, crocodiles, birds and bats on the now mostly-drowned continent Zealandia.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$6,000,000.00
Summary
Australian Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) will provide high-leverage access to the largest, and most effective international geoscience program.
Results from drilling within Australia's marine jurisdiction will give understanding of the oceans' state under past climates through high resolution records of the range of oceanographic and biological responses to climate change, the role of the deep biosphere in shapin ....Australian Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. Membership of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) will provide high-leverage access to the largest, and most effective international geoscience program.
Results from drilling within Australia's marine jurisdiction will give understanding of the oceans' state under past climates through high resolution records of the range of oceanographic and biological responses to climate change, the role of the deep biosphere in shaping oil and gas deposits, hydrothermal and igneous processes involved in ore genesis, and enhanced understanding of some of the world's largest earthquake- and tsunami-generating processes.
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Rehydration of the lower crust, fluid sources and geophysical expression. This project aims to explore a long-standing mystery: the origin of deep crustal electrical conductors detected by magnetotelluric imaging of tectonically stable crust. These features occur in cratons of all ages, and commonly cross cut structures and lithologies. This project aims to investigate the hypothesis that such features are the record of ancient deep crustal fluid flow, which modified the rock electrical properti ....Rehydration of the lower crust, fluid sources and geophysical expression. This project aims to explore a long-standing mystery: the origin of deep crustal electrical conductors detected by magnetotelluric imaging of tectonically stable crust. These features occur in cratons of all ages, and commonly cross cut structures and lithologies. This project aims to investigate the hypothesis that such features are the record of ancient deep crustal fluid flow, which modified the rock electrical properties. Using an exceptionally exposed natural laboratory preserving large-scale rehydration of anhydrous lower crust, the project plans to determine the source of fluids and the compositional changes they induced. It then plans to experimentally determine changes in resistivity induced by fluid flow and use that data to model the magnetotelluric response at crustal scale.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing the Beetaloo/Greater McArthur Basin System . This project aims to build a stratigraphic and water chemistry framework for the greater McArthur Basin—a rock system that covers northern Australia from WA to Queensland. This will be a vital resource for researchers and energy/mineral explorers. This project expects to develop novel sediment dating and isotopic proxies for salinity, redox and bioproductivity and use them to build a sequence stratigraphic framework of the basin. The ex ....Reconstructing the Beetaloo/Greater McArthur Basin System . This project aims to build a stratigraphic and water chemistry framework for the greater McArthur Basin—a rock system that covers northern Australia from WA to Queensland. This will be a vital resource for researchers and energy/mineral explorers. This project expects to develop novel sediment dating and isotopic proxies for salinity, redox and bioproductivity and use them to build a sequence stratigraphic framework of the basin. The expected outcome is a unique 3D lithological, geochronological and geochemical framework for the basin. Expected benefits include de-risked information for the petroleum and minerals industry, assisting northern Australia's resources economy, as well as insights into the development of our planet in deep time.Read moreRead less