Exposure dating with manganese-53, neon-21 and beryllium-10: a new toolkit for studying long-term landscape evolution. Australia today is the driest inhabited continent but this was not always the case. Tens of millions of years ago the climate of Australia was considerably wetter. Then, several million years ago, aridity in Australia developed producing most of the desert features of the red Centre that we see today. The age of our deserts and other arid features are not, however, well known. T ....Exposure dating with manganese-53, neon-21 and beryllium-10: a new toolkit for studying long-term landscape evolution. Australia today is the driest inhabited continent but this was not always the case. Tens of millions of years ago the climate of Australia was considerably wetter. Then, several million years ago, aridity in Australia developed producing most of the desert features of the red Centre that we see today. The age of our deserts and other arid features are not, however, well known. This project will determine the age of desertification in Australia, thereby enhancing our understanding of such processes and the response of our landscape to changing climate.
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Tectonostratigraphic controls on the localization of Archaean komatiite-hosted nickel-sulphide deposits and camps in the Yilgarn Craton. Nickel contributes $2 billion per year to Australia's export income. Currently 80% of that comes from nickel sulphide deposits in regional Australia that are expected to be exhausted within thirty years barring significant new discoveries. Although discovery rates have been declining, as the 'easy' targets have been found, there remains considerable potential f ....Tectonostratigraphic controls on the localization of Archaean komatiite-hosted nickel-sulphide deposits and camps in the Yilgarn Craton. Nickel contributes $2 billion per year to Australia's export income. Currently 80% of that comes from nickel sulphide deposits in regional Australia that are expected to be exhausted within thirty years barring significant new discoveries. Although discovery rates have been declining, as the 'easy' targets have been found, there remains considerable potential for future major discoveries. This project addresses the pressing need for new data and improved exploration techniques to enable industry to target new discoveries. As our nickel mines are located in remote communities such discoveries also have major benefits for regional Australia.Read moreRead less
Experimental constraints on Platinum-Group Element geochemistry: developing lithogeochemical exploration tools for nickel-sulfides in mafic and ultramafic systems. Nickel contributes approximately $2 billion per year to Australia's export income. Currently 80% of that is coming from sulfide deposits, which are expected to be exhausted within thirty years barring significant new discoveries. Discovery rates have been declining for two decades, as the 'easy' targets have been found, despite a broa ....Experimental constraints on Platinum-Group Element geochemistry: developing lithogeochemical exploration tools for nickel-sulfides in mafic and ultramafic systems. Nickel contributes approximately $2 billion per year to Australia's export income. Currently 80% of that is coming from sulfide deposits, which are expected to be exhausted within thirty years barring significant new discoveries. Discovery rates have been declining for two decades, as the 'easy' targets have been found, despite a broad increase in nickel exploration expenditure to current levels of around $50 million per year. There is a pressing need for new data sets and techniques to allow industry to target new discoveries based on limited drill sampling of potential host rocks. This project forms part of a broader program to harness the igneous geochemistry of the platinum group elements as a powerful pathfinder in nickel exploration.Read moreRead less
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
Order-disorder behaviour in Bi-tellurides: a tool to monitor gold scavenging by Bi-Te melts. This project addresses a group of minerals (bismuth tellurides) that are often part of the exotic assemblages present in gold deposits, yet their potential to model the gold-forming processes is only recently apparent. These minerals also have the capacity to record their genetic history due to crystal modularity. Materials scientists target the analogous synthetic compounds because of the same structura ....Order-disorder behaviour in Bi-tellurides: a tool to monitor gold scavenging by Bi-Te melts. This project addresses a group of minerals (bismuth tellurides) that are often part of the exotic assemblages present in gold deposits, yet their potential to model the gold-forming processes is only recently apparent. These minerals also have the capacity to record their genetic history due to crystal modularity. Materials scientists target the analogous synthetic compounds because of the same structural modularity for applications in nanotechnology. The dataset on the mineral compounds, using the geological environment as a natural laboratory, will serve materials science research, as much as delivering key information relevant to understanding the reasons for gold enrichment in economically important types of ores. Read moreRead less
How responsive are continental interiors to the geodynamic evolution of plate margins? An Australian case study. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of the evolution and dynamics of the Australian plate by improving knowledge of the way plate driving forces shaped the continental interior. This will lead to a refinement of existing geological models describing the history of the Australian continent, and will provide a valuable backdrop for the current focus on the cont ....How responsive are continental interiors to the geodynamic evolution of plate margins? An Australian case study. The outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of the evolution and dynamics of the Australian plate by improving knowledge of the way plate driving forces shaped the continental interior. This will lead to a refinement of existing geological models describing the history of the Australian continent, and will provide a valuable backdrop for the current focus on the contemporary state of the Australian plate. The study will also provide a framework for petroleum exploration models in the central Australian basins, since they rely crucially on the thermal and structural datasets that will be produced in this project.Read moreRead less
Thermal regimes, flexure and duration: establishing the framework for intracratonic orogeny in central Australia. Intracratonic orogeny is a confronting phenomena because it contradicts the plate tectonic paradigm, which highlights the apparently rigidity of the lithospheric plates. Central Australia contains an exceptional record of intracratonic orogeny, expressed by the formation of the Petermann and Alice Springs orogens. This project will quantify the duration, and thermal conditions assoc ....Thermal regimes, flexure and duration: establishing the framework for intracratonic orogeny in central Australia. Intracratonic orogeny is a confronting phenomena because it contradicts the plate tectonic paradigm, which highlights the apparently rigidity of the lithospheric plates. Central Australia contains an exceptional record of intracratonic orogeny, expressed by the formation of the Petermann and Alice Springs orogens. This project will quantify the duration, and thermal conditions associated with the comparatively poorly known Petermann Orogen. Given the importance of intracratonic deformation in shaping the lithospheric architecture of central Australia, understanding the history of the Petermann Orogeny is essential to developing models that describe the evolution of the Australian continent, and continental interiors in general.Read moreRead less
MACQUARIE ISLAND: A UNIQUE WINDOW INTO THE OCEAN BASEMENT AND THE LINK BETWEEN OCEAN RIDGES AND OPHIOLITES. Knowledge about the composition and structure of the oceanic crust is limited due to the inaccessibility of the deep-ocean floor. Macquarie Island is the only fragment of ocean crust and mantle exposed above sea-level in the world, providing a unique opportunity to study processes of oceanic floor generation in-situ. Our project will carry out detailed mapping of the lower crust and mantle ....MACQUARIE ISLAND: A UNIQUE WINDOW INTO THE OCEAN BASEMENT AND THE LINK BETWEEN OCEAN RIDGES AND OPHIOLITES. Knowledge about the composition and structure of the oceanic crust is limited due to the inaccessibility of the deep-ocean floor. Macquarie Island is the only fragment of ocean crust and mantle exposed above sea-level in the world, providing a unique opportunity to study processes of oceanic floor generation in-situ. Our project will carry out detailed mapping of the lower crust and mantle sections on the island, followed by an integrated microstructural, petrological, and geochronological analysis of samples. Such investigations may lead to fundamental advances in the understanding of formation, deformation, and emplacement of oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridge spreading centres.Read moreRead less
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
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