Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Au ....Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland. The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Australian, Queensland and Richmond Marine Fossil museums. This project intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the evolution, environment, lifestyle and distribution of Cretaceous marine reptiles by improving their fossil record and analysing newly discovered Australian specimens, including the world's first plesiosaur embryo.Read moreRead less
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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Trace element geochemistry of microbialites: towards an independent record of biogenicity, microbial communities, and seawater chemistry. A vast amount of Australia's mineral wealth is held in rocks of Precambrian age, yet those rocks are notoriously difficult to date and correlate owing to the rarity of fossils. Successful discrimination of different microbialites using biochemically sensitive trace elements will provide a firm basis and rationale for stromatolite biostratigraphy and greatly in ....Trace element geochemistry of microbialites: towards an independent record of biogenicity, microbial communities, and seawater chemistry. A vast amount of Australia's mineral wealth is held in rocks of Precambrian age, yet those rocks are notoriously difficult to date and correlate owing to the rarity of fossils. Successful discrimination of different microbialites using biochemically sensitive trace elements will provide a firm basis and rationale for stromatolite biostratigraphy and greatly increase our ability to understand the geological evolution and distribution of Precambrian rocks and resources. Additionally, a better understanding of the information content of stromatolites will yield considerable insight into the origin of life on Earth and its relationship to Earth's evolving chemistry and environment. Read moreRead less