Understanding the deep driving forces of Earth’s large-scale topography through time. We propose to model the convection of Earth’s mantle linked to tectonic plate motions to unravel their combined influence on the evolution of topography over 550 million years. The project will lead to an understanding of the driving forces of large-scale topography in continental interiors and along their margins through geological time.
The link between the deep Earth and its dynamic surface. Modelling the two-way interaction of plate tectonics with the actions of erosion and sedimentation gives a fundamentally new view of the dynamics of our planet and the importance of the surface on the deep interior. It will improve our understanding of the formation of sedimentary basins, their evolution and their preservation over geological time.
Multi-array, multi-frequency probing of the Earth's heterogeneity. Multiple seismic arrays will be combined into an 'internal telescope' to locate sources of seismic energy from earthquakes or by scattering from heterogeneity in the Earth. This will provide strong new constraints on fine scale structure in the crust, mantle and core, and thereby help to define Earth's internal processes.
Glacio-isostatic effects on geodetic data: Ice and sea level implications. Glacio-isostatic (GI) effects are recorded in geological and geodetic data sets and mask other deformational processes. This project builds on past work using geological data with a focus on combining geodetic and geological evidence to improve knowledge of the past ice sheets, separate out effects of past and present deglaciation and develop improved models for the mantle rheology to include time-dependencies in mantle r ....Glacio-isostatic effects on geodetic data: Ice and sea level implications. Glacio-isostatic (GI) effects are recorded in geological and geodetic data sets and mask other deformational processes. This project builds on past work using geological data with a focus on combining geodetic and geological evidence to improve knowledge of the past ice sheets, separate out effects of past and present deglaciation and develop improved models for the mantle rheology to include time-dependencies in mantle response (transient creep in the first instance). The project aims to provide a complete and predictive description of the GI effects on geodetic data, consistent with geological evidence, such that other tectonic, hydrologic and sea-level signals can be estimated free of these effects.Read moreRead less
What lies beneath: unveiling the fine-scale 3D compositional and thermal structure of the sub continental lithosphere and upper mantle. We will produce the first high-resolution images of the thermal and mineralogical structure of the earth's mantle beneath Australia, western USA, and South Africa. This information represents the key to our understanding of society-relevant activities such as ore and energy exploration and natural hazard assessment.
A unified model for the closure dynamics of ancient Tethys constrained by geodesy, structural geology, argon geochronology and tectonic reconstruction. The project will elucidate complex planetary dynamics involved in the interaction of the oceanic plates with the continental crust. Such aspects underpin the ability of geoscientists to effectively simulate and model, impacting on issues ranging from forecasting earthquakes to how to conduct greenfields exploration for energy and mineral resource ....A unified model for the closure dynamics of ancient Tethys constrained by geodesy, structural geology, argon geochronology and tectonic reconstruction. The project will elucidate complex planetary dynamics involved in the interaction of the oceanic plates with the continental crust. Such aspects underpin the ability of geoscientists to effectively simulate and model, impacting on issues ranging from forecasting earthquakes to how to conduct greenfields exploration for energy and mineral resources.Read moreRead less
Earth's intra-plate volcanic engine. This project aims to understand the mechanisms underpinning intra-plate volcanism. Australia hosts one of the world’s most extensive intra-plate volcanic regions. However, the mechanisms driving intra-plate volcanic provinces on Earth remain poorly understood. This project will use geodynamical models and observational data-sets from geology, geochemistry and seismology, whilst using the Australian continent as a natural laboratory. The project is expected to ....Earth's intra-plate volcanic engine. This project aims to understand the mechanisms underpinning intra-plate volcanism. Australia hosts one of the world’s most extensive intra-plate volcanic regions. However, the mechanisms driving intra-plate volcanic provinces on Earth remain poorly understood. This project will use geodynamical models and observational data-sets from geology, geochemistry and seismology, whilst using the Australian continent as a natural laboratory. The project is expected to provide understanding about the constraints on Australia's volcanic hazard; reconcile geophysical and geochemical constraints on mantle melting; and improve understanding of mass extinctions, continental breakup and the genesis of metals, diamonds and hydrocarbons.Read moreRead less
Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to im ....Origins and distributions of intraplate earthquakes. This project aims to investigate the behaviour and origin of intraplate earthquakes in Australia by developing a multi-million-year record of earthquakes using geological, geochronological, geospatial, seismological, statistical and numerical modelling data. It will use maximum credible magnitudes, maximum shaking intensities of intraplate earthquakes and spatiotemporal relationships between large prehistoric and contemporary earthquakes to improve models of future seismic hazard in Australia and globally. This will lead to improved predictions of future earthquake impacts in urban and natural environments and development of new paleoseismic techniques.Read moreRead less
Taming the nonlinearity of geophysical inversions. This project will develop new ways to extract information from complex geophysical data sets used to construct images of the Earth's interior. Applications will be important to indirect imaging problems in the physical and engineering sciences and particularly to the discovery of resources within the Earth upon which Australian society is dependent.
Sea level around Australia: fingerprints of melting ice sheets. The project aims to derive regional information on sea-level changes around the Australian coastline. The project plans to use a new technique to combine tide gauge and satellite observations of sea level with information on the spatially varying contributions of melting polar ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans and exchanges of water between continents and oceans. It also plans to create new software to enable time-varying ....Sea level around Australia: fingerprints of melting ice sheets. The project aims to derive regional information on sea-level changes around the Australian coastline. The project plans to use a new technique to combine tide gauge and satellite observations of sea level with information on the spatially varying contributions of melting polar ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans and exchanges of water between continents and oceans. It also plans to create new software to enable time-varying estimates of the contributions of these sources, from which the changes in sea level over the past century can be reconstructed at any location, including in places where no local observations have been made. This would provide Australian communities with the best possible information regarding sea-level changes in their own region.Read moreRead less