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.
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.
Establishing the reference frame using astronomical and space-geodetic observations. Australia is increasingly dependent on spatial positioning and spatial data, yet mostly relies upon international agencies and research organisations to provide regular updates of coordinates and reference frame definition used on Earth. Improving the accuracy of the reference frame definition and our understanding of errors in the space-based measurements will provide new insights for studies of the Earth. The ....Establishing the reference frame using astronomical and space-geodetic observations. Australia is increasingly dependent on spatial positioning and spatial data, yet mostly relies upon international agencies and research organisations to provide regular updates of coordinates and reference frame definition used on Earth. Improving the accuracy of the reference frame definition and our understanding of errors in the space-based measurements will provide new insights for studies of the Earth. The research will yield results in studies of national significance, such as sea level rise, the effects of melting polar regions, and crustal deformation, as well as developing Australia's expertise in exploiting observations of the Earth from space.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200012
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,748,358.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Basin GEodyNamics and Evolution of SedImentary Systems (GENESIS). ARC Research Hub for Basin GEodyNamics and Evolution of SedImentary Systems (GENESIS). This Research Hub aims to undertake simultaneous modelling of deep Earth and surface processes, spanning basin scales to individual sediment grains. The Hub will develop and apply cutting-edge basin simulation approaches to transform the seeding and testing of basin exploration models, extending their viability to complex, ....ARC Research Hub for Basin GEodyNamics and Evolution of SedImentary Systems (GENESIS). ARC Research Hub for Basin GEodyNamics and Evolution of SedImentary Systems (GENESIS). This Research Hub aims to undertake simultaneous modelling of deep Earth and surface processes, spanning basin scales to individual sediment grains. The Hub will develop and apply cutting-edge basin simulation approaches to transform the seeding and testing of basin exploration models, extending their viability to complex, inaccessible remote and deep exploration targets. The Hub will fuse multidimensional data into five dimensional basin models (space and time, with uncertainty estimates) by coupling the evolution of mantle flow, crustal deformation, erosion and sedimentary processes, achieving a quantum leap in basin modelling and petroleum systems analysis.Read moreRead less
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.
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.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100108
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$190,000.00
Summary
Earth’s response to ice unloading: a unique GPS measurement from Antarctica . Earth's response to ice unloading - a unique GPS measurement from Antarctica: This project aims to deploy geophysical equipment including global navigation satellite systems within Antarctica to understand how Earth responds to changes in stress (rheology) within the crust and upper mantle (the upper ~660 km). It exploits a globally-unique natural experiment that commenced in 2002 with the break-up of the Larsen B Ice ....Earth’s response to ice unloading: a unique GPS measurement from Antarctica . Earth's response to ice unloading - a unique GPS measurement from Antarctica: This project aims to deploy geophysical equipment including global navigation satellite systems within Antarctica to understand how Earth responds to changes in stress (rheology) within the crust and upper mantle (the upper ~660 km). It exploits a globally-unique natural experiment that commenced in 2002 with the break-up of the Larsen B Ice Shelf and which was followed by large-scale ice-mass unloading and rapid surface deformation. New broadband passive seismic and geodetic deformation measurements offer the promise of resolving a dichotomy between laboratory and millennial-scale determinations of Earth rheology through uniquely studying a time-scale mid-way between these extremes, whilst further strengthening Australia's emerging expertise in polar geophysics.Read moreRead less
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
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.
From plume source to hotspot: quantifying mixing in mantle plumes and its implications for the nature of deep-mantle heterogeneity. Mantle plumes are buoyant upwellings that bring hot material from Earth's deep-mantle to the surface, forming volcanic hotspots, like Hawaii. Although extensively studied, the geochemical variations recorded in hotspot lavas have, so far, proved difficult to understand, particularly how they relate to their heterogeneous deep-mantle source. This project aims to use ....From plume source to hotspot: quantifying mixing in mantle plumes and its implications for the nature of deep-mantle heterogeneity. Mantle plumes are buoyant upwellings that bring hot material from Earth's deep-mantle to the surface, forming volcanic hotspots, like Hawaii. Although extensively studied, the geochemical variations recorded in hotspot lavas have, so far, proved difficult to understand, particularly how they relate to their heterogeneous deep-mantle source. This project aims to use state-of-the-art geodynamical models to determine how deep-mantle heterogeneities are transported into a plume and how such heterogeneities are mixed during plume ascent. This will facilitate the linking, for the first time, of geochemical variations at volcanic hotspots to the deep-mantle's thermo-chemical structure, under an Earth-like, fluid-dynamical framework.Read moreRead less