Nickel iron sulphide mineralogy: the link between mineral transformations and microstructure and magnetic properties. This project is about measuring the rate at which minerals transform or react and how metal diffusion controls these reactions. Metal diffusion in sulphides is much more rapid that in silicates and is still very significant at low temperatures (< 300 C). In this project, we are trying to measure the rate at which the principal ore of nickel, pentlandite, transforms to violarite ....Nickel iron sulphide mineralogy: the link between mineral transformations and microstructure and magnetic properties. This project is about measuring the rate at which minerals transform or react and how metal diffusion controls these reactions. Metal diffusion in sulphides is much more rapid that in silicates and is still very significant at low temperatures (< 300 C). In this project, we are trying to measure the rate at which the principal ore of nickel, pentlandite, transforms to violarite, another important nickel rich sulphide that forms from it in the upper parts of ore bodies. The arrangement of the metal atoms in these minerals is sensitive to temperature, so it may be used as a geothermometer.Read moreRead less
Cyclostome bryozoans: Their use as paleoceanographic, paleoclimatologic and paleoenvironmental proxies throughout the cenozoic of southern Australia. The unravelling of ocean evolution relies largely on data from fossils - geochemical proxies of ancient oceans. Southern Australia contains an inrivalled 45 million-year old record of cool-water carbonate sedimentation and thus global paleoceanography. Currently, the only proxies available in these extensive sediments are brachiopods and planktic f ....Cyclostome bryozoans: Their use as paleoceanographic, paleoclimatologic and paleoenvironmental proxies throughout the cenozoic of southern Australia. The unravelling of ocean evolution relies largely on data from fossils - geochemical proxies of ancient oceans. Southern Australia contains an inrivalled 45 million-year old record of cool-water carbonate sedimentation and thus global paleoceanography. Currently, the only proxies available in these extensive sediments are brachiopods and planktic foraminfers. However, these sediments contain prolific low-magnesium calcite bryozoans, particularly cyclostomes, that could be used instead. This research will assess such bryozoans and test their usefulness and reliability, utilising existing extensive modern marine and Tertiary samples, data bases and sections. Such potential proxies would be globally useful for limestones from the last 500My.Read moreRead less
The stratigraphic architecture of continental margins (MARGINS). The project seeks to increase our understanding of how continental margins develop. Emphasis is given to studying the controls exerted on sedimentation by sea-level change, climate cycling, ocean front location, current-deposition and tectonics, using the southwest Pacific (temperate eastern NZ) as the prime fieldwork area. Sediment being transported across continental margins passes through a number of energy fences (e.g. piedmont ....The stratigraphic architecture of continental margins (MARGINS). The project seeks to increase our understanding of how continental margins develop. Emphasis is given to studying the controls exerted on sedimentation by sea-level change, climate cycling, ocean front location, current-deposition and tectonics, using the southwest Pacific (temperate eastern NZ) as the prime fieldwork area. Sediment being transported across continental margins passes through a number of energy fences (e.g. piedmont, shoreline, wave-base, storm-zone, shelf-edge), which together modulate sediment transport and deposition. These fences differ in their relative positions, magnitudes and effects on different margins. The research will combine onland and offshore studies, builds on data collected during ODP Leg 181, and is integrated with the international MARGINS "source to sink" program.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100141
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality c ....High-resolution ITRAX XRF core scanning facility for global change research. This facility will enable researchers to obtain high-resolution geochemical profiles in the study of environmental change and climate variability. It will provide archive data on the variation of density and chemical element composition along sediment and soil cores, rock cores, wood samples, speleothems and corals. These archives contain important information such as human activity, climate variability, water quality changes, pollution histories, recent geomorphological change, land-use change, introduction of invasive species and the occurrence of bushfires. A better understanding of the occurrence and timing of these major environmental issues is of national and regional importance.Read moreRead less
Model Studies of the Wettability of Reservoir and Seal Rocks as Recovered and After Treatments to Alter Surface Properties. Key contributions will be made to the science that underpins petroleum recovery. The combination of diverse expertise in interfacial physics and chemistry, petroleum geology and petrophysics provides a large innovative potential for the industry. Two graduate students will be educated in a rich multi-disciplinary research environment with a strong emphasis on both academic ....Model Studies of the Wettability of Reservoir and Seal Rocks as Recovered and After Treatments to Alter Surface Properties. Key contributions will be made to the science that underpins petroleum recovery. The combination of diverse expertise in interfacial physics and chemistry, petroleum geology and petrophysics provides a large innovative potential for the industry. Two graduate students will be educated in a rich multi-disciplinary research environment with a strong emphasis on both academic and industrial aspects of the problems. The research conducted will enable the industrial partners to improve existing technologies for predicting where oil and gas is trapped and for petroleum recovery.
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The Initiation of Early Palaeozoic Subduction in Eastern Australia and North America: causes and effects. Identified thirty or more years ago subduction is the return of cold, dense, oceanic lithosphere to the mantle and is one of the key dynamic elements of the plate tectonic paradigm. It is this process that is responsible for the 'Pacific Ring of Fire'. It is the root cause of many key geological processes and is a primary control of some of the earth's largest-scale physiographic features, i ....The Initiation of Early Palaeozoic Subduction in Eastern Australia and North America: causes and effects. Identified thirty or more years ago subduction is the return of cold, dense, oceanic lithosphere to the mantle and is one of the key dynamic elements of the plate tectonic paradigm. It is this process that is responsible for the 'Pacific Ring of Fire'. It is the root cause of many key geological processes and is a primary control of some of the earth's largest-scale physiographic features, including deep-sea trenches and mountain ranges. Using the important record of Cambrian in eastern Australia and in the comparable Canadian Atlantic margin, we will look at the causes and impact of the earliest stages of subduction as it first developed in the western Pacific and pre-cursor Atlantic 500 million years ago.Read moreRead less
Modern-Style Subduction Reflected in the 2.0 Billion Year Old East African Eclogites. Plate tectonics is the crustal expression of the dynamic Earth, and has been so for the past 2 billion years (Ga). As the link between the deep Earth, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere, plate tectonics is fundamental to life on Earth: it is what stands us apart from our planetary neighbours. Yet, plate tectonics may not have existed in the same form for the first half of the planet's life. This project will 1) ....Modern-Style Subduction Reflected in the 2.0 Billion Year Old East African Eclogites. Plate tectonics is the crustal expression of the dynamic Earth, and has been so for the past 2 billion years (Ga). As the link between the deep Earth, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere, plate tectonics is fundamental to life on Earth: it is what stands us apart from our planetary neighbours. Yet, plate tectonics may not have existed in the same form for the first half of the planet's life. This project will 1) increase our understanding of the Earth at the dawn of plate tectonics and foster community knowledge of the evolving Earth; 2) address the fundamental nature of the Earth at the time of much Australian ore formation, thus assisting in deep Earth resource exploration.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100236
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Facilities for spectroscopy and diffraction at high pressures. The provision of infrastructure for the study of novel materials under high pressures will enhance Australia's capability in creating new materials and in creating new devices that meet needs in communication, environment and medicine applications. The new facility will enable researchers to understand the response of structures to extreme pressures and will exploit the unique capabilities of the synchrotron light.
Seismic wave modelling and inversion for the most general 3-D anisotropic media. Advanced numerical techniques will be developed and applied to simulate the kinematic and dynamic properties of seismic wave propagation in a complex three-dimensional Earth, involving topography, heterogeneity and the most general anisotropy defined by 21 spatially-dependent elastic moduli. We will develop 2D/3D ray-tracing methods for anisotropic traveltime tomography, 2.5D/3D frequency-domain spectral element met ....Seismic wave modelling and inversion for the most general 3-D anisotropic media. Advanced numerical techniques will be developed and applied to simulate the kinematic and dynamic properties of seismic wave propagation in a complex three-dimensional Earth, involving topography, heterogeneity and the most general anisotropy defined by 21 spatially-dependent elastic moduli. We will develop 2D/3D ray-tracing methods for anisotropic traveltime tomography, 2.5D/3D frequency-domain spectral element methods for full waveform inversion of observational data, and make all these techniques applicable for subsurface imaging under various classes of anisotropy in the Earth. Results will be important for petroleum exploration as well as earthquake seismology and probing the structure of the Earth's deep interior.Read moreRead less
Aiding the Search for Diamonds in South Australia: Source and origin of Mesozoic kimberlite dyke swarms and their mantle samples. Because of significant, yet tantalising, alluvial diamond discoveries in the Adelaide Hills and Flinders Ranges over more than 100 years, South Australia can be viewed to have considerable potential as a diamond producer. Yet this potential is unresolved because little is known about the occurrence and diamond content of the kimberlite source rocks that have carried t ....Aiding the Search for Diamonds in South Australia: Source and origin of Mesozoic kimberlite dyke swarms and their mantle samples. Because of significant, yet tantalising, alluvial diamond discoveries in the Adelaide Hills and Flinders Ranges over more than 100 years, South Australia can be viewed to have considerable potential as a diamond producer. Yet this potential is unresolved because little is known about the occurrence and diamond content of the kimberlite source rocks that have carried the diamonds to the near surface and shed them into the weathering environment. This collaborative research project will use new uncommonly available samples provided by commercial diamond exploration to determine the structure , geochemistry and history of the mantle that underlies the Flinders Ranges and Adelaide Hills at depths between 40 and 250km.Read moreRead less