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 global consequences of subduction zone congestion. This project will use a combination of 3D geodynamic modelling, plate kinematic reconstruction and geological and geophysical synthesis to determine how congested subduction zones influence plate kinematics, subduction dynamics and tectonic evolution at orogen and global scales. The project aims to deliver a transformation change in understanding the links between congested subduction, mantle flow, trench migration, crustal growth, transitio ....The global consequences of subduction zone congestion. This project will use a combination of 3D geodynamic modelling, plate kinematic reconstruction and geological and geophysical synthesis to determine how congested subduction zones influence plate kinematics, subduction dynamics and tectonic evolution at orogen and global scales. The project aims to deliver a transformation change in understanding the links between congested subduction, mantle flow, trench migration, crustal growth, transitions between stable convergent margin configurations and deformation in the overriding plates of subduction zones. Determining these relationships is significant because it will provide dynamic context to interpret the geological record of ancient convergent margins, which host a large percentage of Earth's metal resources.Read moreRead less
Beneath Bass Strait: linking Tasmania and mainland Australia using a novel seismic experiment. A new low-cost approach based on background seismic energy and earthquake recordings will be used to construct three-dimensional maps of the deep structure beneath Bass Strait. Understanding the broad scale geology of southeast Australia is of national importance because the area is host to an abundance of petroleum, geothermal and mineral resources.
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.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100061
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$285,000.00
Summary
A new seismic facility for investigating tectonic collision zones, earthquake hazards and passive imaging techniques. A new seismic facility will enable collaboration with overseas partners to better understand plate margin tectonics and earthquake hazard in our region for mutual benefit. It will also be used in pilot studies of areas endowed with deep earth resources, and in assessing regions of heightened earthquake activity in Australia.
Spanning ten billion scales from millimetre turbulence to global circulation. This project aims to explain the role of convection in the ocean. Convection is a key climate process yet it remains one of the most poorly understood mechanisms in the ocean and is crudely represented in climate models, leading to uncertainties in predictions of heat transport, climate change, polar ice loss and sea level rise. Using a unique turbulence-resolving approach and high-performance computing, the project wi ....Spanning ten billion scales from millimetre turbulence to global circulation. This project aims to explain the role of convection in the ocean. Convection is a key climate process yet it remains one of the most poorly understood mechanisms in the ocean and is crudely represented in climate models, leading to uncertainties in predictions of heat transport, climate change, polar ice loss and sea level rise. Using a unique turbulence-resolving approach and high-performance computing, the project will determine both the global role of buoyancy-driven convection in the broad ocean circulation and the local turbulence controls on melting rates of Antarctic ice-shelves. This will contribute to the formulation of better climate models and keep Australia at the forefront of oceanography and environmental fluid dynamics.Read moreRead less