introducing
GEMOC |
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| "funding,
like a good investment portfolio has a healthy diversity ... across
competitive traditional schemes, ... to substantial industry
collaborative projects, provision of value-added products to the
mineral exploration and ... the ... DEST Systemic Infrastructure
Intitiative ... [grant of] over $5 million" |
GEMOC's Context
A short history of GEMOC: The National Key Centre
for the Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC)
formally commenced in January, 1996 and was funded under the Key Centre
scheme for 6 years. Under the government regulations for this
round of Key Centres, there was no provision for extension of
Commonwealth Key Centre funding beyond the six-year term. A
detailed business plan was required in the application to demonstrate
how the Centre could continue and maintain its identity after the
Commonwealth funding term. This business plan has succeeded and
the evolved GEMOC started its new phase in 2002 with an independent
well-funded base for the next five years.
GEMOC's funding base from 2002: This
funding, like a good investment portfolio, has a healthy diversity
ranging across competitive traditional schemes such as those available
from the Australian Research Council to substantial industry
collaborative projects, provision of value-added products to the
mineral exploration industry (see the section on Industry Interaction)
and one-off opportunities such as the competitive DEST Systemic
Infrastructure Initiative that granted over $5 million to enable
GEMOC's Technology Development Program to stay at the forefront (see
the section on Technology Development).
GEMOC's linkages and alliances: GEMOC
was initially based on the pre-1995 collective profiles of the core
participants at Macquarie and the networked group at ANU (Faculties),
with collaborative links to CSIRO, AGSO (now Geoscience Australia (GA))
and colleagues at other Australian Universities. GEMOC has
diversified and expanded from this base with shifts in the original
linkages. The industry- and technology-related projects evolved
to become the strongest links with ANU, especially with Professor Bruce
Chappell's relocation to Macquarie. Interaction with CSIRO and GA
has grown and transformed over the six years. Strong new national
and international collaborative links and programs have extended from
the original core activities and participants of GEMOC. |
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MISSION
- to create a new paradigm for the formation
of metallogenic provinces by undertaking fundamental research on
the evolution of the upper 200 km of the Earth's crust-mantle system,
integrating petrological, geochemical and geophysical information
- to give the Australian minerals exploration industry a
competitive edge into the 21st century by transferring this new
knowledge base and the methodologies to the industry and to the next
generation of students
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| increasing
industry collaboration with funded projects related to lithosphere
evolution and crustal generation studies has fulfilled one of our major
strategic goals of delivering new tools and a new framework of terrane
analysis to the minerals exploration industry” |
SCIENTIFIC PHILOSOPHY
GEMOC’s distinctiveness lies in its
interdisciplinary and integrated approach to interpreting Earth’s
lithosphere as a 4-dimensional dynamic system (in space and time).
This approach links...
petrology and geochemistry ~
geophysics ~ petrophysics ~ tectonics ~ numerical modelling
within the important contexts of...
time (the 4th dimension) and
thermal state
to understand the significance of large-scale mantle and crustal
domains and the processes that have formed and modified them.
The front cover of the 2002 Report emphasises the global scale and
3-dimensional context of our lithosphere studies as well as the
interface with geophysical datasets. This present-day timeslice of the
seismic character of the deep Earth cannot give us the time perspective
to unravel over 4 billion years of Earth’s evolution. However, this is
provided by the petrological samples of the mantle delivered to the
Earth’s surface at different (and measurable) times by tectonism or
magmatism.
Parallel advances in the integration of geophysical and geochemical
information to model and image the lithosphere and its properties
continue to be driven by our intense curiosity to solve more of the
intriguing questions about how the Earth has evolved, especially now
that we have developed many novel geochemical tools to date important
events in the mantle and crust and have made so many fundamental new
discoveries about the life and times of lithospheres (see Research
Highlights and Technology Development sections). These advances mesh
with end-user needs and the knowledge required to solve major
geological problems.
GEMOC's strategic focus
The main targets of GEMOC's founding activities were defined to be
large-scale problems related to lithosphere evolution and understanding
the relevance of different types of crust-mantle domains to area
selection for mineral exploration.
Despite the coincidence of GEMOC's term with a time of increasingly
contracting activities in the mineral exploration climate, our industry
interaction has steadily increased and now forms a significant part of
the ongoing funding. Our industry interaction is largely based in
strong collaboration; interchange of concepts and discussions on GEMOC
strategies relevant to industry needs is invaluable in maintaining our
focus on industry relevance.
The increasing industry collaboration with funded projects related to
lithosphere evolution and crustal generation studies has fulfilled one
of our major strategic goals of delivering new tools and a new
framework of terrane analysis to the minerals exploration
industry. Some of these new tools and concepts are summarised in
the Research Highlights, and the Technology Development section. |
Part of the French Connection in the field in the Massif Central. |
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STRATEGIC OUTCOMES
fundamental insights into the processes that create
and modify the continental mantle and crust through time
a better understanding of the assembly of the Australian
continent and its geological architecture to 100-200 km depth through
work in Australia and global analogues
results and concepts exportable to other terrains,
including Southeast Asia and other potentially resource-rich areas of
interest to Australian exploration companies
a new conceptual framework for understanding the
localisation of economic deposits, that will influence exploration
strategies for world-class ore deposits, and improve the
competitiveness of the Australian exploration industry both on- and
off-shore
a realistic 3-D geological framework for the
interpretation of lithospheric-scale geophysical datasets
a training program for senior undergraduate and
postgraduate students (and continuing education) that will help
maintain the technological edge of the Australian mineral industry and
improve the industry's ability to rapidly assimilate new concepts and
methodologies
new analytical strategies for determining the chemical
and isotopic compositions of geological materials (including fluids)
development of in situ analytical methods (including
dating) to maximise information encoded in mineral zoning and to
enhance interpretation of data using spatial contexts
strategic and collaborative alliances with technology
manufacturers in design and application innovation
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