Current Research Projects
in
Geology, Mining and Geophysics
- Gondwana Tectonics and Reconstructions
- Tectonics of the Palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana
- Ediacarian (Late Proterozoic) earth history of Australia
- Palaeozoic-Mesozoic biostratigraphy and provincialism and the coalesence of Asia
- Palaeozoic palaeogeography of southeastern and central Australia
- Middle Palaeozoic of eastern Australia; macro- and micro-faunas, biochronology, palaeobiology, biogeographic relationships and community development
- Isotope signatures for Palaeozoic extinction events
- Palaeoenvironmental and basin analysis of the Sydney basin (including genesis of the coal measures)
basement-cover relations in the southern Sydney Basin
- Pangean and Gondwana context of Phanerozoic Australia
- Palaeozoic palaeomagnetism and tectonics of Australia and Gondwana
- Crustal Processes and Evolution
- Crustal evolution of eastern Australia during the Palaeozoic, as indicated by the geochemistry, isotopic composition, age and distribution of granite batholiths and rhyolitic volcanic rocks
- Palaeozoic and Mesozoic silicic magmatism, Pacific rim
- Chemical and microstructural zoning of plutons
- Permian and Triassic tectonic evolution of New England
- Granites and low-pressure metamorphism in the Australian Proterozoic and Palaeozoic
- Emplacement mechanisms of plutons
- Origin of myrmekites, microgranitoid enclaves and orbicular granites
- Segregation of melt movement in migmatites
- Fluids in high-grade metamorphic terranes (central Australia)
- Deformation and mineralogical/chemical changes in high-grade mafic mylonites (central Australia and California
- Relationships between crustal processes and rock fabrics
- Cooling histories of metamorphic complexes
- Petrophysics of granitic rocks
- Volcanic/Plutonic Connections and Lithospheric Evolution
- Geochemical and tectonic studies of mantle evolution
- Studies based on xenoliths in basalts and kimberlites and tectonically exposed deep-seated terranes
- Four dimensional lithospheric mapping in Australia, central and east Asia, North America, Siberia, South Africa, Mongolia
- Mantle residence sites and partitioning of trace elements
- Global temporal changes in the composition of subcontinental lithospheric mantle
- Nature of the crust/mantle boundary, eastern Australia
- Geotherm construction and modelling
- Construction of realistic stratigraphies for crust/mantle sections to constrain geophysical models
- Laboratory measurements of magnetic properties and acoustic velocities of lower crust and upper mantle rock types
- Terrane accretion history of Australia and China
- Links between mantle and crustal events
- Mantle fluids and sulphides
- Chemical geodynamics of Cu-Au metallogenesis
- Area selection and deposit evaluation for the diamond industry
- Integration of geophysical and geochemical datasets to give realistic lithosphere sections to 200km depth.
- Geochemistry of basaltic rocks and mantle source domains
- Antarctic mylonites
- Properties, occurrence and origin of diamonds and sapphires
- Trace element fingerprinting of minerals associated with economic deposits
- High Pressure Experimental Studies
- Pressure effect of trace-element partitioning
- Silicate liquid immiscibility at high pressure, and silicate liquid structural role in trace element partitioning
- Trace element partitioning and abundances (mantle and crustal metamorphic rocks)
- High field strength element abundances in igneous rocks and the role of accessory minerals
- Petrogenesis of convergent plate boundary magmas
- Experimental duplication of high-pressure crystallization in selected natural examples
- Fluid-melt partitioning
- Geophysics Studies
- Paleomagnetic studies of mafic and ultramafic intrusives and lower
- Petrological studies of the source of crustal magnetic anomalies crustal rock types
- Application of petrological constraints to geophysical modelling
- Palaeomagnetism of the New England orogen
- Automatic modelling and inversion of airborne and electromagnetic data
- Sferic noise elimination for electromagnetic surface systems
- Regolith electrical properties and evaluation of EM systems
- Fundamental induced polarisation and resistivity
- Aerosonde project
- Magnetics and EM using model aeroplanes.
- EM for mineral exploration
- Measurement of electromagnetic fields on the seafloor
- Improved methods for numerical modelling and inversion of geophysical data
- Basic research into image reconstruction
- Geophysical techniques in monitoring water pollution
- Environmental geophysics of acid sulphate soils and old mine workings
- Processes in Sedimentology
- Ion solubility and the generation of Hammersley-type iron ore deposits
- The physico-chemical setting of dolomitisation
- Mineral Resource and Exploration Studies
- Uranium industry studies
- Gold mineralization; regional setting with emphasis on epithermal deposits in Palaeozoic terranes
- Properties, occurrence and origin of diamonds and sapphires
- Chemical geodynamics of Cu-Au metallogenesis
- Area selection and deposit evaluation for the diamond industry
- Trace element fingerprinting of minerals associated with economic deposits
- Investigation of sulphur isotope equilibria and sulphide reactions of importance in ore deposits
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Created by: R Firkin. Last update: 25th February 1998