Learn more about our research projects.

River systems hold information on tectonic history in their sediment load and their morphology.
Coupled models of tectonics, topography and surface evolution help us to understand continental deformation patterns.
This project uses state-of-the-art tools in models of collision, basin formation and plate boundaries.

The recent over-ice seismic deployments in Antarctica provide datasets that enable exciting opportunities for seismological research. This project involves innovative development in passive seismology methods adapted for challenging icy conditions to unravel ice and solid Earth structure in Antarctica.

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Potential

People

Some of the oldest continental building blocks (e.g. cratons) are found in Australia. At depth, the ancient rock record has invaluable information about the dynamics of the Earth. Seismology can provide remarkable views into the deep lithospheric structure using imaging techniques on broadband seismic data.

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Potential

People

Seismology is much more than a study of earthquakes – in fact, it is a study of the propagation of seismic waves through the Earth and across its surface, but the sources of these waves can be tectonic, volcanic, glacial, atmospheric, oceanic, and man-made explosions, to mention only a few.

AusPass is a service dedicated to the acquisition, management, and distribution of passive seismological data in Australia.

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Current

People

Geodynamics occupies a unique position in the solid Earth Sciences. It is primarily concerned with the dynamical processes affecting the Earth, both within its interior and at its surface, although it can also be applied to the interiors and surfaces of other terrestrial planets and their moons.

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Potential

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Project to analyse the pattern of seismic anisotropy beneath the continent utilising data from temporary broadband networks deployed across Australia

This research program uses laboratory experiments and geophysical imaging techniques to constrain the thickness and density structure of continental crust and investigate its relationship to mineral systems.

Congested subduction happens whenever buoyant material such as an oceanic plateau gets caught up on a moving plate and eventually arrives at a subduction zone. The buoyant material may be scraped off or subducted, but it always puts up a fight which leaves characteristic scars on the over-riding plate.

Most of Earth’s volcanism is concentrated at tectonic plate boundaries, where plates move away from one another to create mid-ocean ridges, or where one plate slides beneath another to form a subduction zone. However, an important and widespread class of volcanism occurs within plates, or across plate boundaries....

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Current

People

The objective of this ARC Linkage project with Geoscience Australia and GSWA is to provide a compilation of 3-D models of the crustal and lithospheric structure from new broadband data obtained with deployment of 25 seismometers in Southwest WA.

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Current

People

The base of the Lake George fault scarp defines the edge of the basin and previous surveys suggested the Quaternary fault zone extends at depth. A dense seismic array of 100 nodal seismometers were deployed in late 2020 in the northern section of the basin and collected continuous seismic recordings for ~1 month

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Current

People

The W-phase is a ultra-long period seismic wave that arrives as early as the first-arriving P-wave. It’s early arrival, low amplitude and stability w.r.t. details of earth structure make it ideal for rapid determination of source characteristics especially for large, tsunamigenic earthquakes. We are exploring the...

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Completed

People

Earth is a chemically heterogeneous body. While mantle convection can be approximated as a thermally driven process, recent studies indicate that chemical heterogeneities may play an important role in governing the form and planform of mantle dynamics. Additionally, a growing body of geochemical observations argue...

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Current

People

Mantle convection is the principal control on Earth's thermal, chemical and geological evolution. It is central to our understanding of the origin and evolution of tectonic deformation, the thermal and compositional evolution of the mantle and, ultimately, the evolution of Earth as a whole. Plate tectonics and...

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Completed

People

The Himalaya are the world’s largest mountain belt formed in response to Cenozoic collision of the Indian continent & the Eurasian plate. This project assesses uplift history of the Himalaya, its erosional landscape response, & the preservation potential of critical mineral systems in this region.

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Current

People

The lowermost mantle sits atop the core-mantle boundary – the most dramatic boundary within our planet, with contrasts in physical properties that exceed those that exist at the surface. Despite significant progress, this region is not well understood, and global seismology paves the path towards new understanding.

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Current

People

Zealandia, the Earth’s hidden continent submerged in the southwest Pacific Ocean, is the youngest and thinnest geological continent in the world. Yet, how this continent is formed remains to be further explored, mostly due to a poor understanding of its sub-surface structure.

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Potential

People

This project uses state-of-the-art computational tools to calculate seismic waveforms for large tsunamigenic earthquakes. It will assess how critical is the effect of 3D seismic velocity structure in determining earthquake parameters like focal mechanism and rupture area, which are crucial for improved tsunami warning.

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Potential

People

Free oscillations (also called normal modes) are vibrational patterns of the Earth. Normal modes sense the long-wavelength structures of Earth’s interior depending on the type and mode of vibration. For example, 13S2, a spheroidal mode with radial order 13 and angular order 2, samples the Earth along its radius...

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Current

People