Figure 1. The tropical waters around Indonesia are an important source region for Australia’s rainfall.
The warm tropical waters around Indonesia are an important source of rainfall for Australia. When the temperature of the water in this area is warmer than usual Australia receives more rain...

Observations of seismic phases sampling the lower mantle have suggested Ultra Low Velocity Zones (ULVZs), a possible perovskite to postperovskite related D” layer, Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), and rolling-hills of primordial material on the core-mantle boundary (CMB).

With the onset of warmer global temperatures, an increase in precipitation is predicted for low-latitude regions of northern Australia, while the southern parts are predicted to become drier. Water is a critical resource, yet little is currently known about the actual amount of groundwater available, let alone how...

Tide gauges are used to measure the rate of change of the ocean surface relative to the land (relative sea level). The vertical movement of the tide gauge itself needs to be considered before such observations can be used to estimate variations in regional or global sea level. Space-geodetic techniques such as the...

In a collaboration with the university of New South Wales we are exploring the interactions between topography and flow in shallow coastal regions, where headlands and islands are common features that disrupt mean currents, creating wakes and eddies that may trap or disperse nutrients, sediments and biota.
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The amount and site of hydrogen in the upper mantle is important for understanding the geochemical recycling of volatiles, and the evolution of the mantle, atmosphere, and oceans. It has been proposed that the entire water budget of the upper mantle may be accommodated at defect sites in nominally anhydrous...

Paleogeographic reconstructions indicate that parts of the Australian continent have been exposed above sea level for hundreds of millions of years. Paleomagnetic dating of giant weathering profiles (up to 100 m deep) in open pit mines reveals three major periods of deep oxidation: Late Cenozoic (20 Ma to present...

Today, Earth's oceans are teaming with life, and even deep marine trenches contain enough oxygen to support complex organisms. However, oceans in Earth's distant past were fundamentally different. In the first half of Earth history, ~4.5 to 2.3 billion years (Ga) ago, the world's oceans and atmosphere were almost...

Zircon (ZrSiO4) and monazite (CePO4) are common minor minerals in granites.  Although they are not abundant they are important because they are the host of many elements that are incompatible in the rock-forming minerals.  For example, the ability of zircon to incorporate U has made it the...

Zircon and monazite are the two most important accessory minerals in metamorphic and igneous rocks that can be dated by the U-Th-Pb method. Garnet is a key-mineral to establish metamorphic or magmatic conditions encountered by rocks. These minerals all contain significant amounts of trace elements such as Y and REE...