Research Project Opportunities

The projects listed below are potentially available within the framework of  CERG, to Higher Degree students.

Honours Projects 2009

THE EVOLUTION AND ASSEMBLY OF PROTEROZOIC AUSTRALIA; NEW PIECES IN THE PUZZLE
DO ECLOGITES ALWAYS INDICATION FORMER SUBDUCTION ZONES?
THERMAL EVOLUTION OF A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF INTRACRATONIC OROGENY
INTRACONTINENTAL OROGENSIS IN THE HEART OF AUSTRALIA: STRUCTURE, PROVENANCE AND TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BENTLEY SUPERGROUP, WESTERN MUSGRAVES, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SERIOUSLY HOT MYLONITES: STRUCTURAL ARCHITECTURE AND TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF UNUSUAL ULTRA-HIGH TEMPERATURE MYLONITES IN THE FAR WESTERN MUSGRAVES, WA
AN ARC, A MICROCONTINENT, OR THE AMALGAMATION OF RODINIA: PROTOLITH AGE AND ROLE IN TECTONIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EASTERN GHATS DOMAIN, EAST INDIA
ARCHITECTURE, DEFORMATION, OPHIOLITE OBDUCTION AND TERRANE ACCRETION IN SAUDI ARABIA
THE TANZANIAN ECLOGITES - ARE THEY THE OLDEST SUBDUCTION ZONE ON EARTH?
MUSGRAVE BLOCK, SOUTH AUSTRALIA: ORIGIN AND TECTONIC SETTING OF THE PITJANTJATJARA SUPERSUITE
GAWLER CRATON: EVOLUTION AND TECTONIC SETTING OF THE MILTALIE OROGENIC SYSTEM, EASTERN GAWLER CRATON
ORIGIN AND TECTONIC SETTING OF THE MOODY SUITE, SOUTHERN GAWLER CRATON
TIMING OF THE DEFORMATION IN AN INTRACRATONIC OROGEN: THE ALICE SPRINGS OROGENY, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
THE CATACLYSMIC 1300 AD CALDERA-FORMING ERUPTION OF RINDJANI VOLCANO, LOMBOK, SUNDA ARC.
PROVENANCE OF DIAMOND INDICATOR MINERALS FROM THE PERMO-TRIASSIC SPRINGFIELD BASIN
A 3D ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY MODEL OF THE AUSTRALIAN LITHOSPHERE AND ASTHENOSPHERE
IMAGING THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PASSIVE MARGIN USING MARINE MAGNETOTELLURIC

Potential PhD Projects

High Heat Production Granites: their origin and significance in crustal evolution.

Kimberlites, Diamonds and Eclogites in South Australia.

Australian Proterozoic Tectonics: Evolution of the Musgrave and Arunta Provinces.

The behaviour of monazite during metamorphism and crustal reworking.

Provenance of sedimentary rock systems in the Australian Proterozoic: palaeogeographic reconstructions of supercontinents.

Tectonothermal evolution of the Western Musgrave Complex, Western Australia.

The role of the Southern Granulite Terrane of India in the amalgamation of Gondwana - a structural and geochronological perspective.

Linking Neoproterozoic India and Australia/Antarctica: the tectonic significance of 800-700 Ma orogenesis in the Vestfold Hills (Antarctica) and the Eastern Ghats (India). This project will involve field work in Antarctica and India. (Contact Doctor Alan Collins for details.

The timing of the Chewings Orogeny. This orogeny occupies an important timeline for the evolution of Proterozoic Australia. However, little is known about the P-T-T evolution of rocks on the southern margin of the Arunta Complex that were affected by this orogeny. (Contact Doctor David Kelsey for details)

Understanding where zircon grows along a P-T path is crucial for a more detailed understanding of what zircon geochronology in metamorphic rocks means. This project will apply some theoretical breakthroughs to field examples in central Australia. (Contact Doctor David Kelsey for details)