Dr Benjamin Wade

Biography/ Background

Doctor Ben Wade received a BSc(Hons) from the University of Adelaide. In 2001 he undertook an eight month contract at the Minerals and Energy Resources of Primary Industries and Resources of South Australia (PIRSA), primarily involved in the Challenger Au deposit in the Gawler Craton. In late 2001 he was employed as a reasearch associate for Doctor Karin Barovich, undertaking Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic analysis of various rocks and ore minerals. From 2002 to 2006 he completed a PhD entitled "Unravelling the tectonic framework of the Musgrave Province" at the University of Adelaide. Following this in 2007 he was employed as a Postdoctoral Researcher focussed primarily on the Musgrave Province of central Australia, and parts of the Arunta Region in the N.T. From 2008 to present he has been employed as an associate lecturer in Geology and Geophysics.

Qualifications

PhD (Uni of Adelaide)
Thesis title "Unravelling the tectonic framework of the Musgrave Province, central Australia" Advisers: Karin Barovich, Martin Hand

BSc (Hons) 1st class, Geology
Geology Department, University of Adelaide

(2005) Awarded joint prize for best student talk at the GSA STOMP conference in Townsville on �Towards a tectonic synthesis for the Musgrave Block�.

(2007) Awarded the Walter Howchin medal in 2007 by the Geological Society of Australia (South Australian division). The medal is awarded to a researcher in the early stages of their career who is distinguished by significant published research work within South Australia, or from a South Australian base.

Teaching Interests

In 2008 I will be teaching a number of components of the Geology for Engineers 1st year course. These include:

1. Metamorphic rocks
2. Brittle and ductile deformation
3. Geophysics and drilling
4. Weathering, erosion and soils
5. Mineral deposits
6. Water & fossils fuels

In addition i will be co-teaching:
1) Field Geoscience III (field mapping course in central Australia) 2) Pichi Richi (level II field mapping course) 3) Victor Harbor/Pt Elliot (level I field course); along with the practical classes of Earth Systems I

Research Interests

His primary research interests centre on the use of isotopic decay of elements such as Hf, Nd, Sr and Pb to understand the temporal and and chemical evolution of the Earth.

Ben is a member of the Continental Evolution Research Group (CERG) - http://www.ees.adelaide.edu.au/research/geology/cerg/

Doctor Ben Wade's PhD involved the setup of the Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) primarily for the analysis of trace elements in minerals and geochronology. As such has continued to develop the the setup to date a wide variety of minerals such as zircon, monazite, titanite, baddeleyite and perovskite.

Publications

Wade, B.P., Hand, M., Maidment, D.W., Close, D.F., Scrimgeour, I.R., 2008. Origin of metasedimentary and igneous rocks from the Entia Dome, eastern Arunta Region, central Australia: a U-Pb LA-ICPMS, SHRIMP, and Sm-Nd isotope study. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. In press, Accepted 10th January, 2008.

Wade, B.P., Payne, J.L., Hand, M., and Barovich, K., 2007a. Petrogenesis of ca. 1.50 Ga granitic gneiss of the Coompana Block; filling the Mesoproterozoic �magmatic gap� of Proterozoic Australia. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 54: 1089-1102.

Wade, B.P., Kelsey, D.E., Hand, M., and Barovich, K., 2007b. The Musgrave Province; Stitching North, West, and South Australia. Precambrian Research. In Press. Accepted 16th January, 2007.

Kelsey, D.E., Wade, B. P., Collins, A.S., Hand, M., Sealing, C.R., Netting, A., 2007. Discovery of a Neoproterozoic basin in the Prydz belt in East Antarctica and its implications for Gondwana assembly and ultrahigh temperature metamorphism. Precambrian Research. 161:355-388.

Payne, J., Hand, M., Barovich, K.M., *Wade, B.P., 2007. Temporal constraints on the timing of high-grade metamorphism in the northern Gawler Craton. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. Press. Accepted 16th November, 2007.

Wade, B.P., Barovich, K.M., Hand, M., Scrimgeour, I.R. and Close, D.F., 2006. Evidence for early Mesoproterozoic arc magmatism in the Musgrave Block, central Australia: Implications for Proterozoic crustal growth and tectonic reconstructions of Australia. Journal of Geology, 114(1): 43-63.

Reid, A., Payne, J., Wade, B.P., 2006. A new geochronological capability for South Australia:U-Pb zircon dating via LA-ICPMS. MESA Journal, 42: 27-31.

Wade, B.P., Hand, M. and Barovich, K.M., 2005. Nd isotopic and geochemical constraints on provenance of sedimentary rocks in the eastern Officer Basin, Australia: implications for the duration of the intracratonic Petermann Orogeny. Journal of the Geological Society, 162: 513-530.

Cutts, K.A., Hand, M., Kelsey, D.E., Wade, B.P., Strachan, R.A., Clark, C., 2007. Evidence for 930-900 Ma metamorphism in the Shetland Islands, Scottish Caledonides: implications for early Neoproterozoic tectonics in the Laurentia-Baltica sector of Rodinia. Geological Society of London. In review.

Howard, K.E., Hand, M., Barovich, K.M., Reid, A., Wade, B.P., Belousova, E.A., 2007. Limitations of the detrital zircon age-only approach to provenance studies: the application of wholerock Nd and zircon Hf isotopic data. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. In review.

Professional Associations

Member of the Geological Society of Australia

Member of the Specialist Group in Tectonics and Structural Geology (SGTSG)

Member of the Geochemical Society

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 26 May 2009