News
Here you will find information and news from TRaX.
TRaX Presentations at the Gondwana 14 Conference
Prof Alan Collins, Prof John Foden and PhD student Ben McGee attended the Gondwana 14 Conference which was held in Buzios, Brazil in September. Alan presented an invited talk, (one of five at the meeting) entitled 'When did Gondwana Finally Amalgamate'. Alan and John also met with colleagues at the University of Sao Paulo, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the State University of Rio de Janeiro and the Federal University of Minas Gerias to discuss opportunities for research and PhD student supervisory collaboration as part of the Brazilian government's 'Science Without Borders' program.
Gondwana Research Annual Meeting
TRaX PhD students Udeni Amarsinghe and Andrew Barker presented talks at the International Association for Gondwana Research Annual Meeting in Hyderabad, India in August. They were joined with a presentation by Alan Collins and posters presented by TRaX Honours students Emma Alexander and Bonnie Henderson.
TRaX PhD Completions in 2011
The Geology and Geophysics group have seen the completion of an unprecedented number of 10 PhDs in 2011. This is the highest number of PhD completions in a year for the last decade and is a testament to the drive of the students, the supervisors and the PhD process within the group. Congratulations to all involved.
TRaX Honours Student Published in External Journal
Laura Morrissey from TRaX has had her Honours work (2010) accepted for publication in Precambrian Research. "Grenvillian-aged reworking in the North Australian Craton, central Australia: Constraints from geochronology and modelled phase equilibria" Laura Morrissey, Justin L. Payne, David E. Kelsey, Martin Hand.
The main findings and highlights of the paper are: 1) Grenvillian aged tectonism and metamorphism for garnet and monazite in flat-lying and vertical fabrics in eastern Warumpi Province. 2) No evidence of previously assumed early Mesoproterozoic tectonism. 3) P-T-t evolution constrained by phase diagrams and in situ geochronology, indicates decompression and high geothermal gradient regime. View Laura's article.
TRaX publications since the research centre started in 2009 are rapidly approaching 200!
TRaX researchers continue to publish their research in leading peer-review journals. Below are short summaries of selected TRaX publications that have appeared in the past three months. All deal with topics related to the key goals of TRaX, or address some of Australia's mineral-rich provinces. They demonstrate the depth and breadth of research activity within TRaX.
U-Pb zircon, zircon Hf and whole rock Sm-Nd isotopic constraints on the evolution of Paleoproterozoic rocks in the northern Gawler Craton.
Magmatic protoliths to orthogneisses in the northern Gawler Craton have ages of 1780-1750 Ma.
Geochronology, isotopic data and geochemistry suggest that these orthogneisses can be considered as suitable sources to Paleoproterozoic basin sequences of the Gawler Craton and Curnamona Province.
K.E. Howard, M. Hand, K.M. Barovich, J.L. Payne, K. Cutts, E. Belousova. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences v. 58, p. 615-638. Read more
Cooling and Exhumation history of the northeastern Gawler Craton, South Australia.
This paper presents recent pressure-temperature and geochronological analysis of granulite facies metasediments in the poorly-exposed Mount Woods Inlier of the northeastern Gawler Craton, South Australia.
Forbes, C.J., Giles, D., Jourdan, F., Sato, K., Omori, S., Bunch, M. Precambrian Research. Read more
Dr Simon Holford takes out The Walter Howchin Medal
TRaX Deputy Director, Simon Holford has been awarded the Walter Howchin Medal by the Geological Society of Australia SA Division.
The Walter Howchin Medal is awarded to a researcher in the early stage of their career (under 35 years), who is distinguished by their significant published research work within the earth sciences in South Australia, or from a South Australian base.
Simon was awarded the medal for his contributions to understanding tectonic processes in passive continental margins and sedimentary basins in the British Isles and the southern margin of Australia.
Prof. David Kelsey presents at the Geological Society of America
On the invitation of Dr Gregory Dumond of the University of Arkansas, TRaX and IMER Member Dr David Kelsey presented at the Geological Society of America. David Kelsey made three presentations at the Geological Society of America conference in Minneapolis (9 -12 October):
- "Linking Accessory Mineral Growth And Breakdown To Major Mineral Evolution In Metamorphic Rocks - Where Are We At For Monazite?"
- "From Nuna to Rodinia: Proterozoic Growth and Evolution of Laurentia II"
- "Implications For The Tectonic Setting Of Long Lived Grenvillian Aged Tectonism In The Musgrave Province, Central Australia, Based On Constraints From Large Scale Isotopic Homogeneity and Thermobarometry."
Abstracts will be published in GSA Abstracts with Programs Vol. 43, No. 5.
