International links in CCFS

BACKGROUND

CCFS’ International links provide leverage of intellectual and financial resources on a global scale, and an international network for postgraduate experience. International Partners provide the core of such collaborations. Other international activity includes funded projects and substantial collaborative programs with major exchange-visit programs in France, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, South Africa, South America, China, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Thailand and Russia. The listing below is eclectic, but demonstrates the global network with targeted leaders in core research areas in CCFS.

FUNDED COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS COMMENCED OR ONGOING IN 2013 INCLUDE:


Fieldwork in Tibet; Top: Badunzhu and Ming Zhang, Centre: Prayer flags on the River. Botom: Bill Griffin, Jin-Xiang Huang, Xiaohan Gong and Qishuai Huang.

Macquarie

Sue O’Reilly was awarded the Copernicus Visiting Professorship at the University of Ferrara in 2013. A 4-week visit by Sue O’Reilly and Bill Griffin at the University of Ferrara continued collaboration with with Professors Massimo Coltorti and Costanza Bonadiman starting a new project on the nature of the mantle beneath Sardinia. Fruitful interaction also took place with the instrument laboratory at the University of Modena.

Studies continued with Dr Rendeng Shi (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, China Academy of Sciences, Beijing) on the age and origin of platinum group alloy phases in podiform chromitites in ophiolites from Tibet with a project funded by the China Academy of Sciences for 5 years from 2013 with Bill Griffin, Sue O’Reilly and Elena Belousova as CIs. Bill Griffin, accompanied by Drs Jin-Xiang Huang and Ming Zhang, joined them for fieldwork in Tibet led by Dr Shi in May 2013 as part of this large project.

Sue O’Reilly and Bill Griffin are formal collaborators on a five-year project titled “Geological Evolution and Mineral Resources in South China” funded as a Key Project from the Ministry of Education of China. This project is led by Professor Shao-Yong Jiang, Director of the State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Nanjing University and also involves Professor Xisheng Xu, a CCFS Honorary Associate. This project involves joint visits of researchers between Nanjing and Macquarie Universities over the term of the Project.

Collaboration continued on a related project with Professor Yang Jing-Sui at the China Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS, Beijing), funded by CAGS, examining the trace minerals in ophiolitic peridotites along the Yarlung-Zhangbo Suture Zone in Tibet, and similar massifs in the Polar Urals. These minerals carry evidence for subduction of shallow rocks to the Transition Zone and their re-exhumation and emplacement in the crust during the India-Asia collision. Studies were started on the isotopic composition of metal and alloy phases, to examine isotopic fractionation under extreme conditions. This collaboration extends resources and expertise for FP1 (TARDIS).

Sue O’Reilly, on behalf of Macquarie University, signed a formal agreement in November 2012, with the China University of Geosciences, (CUG) Wuhan establishing the “International University Consortium in Earth Science“ (IUCES). The consortium was organised by the president of the CUG Wuhan, Professor Yanxin Wang, and consists of eleven universities from seven countries, all renowned in earth science research. Among the IUCES partners are the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Stanford University, the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Queensland, Waterloo University (Canada), the University of Hong Kong, Moscow State University and the Russia National Mineral Resources University (Mining). The Consortium promotes research collaboration and exchange as well as undergraduate training exchange and joint postgraduate programs.

The first IUCES Summer School for postgraduates, “Water in Geological Processes” is scheduled in September 8-13 2014.

The above IUCES agreement followed the formal MOU signed in 2011 with the China University of Geosciences (CUG), Wuhan, to promote collaborative research and exchange of postgraduate students. Professors Sue O’Reilly and Bill Griffin continued in their role as as Guest Professors at CUG (Wuhan). The first cotutelle student (Mr Qing Xiong) continued at GEMOC/CCFS during 2013, and Dr Huayun Tang was awarded a 12-month fellowship by the China Scholarship Council for research at Macquarie. Two new cotutelle PhD projects were set up, bringing Jianggu Lu to CCFS/GEMOC in December 2013 for a project focused on the nature of the lithospheric mantle under the South China Block, with support from the China Scholarship Council, and Jun Xie to study the accuracy of long period surface waves from ambient noise. During 2013 ongoing research continued in collaboration with Professor Jianping Zheng and his group, and with seismologist Professor Yinhe Luo

(e.g. see CCFS publication #18). Areas of geochemical research include the evolution of the lithosphere beneath several parts of China, crustal/mantle evolution in the North China Block, the Yangtze Block and southeastern China, the UHP metamorphism of Dabie-Sulu peridotites and ultramafic rocks and ophiolites in Tibet. Geophysical research includes shallow and deep seismology in western and southeastern China and Tibet with Dr Yingjie Yang and postgraduate student, Chengxin Jiang from CCFS/GEMOC.

Following the signing of a formal MOU in 2011 with the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG; China Academy of Science, Beijing), collaboration expanded in 2013 with exchange of personnel, and the continuing cotutelle PhD project of Ms Yuya Gao, with joint access to the complementary analytical equipment at each institution.

Dr Jin-Xiang Huang (TARDIS-E CCFS Foundation Project) has been undertaking development of standards for the O-isotope analysis of high-Cr garnets on the Cameca Ion probes (CMCA, UWA) with colleagues at IGG. Collaboration on technology development remains a focus, capitalising on complementary strengths of each institution.

Following the formal MOU signed in 2012 with the University of Science and Technology, Hefei, to promote collaborative research and postgraduate joint projects, Dr Jin-Xiang Huang (TARDIS-E CCFS Foundation Project) visited Hefei to undertake stable-isotopic work.

A new collaboration with Profesor Zeng-qian Hou (Director of the Institute of Geology, China Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS)) and his group, including a cotutelle between MQ and China University of Geosciences Beijing (CUGB) for a project titled “The study of enclaves in Gandese Belt, Tibet”. This project is part of the internationally funded IGCP project “Metallogenesis of collisional orogens in the East Tethyside domain”, with Professor Hou as a CI, and in particular, is relevant to the Tibet geodynamics research within Professor Hou’s group in CAGS, and enhances the Tibet-related projects addressing a wide range of large geodynamic questions; this also interfaces with related research strands at the UWA and Curtin nodes, and with China-based work of the GSWA.

As a result of collaborative connections initiated by Dr José María Gonzáles-Jiminéz, collaborations commenced with the Universities of Barcelona and Zaragoza (Spain), with research study periods at CCFS/GEMOC by Montgarri Castillo Oliver and Vanessa Colás respectively. These successful interactions resulted in the setting up of relevant cotutelle agreements for PhD studies involving “Evolution of indicator minerals in Angolan kimberlites: applications in diamond exploration” and “Thermodynamic modelling of the fluid mobility of transition elements in Earth’s lithosphere using chromite geochemistry”.

Professor Bill Griffin continued interaction with SLN Doniabo, the French company that mines the ophiolitic laterites of Numea to extract Ni. The purpose of the project is to advise the company and the BRGM on the potential to expand the metallurgical processes to produce scandium. A project proposal involving a collaboration with French synchrotron researchers has been approved.

Studies of trace elements and fluids in diamonds and their relevance to mantle fluids and processes, continued in collaboration with Professor Oded Navon (Hebrew University, Israel), Professor Thomas Stachel (Edmonton, Canada) and Dr Jeff Harris (University of Glasgow, UK). This was originally funded by an ARC Discovery Project, which was relinquished, with the funding now provided from a CCFS allocation. This includes the PhD project of Ms Ekaterina Rubanova. Dr Zdislav Spetsius (Mirny, Siberia) visited CCFS/GEMOC in January-February 2013 as an external advisor to this PhD, and for analytical work connected with the links between eclogites, metasomatism and diamonds.

A study involving detailed 2-D and 3-D structure of the Kaapvaal Craton in several time slices, using mantle-derived xenocrysts, was continued as a collaborative project with De Beers.

Global Lithosphere Architecture Mapping, involving analysis of crustal evolution, the composition of the lithospheric mantle and the interpretation of seismic tomography, continued as a collaborative project with Minerals Targeting International, BHP Billiton and Professor Steve Grand (University of Texas at Austin).

A TerraneChron® study to unravel the timing and tectonic history of regions in Tibet continued as a collaborative program with the National University of Taiwan (led by Professor Sun-Lin Chung), and has expanded to include collaboration with Nanjing University and the Institute for Tibetan Plateau Research, Beijing.

Projects on the nature of the lithosphere in Mongolia, Vietnam and Russia continued with Dr Kuo-Lung Wang (Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan).

Development of methodology for lithium-isotope signatures in ultramafic and mafic rocks continued with Dr Mei-Fei Chu (National University of Taiwan).

Collaboration with colleagues at the University of Jean Monnet, St Etienne, including Professor Jean-Yves Cottin, Dr Bertrand Moine and Dr Marie-Christine Gerbe continued. A formal agreement between the two universities includes PhD exchange, academic exchange and research collaboration relevant to the nature of the lithosphere in the Kerguelen Archipelago, Crozet Islands and the Hoggar region of Algeria.

A cotutelle agreement was signed with Toulouse University, and Mr Romain Tilhac ( pictured here) commenced a joint PhD at Macquarie University in early 2013, with a project titled “Peridotite massifs from north-western Iberia: Origin and mechanisms for pyroxenite abundance in a supra-subduction context”.

Collaboration with colleagues at the University of Montpellier continued with projects on the mantle budget of platinum group elements, microstructures of meteorites and mantle rocks, and ophiolites. A collaboration funded by the DIISR Grant “Probing the composition of the early Solar System and planetary evolution processes” was completed as planned, but expanded to include collaboration with Professor David Mainprice on a project related to the microstructure of eclogite xenoliths.

“Igneous rocks, mineral deposits, lithosphere structure and tectonic setting: southeastern China and eastern Australia.” This collaboration with Nanjing University has expanded from an AusAID grant under the ACILP scheme with Professor Xisheng Xu (Nanjing University). Cotutelle PhD student Yao Yu from Nanjing undertook research at CCFS/GEMOC and Nanjing University, and submitted her thesis in 2013.

A collaborative research project continued with the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. The aims of this study are (1) to place further constraints on osmium-isotope signatures of the mantle sources for Os-rich alloy grains from the Bushveld Complex and (2) to look at the crustal evolution of the Complex using the U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope systematics of zircons from ultramafic rocks as well as from felsic rocks in the roof of the Bushveld Complex (felsite, granophyre and young granitic veins).

Ongoing collaboration with Alfred Kröner (University of Mainz, Germany) is focused on the continental growth history of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The main outcome of this study is that the production of mantle-derived or juvenile continental crust during the accretionary history of the CAOB has been grossly overestimated. Two papers have been accepted for publication in Gondwana Research and the results were also presented during the Workshop on “Geodynamic Evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt” in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 25-27, 2012.

Continuing collaboration with Professor Carlos Villaseca from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain provided further insights into the age, nature and composition of the lower continental crust in central Spain. This resulted in a Geology paper concerning the architecture of the European-Mediterranean Lithosphere see CCFS publication #234 and Research Highlight "Why hasn’t the Mediterranean Basin closed?").

A collaborative project continued with Dr Irina Nedosekova, Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Urals Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences to investigate the genesis and evolution of the of the Ilmeny-Vishnevogorsky carbonatites of the Ural Mountans, Russia. The new integrated results on trace-element compositions and Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, U-Pb, Lu-Hf isotope data were published in Mineralogy and Petrology in 2013 (See CCFS Publication #399).

Several collaborative projects continued with Drs Kreshimir N. Malitch and Inna Yu Badanina, Dept of Geochemistry and Ore-Forming Processes, A.N. Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Uralian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg, Russia (pictured with Elena Belousova, (centre)). They provide a unique collection of samples from a range of ultramafic massifs (from different regions of Russia, South Africa, Italy, UK), with separates of zircons, baddeleyites, Ru-Os sulfides and Ru-Os-Ir alloys available for collaborative studies.

This collaboration aligns with strands of the TARDIS Project focusing on a better understanding of the osmium and hafnium isotope composition of the Earth‘s mantle through studies of Ru-Os sulfides and Ru-Os-Ir alloys, with special focus on Hf-isotope composition of zircon and baddeleyite derived from globally distributed ultramafic massifs. These contribute to our knowledge about: (1) the Os-isotope evolution of the Earth‘s mantle exemplified by Proterozoic to Mesozoic ultramafic complexes, (2) Os-isotope sources for PGE mineralisation and Hf-isotope sources for zircon/baddeleyite in the oceanic and subcontinental mantle environments and (3) timing of formation of ultramafic protoliths hosting PGE mineralisation.
This collaborative study also contributes to the aims of the ARC Future Fellowship project of Dr Elena Belousova entitled “Dating Down Under: Resolving Earth’s Crust - Mantle Relationships”. Integrated isotopic information (U-Pb, Lu-Hf and Re-Os) to be collected from several minerals should provide a highly effective set of tracers for crust-mantle interactions. The sources of magmas and the relative proportions of different possible contaminants should be readily distinguishable using these isotopic systems, while the U-Pb data and Os model ages provide constraints on the timing of these interactions.

Studies on the geochemical signatures of Mesozoic granites as indicators of geodynamic processes in southeastern China continued with Professor Jinhai Yu (collaborative project with Nanjing University).

TerraneChron® analysis of Proterozoic terrains in Africa, Australia, South America, South East Asia and Europe were undertaken with several mineral-exploration companies.

Formal visits to Chinese institutions strengthened or initiated collaborative research projects and agreements: China Academy of Sciences, Geology and Geochemical Institute and Tibet Institute, CAS Beijing; China University of Geosciences (Beijing, Wuhan). A new 5-year research project with Nanjing University was funded.

CCFS/GEMOC continued active relationships with the newly established International Precambrian Research Centre of China (IPRCC); Bill Griffin is on the Board and was involved in organising the very successful 2013 meeting in Beijing in October: “The International Meeting on Precambrian Evolution and Deep Exploration of the Continental Lithosphere” that also coincided with the opening of the new SHRIMP Centre in Beijing under the directorship of Dunyi Liu. This meeting was attended by several (cross-node) CCFS participants including Bill Griffin, Sue O’Reilly, Sergei Pisarevsky, Simon Wilde (also on the Board) and Craig O’Neill, who attended the post-conference field trip.

Participants at the SHRIMP Conference, Beijing, October 2013.

Collaboration continued with Professor Fernando Gervilla (University of Granada), Dr Carlos J. Garrido (University of Granada, Spain), Dr Isabel Fanlo (University of Zaragoza, Spain), Dr Joaquin A. Proenza (University of Barcelona) and Dr Antoni Camprubí (National University of Mexico) on the origins of chromitite deposits in ophiolites, including Os-isotope analysis of platinum group minerals.

Collaboration continued with Dr Vlad Malkovets (Novosibirsk, currently at Okayama University, Misasa, Japan) on the origins and modification of the lithospheric mantle beneath cratonic areas, using the compositions (including Os-isotope compositions) of sulfide phases included in mantle-derived minerals.

Collaboration continued with Professor Csaba Szabo, investigating sulfide phases in xenoliths from around the Pannonian Basin. This has led to the arrangement of a formal cotutelle PhD project for Nóra Liptai between Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest (Hungary) and MQ. The project is titled “Nature of the Mantle beneath the Carpathian-Pannonian region, Hungary: a mantle xenolith study”.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Professor P. Bons (University of Tuebingen, Germany) on the numerical simulations of ice microstructures using the numerical modelling platform Elle.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Dr D. Koehn (University of Glasgow, Scotland) on the numerical simulations of fracture – fluid systems using the numerical modelling platform Elle.

Collaboration was initiated between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Professors C. Teyssier and D. Whitney (University of Minnesota, USA) on the deformation microstructures of eclogitic shear zones in the Bergen Arc, Norway.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Professor M. Mantami (Indian Institute of Technology, India) on the deformation mechanism of magnetites and their magnetic signature.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Professor A. Putnis (University of Muenster, Germany) on the effect of deformation on reaction rates in fluid mediated phase transformations.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Dr M. Peternell (University of Mainz, Germany) on the experimental deformation of ice.

Collaboration continued between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Dr V. Luzin (Bragg Institute, ANSTO, Australia) on (a) the experimental deformation of ice. This included a joint two week experiment at ANSTO in Nov. 2013, and (b) textural and residual stress measurements of diamondites including 5 days of analysis at ANSTO throughout the year.

Collaboration was initiated between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo with Dr Venter (Pretoria, South Africa) on residual stress measurements of diamondites, including 5 days of analysis at ANSTO throughout the year.

Continued collaboration of Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo with Dr J. Godinho (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) on the dissolution behaviour of minerals – experiments and numerical simulations.

Collaboration was initiated between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Professor M. Jacobsson (Stockholm University, Sweden) on the application of ice flow law research to large scale geomorphological phenomena in glaciated areas.

Collaboration was initiated between Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo and Dr B. Almquist (Uppsala University, Sweden) on the seismic anisotropy of metamorphic mobile belts.

Continued collaboration of Associate Professor Sandra Piazolo with Professor J. Wheeler and Dr E. Mariani (Liverpool University, UK) on superplasticity in rocks – numerical simulation, experiment and nature.

Associate Professor Simon Clark continued his collaboration with Professor David Walker, University of Columbia, on the study of excess volumes in garnet solid solutions.

Associate Professor Simon Clark visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory this year as part of a continued collaboration with Dr Joe Zaug, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, on the study of materials at high-pressures and temperatures using resistively heated diamond anvil cells.

Associate Professor Simon Clark visited Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as part of a continued collaboration with Dr Bora Kalkan on polyamorphism in natural and synthetic materials.

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso continued collaborating with Professors Ivone Jimenez-Munt, M. Fernandez, J. Verges and D. Garcia-Castellanos from the Institute of Earth Sciences ‘Jaume Almera’, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain on a project “Characterisation of the lithospheric mantle beneath the Alpine orogenic belt from numerical modelling: a comparison between Atlas, Tibet, and Zagros” funded by the National Research Council of Spain.

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso continued collaborating with Professor Alan Jones from the Dublin Inst. for Advanced Studies (Ireland) on the characterisation of the lithospheric mantle beneath Ireland, funded by IRETHERM (Science Foundation Ireland).

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso collaborated with Professors James Connolly (ETH Zurich), Nicholas Rawlinson (Univ. Aberdeen), Derek Schutt (Colorado State Univ.), Alan Jones (DIAS), Professors Bill Griffin and Sue O’Reilly, and Dr Yinjie Yang on the development of 3D multiobservable probabilistic inversion methods for the thermochemical structure of the lithosphere and sublithospheric upper mantle. This project is funded by ARC DP project 120102372.

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso collaborated with Professor David Pedreira on the characterisation of the lithospheric mantle across the Pyrenees. The project is funded by the Spanish Research Council.

Professor Manel Fernandez (CSIC, Barcelona) visited MQ to work with Dr Afonso (pictured here) on the application of LitMod2D to study the lithospheric structure of several mountain chains in Europe and Asia.

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso collaborated with Professor Sergei Lebedev from the Dublin Inst. for Advanced Studies (Ireland) on the charaterisation of Pre-Cambrian lithospheric regions based on multi-observable probabilistic inversions.

Dr Juan Carlos Afonso started a collaboration with Professor Gianluigi Rozza (SISSA MathLab, Switzerland) on the applications of reduced basis methods to probabilistic geodynamic inversions.

Dr Javier Fullea (CSIC, Madrid) visited MQ to work with Dr Afonso on further developments of the LitMod software and application to the Iberian Peninsula.

Professor Sergio Zlotnik (pictured left (far right)) (UPC, Barcelona) visited MQ to work with Dr Afonso and PhD Student Beñat Oliviera-Bravo (pictured (centre)) on the development of LitMod software and its application to the Iberian Peninsula.

Dr Craig O’Neill continued collaborations with Adrian Lenardic (Rice University) and Shijie Zhong (University of Colorado, Boulder) as part of the Flat Subduction Geodynamics CCFS project “Two-phase flow within Earth’s mantle: modelling, imaging and application to flat subduction settings”.

Dr Yingjie Yang continued collaboration with Professor Yinhe Luo from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), on a project “Imaging crustal anisotropy of the Dabie Orogenic Belt using ambient noise tomography”, funded by the Chinese National Science Foundation.

Dr Yingjie Yang visited Professor Michael Ritzwoller (University of Colorado at Boulder) to continue collaboration on imaging the seismic anisotropy of the Tibet plateau and understanding the deformation mode of Tibetan lithosphere.

Dr Yingjie Yang continued to collaborate with Dr Yong Zheng the institute of Geodesy and Geophysics of China Academy of Sciences on a project “Using two-plane wave tomography method to map the upper mantle structure of Tian Shan”.

Dr Yingjie Yang continued to collaborate with Professor Jieyuan Ning’s group at Beijing University to work on surface wave tomography in northeast China.

Dr Yingjie Yang visited China University of Geosciences (Beijing) to build collaboration with Associate Professor Hongyi Li on a project “Studying the seismic lithospheric structure of the lower Yangtze River metallogenic belt in east central China and its possible relationship with the metallogenic processes” funded by China National Science Foundation.

2013 saw the continuation of a collaborative program based around the ophiolites scattered across Turkey. The Turkish program is led by Professor Cahit Helvaci of Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi in İzmir, Turkey, and Associate Professor Mehmet Akbulat. The observations and samples collected during fieldwork on the ophiolites in Atalya (2012) form part of Nicole McGowan’s PhD project, while Jose González Jiménez concentrated on Platinum Group Minerals in the chromitites. Mehmet Akbulat visited CCFS/GEMOC in 2013 for an extended period to collaborate on this research.

CCFS/GEMOC hosted Dr Narong Praphairaksit and Ms Thidarat Muangthai, from the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand (pictured right) Dr Praphairaksit is Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Chulalong University, Bangkok. His research has focused on the development of sample preparation techniques for the trace element analysis of petrochemical and environmental samples by ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Ms Muangthai is a Precious Metal Assayer at the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand, Bangkok. She operates the laser ablation ICP-MS at GIT and has been using this technique to investigate impurities in natural and synthetic corundums. The purpose of the visit is to gain more experience in laser ablation ICP-MS (in which CCFS/GEMOC has frontline experience) and specifically trace-element analysis of gemstones.

In January 2013, CCFS/GEMOC hosted visitors, Professors Li Menlou, Head of the Education Department Graduate School, Su Longtao, Vice Head of the overseas Graduate Education Department from the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, and Dr Wolfgang Roeher, University of Hamburg (pictured below with Norman Pearson and Simon George) for a tour of through the GEMOC/CCFS research laboratories to showcase Macquarie’s research excellence.

University of Western Australia

Professor Cam McCuaig was invited by Professor Zeng-qian Hou, Director of the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS), to participate in the international project of IGCP/SIDA 600 “Metallogenesis of collisional orogens in the East Tethyside domain”. This project (2011-2014) is jointly funded by UNESCO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and lead by Professor Hou. The Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET), UWA was invited to be a partner institute and Professor Marco Fiorentini, Dr Robert Loucks and Dr Yongjun Lu from CET are actively collaborating with CAGS under this IGCP framework. This collaboration between CET and CAGS involves multi-isotopic mapping in Tibet, experimental and field studies of adakites and associated porphyry Cu systems in Tibet, Pakistan and Iran.

Researchers at UWA have had an ongoing collaboration with CCFS PI Professor Robert Kerrich from University of Saskatchewan, Canada, with studies ranging from potassic intrusions in SW China and porphyry magmatism in the Philippines, to greenstone belts in the Yilgarn Craton and western Africa. Despite Professor Kerrich’s untimely passing in 2013, this research will continue within CCFS.

Professor Cam McCuaig has an ongoing collaboration with Dr David Leach from the U.S. Geological Survey on the evolution of mineral systems within the context of the Earth’s evolving atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, which led to a paper in 2013 “Banded Iron Formation to Iron Ore: Implications for the Evolution of Earth Environments”.

A new collaborative project began between Dr David Wacey, Professors Mark Barley and James Farquhar (University of Maryland) using multiple sulfur isotopes to investigate sulfur cycling in the early Archean Dresser Formation of Western Australia.

Dr David Wacey continued his collaboration with Martin Brasier (Oxford University, UK) investigating the biodiversity of the 1900 Ma Gunflint Formation of Cananda, and extended this collaboration to working on the Ediacara biota of Newfoundland.

Dr David Wacey continued his collaboration with Nicola McLoughlin (University of Bergen, Norway) studying life in ancient volcanic rocks.

Professors Mark Barley and Marco Fiorentini continued their collaborations with international leaders in multiple sulfur isotope geochemistry (James Farquar, Boz Wing, Shuhei Ono, Doug Rumble, Sue Golding, Jay Kaufman) to determine how results from the range of methods compare, and implications for the evolution of the early Earth.

Dr Matt Kilburn continued a collaboration begun in 2009 with Bernard Wood and Jon Wade (University of Oxford, UK), to investigate the isotopic fractionation of elements between metal and silicate melts at high pressures and temperatures.

Within the framework of CCFS Foundation Project 2a, Professor Marco Fiorentini has an ongoing collaboration with scientists from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (lead by Professor Jochen Kolb). In December 2013 Marco Fiorentini organised the hugely successful Greenland Day in Perth, a forum to outline the exploration potential of Greenland for a wide range of commodities.

Within the framework of CCFS Foundation Project 2a and his Future Fellowship, Professor Marco Fiorentini has an ongoing collaboration with scientists from the University of Leoben (Austria). In particular, Marco and Marek Locmelis are currently working with Giorgio Garuti, Federica Zaccarini and Oskar Thalhammer to constrain the geochemical and isotopic architecture of nickel-sulfide mineralisation in the Ivrea-Verbano Zone of Italy.

Professor Marco Fiorentini was awarded two prestigious Post-Rouge Visiting Professorships, one from Toulouse, France and one from Grenoble, France, which allowed him to undertake research at these institutions within the framework of his ongoing ARC Future Fellowship.

Professor Cam McCuaig was awarded a visiting professorship in Nancy (France) from the University de Lorraine, which he is undertaking in 2013-2014 to collaborate with the Georesources21 and Labex projects dealing with the genesis of mineral systems and industry application of research.

Curtin University

Dr Xuan-Ce Wang is collaborating with Dr Chao-Feng Li (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China) on early Earth differentiation processes using ¹⁴⁶Sm-¹⁴²Nd and ¹⁴⁷Sm-¹⁴³Nd isotope system (National Natural Science Foundation of China) and with Dr Jie Li (Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China) on the petrogenesis of the Leiqiong flood basalts, with the aim of understanding the links between mantle plumes and subduction.

Dr Sergei Pisarevsky (UWA) is Paleomagnetic Coordinator on the International project “Reconstruction of supercontinents back to 2.7 Ga using the Large Igneous Province (LIP) record”, in collaboration with Dr Richard Ernst (Carleton University, Canada) and Dr Wouter Bleeker (Geol. Surv. of Canada). He also is Team Leader in the IGCP-SIDA Project 599 “The Changing Early Earth”, in collaboration with Dr Jaana Halla (University of Helsinki, Finland).

Collaboration continued for Professor Zhen-Xiang Li with a large group of researchers from around the world, including Professor D.A.D. Evans (Yale University), Dr Richard Ernst (Carleton University), Professor S. Zhang (China University of Geosciences, Beijing) and the Nordic Paleomagnetic Working Group, aiming to establish the configuration and evolution of a pre-Rodinia supercontinent Nuna (Columbia) that probably existed between 1.8-1.4 Ga.

Professor Zheng-Xiang Li’s work on the magmatism and tectonics of South China is part of an ongoing collaborative research with Professor X.H. Li (Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing), Professor W.X. Li (CAS, Guangzhou), Professor X. Xu (Nanjing University), and Professor S.L. Chung and Dr Q.H. Lo (National Taiwan University). In addition, his ARC-CAS jointly-funded project on Mesozoic vertical tectonic movements in South China and subduction dynamics involves collaboration with Professors Y.G. Xu and W.X. Li (CAS, Guangzhou), and Dr M. Danisik (University of Waikato, NZ).

Professor Li collaborated with Professor Q. Wang (CAS, Guangzhou) and Dr C.L. Zhang (China Geological Survey, Nanjing) on the tectonic evolution of Tibet and NW China, and with Professor X.D. Jiang (China Ocean University) on a NSF-China project on the development and evolution of the Red River Fault System.

Professor Simon Wilde continues to work with Professors Jian-Bo Zhou and Xing-Zhou Zhang of Jilin University on the evolution of the NE China segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and two papers have been submitted for publication in 2014. Collaboration with the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry has continued and a major review of crustal growth in the southern North China Craton with Professor Xiao-Long Huang was published. Professor Touping Peng spent 12 months working at Curtin supported by the Chinese Science Council and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Professor Wilde’s ongoing collaboration with Professor Santanu Bhowmik of the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur focused on the application of U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic work on zircon and dating of monazite in high-grade metamorphic rocks.

Professor Wilde’s long-standing collaboration with Professors Fuyuan Wu and Jinhui Yang at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing continued and ongoing collaboration with Profs Dunyi Liu and Yusheng Wan at the Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS) in Beijing has focused on examining events in the Western Block of the North China Craton. Work has now re-commenced the Anshan area, where the oldest segments of the North China Craton are preserved.

Professor Wilde’s is also collaborating with Professor Alfred Kröner from the University of Mainz on several projects, including the eclogites of the Escambray in Cuba, the Precambrian rocks along the Namibia-Angola border, and several studies in the North China Craton.

A Tectonic History of South China in Nine Days, a CCFS Joint Field Workshop with Chinese Partners, is a biannual field workshop on the tectonic history of South China and was jointly conducted by CCFS CI Professor Zheng-Xiang Li of Curtin University, Professor Hanlin Chen and Dr Fengqi Zhang of Zhejiang University, and Professor Xian-Hua Li of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It featured a one-day indoor lecture by Zheng-Xiang Li on the tectonic history of South China, followed by a 8-day field excursion from eastern Zhejiang Province to central Jiangxi Province. 7–15 December 2013, Zhejiang University, China. See photo below.

GSWA

Dr Klaus Gessner continued international research collaboration with: Dr Virginia Toy (Otago University, Dunedin) and Dr Xianghui Xiao (Argonne National Laboratories, USA), and Jens-Erik Lund Snee at Stanford University on the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, and with Professor Uwe Ring at Stockholm University and Dr Stuart Thomson at the University of Arizona (Tucson) on the tectonic evolution of Turkey.

UNSW

Martin Van Kranendonk is tracing the geochemical origin and evolution of granitoid rocks in the Ancient Gneiss Complex of Swaziland, with the help of Professor Alfred Kroner (University of Mainz), Drs Elis Hoffman and Thorsten Nagel (University of Bonn) and Professor Carsten Munker (University of Cologne). He is collaborating with Professor Clark Johnson (University of Wisconsin at Madison) and Dr K. Williford (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) on projects including: in-situ investigation of kerogen of microfossils from the 2.3 Ga Turee Creek Group, and Fe-isotope investigation of oxide and sulfide phases within rocks deposited across the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) in Western Australia. The same transition is being investigated for whole rock geochemical changes together with Professor Balz Kamber (Trinity College, Dublin). A detailed investigation of the entire Turee Creek Group is being undertaken together with Professor Pascal Philippot (Institute de Physique du Globe de Paris) using fresh drill core obtained through a diamond drilling program completed in 2013. A collaborative research project with Professor John Valley (University of Wisconsin at Madison, oxygen isotopes) and Professor Robert Hazen (Carnegie Institution of Science, carbonaceous matter) is investigating the nature and compositional variations of hydrothermal fluid flow in the 3.5 Ga volcanic caldera setting of the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia, the site of Earth’s oldest convincing evidence of life. In the same area, an ongoing project with Professor Joachim Reitner and Dr Jan-Peter Duda (University of Göttingen) is investigating the variable composition of carbonate minerals and their role as biomarkers and/or source for kerogenous material in hydrothermal veins. The changing composition of seawater across the GOE is being investigated in collaboration with Professor Martin Wille (Universität Tübingen). Precambrian microfossils are the subject of research conducted in collaboration with Professor Bill Schopf (University of California, Los Angeles).