CCFS honours & postgraduates

 

HONOURS 

COMMENCING 2015

Jack Adams

Haydn White

 

MASTERS OF RESEARCH, MQ

From 2013, the honours program at Macquarie University was replaced by a two-year Masters of Research (MRes) combining advanced coursework with research training to better prepare research students for further postgraduate study.  The MRes aligns Macquarie’s HDR program with those of many international universities and allows for a smoother transition into international postgraduate programs.  From 2014, the MRes or equivalent is the prerequisite for enrolling in Macquarie’s postgraduate research (PhD) program.  This change fulfils one of the CCFS goals - introducing high-level postgraduate coursework units.

  

COMPLETED 2014

Lauren Miller:  Fluorite in hydrothermal vein systems: Reconstructing fluid evolution

Michael Nguyen:  Understanding the evolution of planets through X-Ray micro-computed tomography analysis of metal-silicate differentiation in the meteorite Bijurbole

Cameron Piper:  Direct comparison of bore purge and low-flow groundwater sampling techniques in rapid recharge areas

Alastair Williams:  A microstructural and geochemical study of the Sunrise Dam Gold Deposit, Western Australia: Hydrothermal history and its relation to gold mineralisation

  

CONTINUING 2015

Anthony Lanati:  Determining the role of water in mantle conductivity

Alexandre Lemenager:  Geothermal modelling of the Sydney Basin using temperature dependent measurements

Uvana Meek:  Reactive fluid flow in the lower crust

Josephine Moore:  Grain boundary characterisation of Alpine Fault rocks

  

COMMENCING 2015

Victoria Elliott

Jean-Antoine Gazi

Mitchell Gerdes

Colleen McMahon

 

CCFS POSTGRADUATES

CCFS postgraduate students include those already in progress in 2011 with projects relevant to CCFS Research Themes, as well as those who commenced in 2012-2014.  28 papers by CCFS postgraduates were published in high-profile international journals in 2014, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Precambrian Research, American Journal of Science, Journal of Petrology, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Lithos, Chemical Geology, Tectonics and Journal of Geophysical Research.  53 presentations were also given at 11 international conferences (see Appendix 6).

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Irina Tretiakova and Romain Tilhac won their way through to the Macquarie University wide final for 3-Minute Thesis as representatives of the Faculty of Science.  Competitors were allowed three minutes to deliver an engaging and dynamic talk on their thesis topic and its importance.  Talks were limited to a single slide and needed to be language appropriate for an intelligent but inexpert audience.  Both gave exceptional presentations, with Irina securing the People’s Choice award for her talk entitled “The Lithosphere shopping centre” (pictured left).

Their presentations may be viewed at http://ccfs.mq.edu.au/NewsArchive/NewsArchive.html.

Christopher Gonzalez was awarded the best student poster at the CET Science Day.

Nicole McGowan was awarded an AESC student scholarships from the NSW division of the GSA.

  

 

Beñat Oliveira Bravo was awarded the most prestigious Spanish postgraduate award: “la Caixa”.  Grants cover the full cost of matriculation, travel expenses and monthly allowances that can be extended up to 24 months.  The award ceremony will take place in Barcelona, 10 April 2015, in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain.

Chengxin Jiang and Beñat Oliveira Bravo (pictured right) were given the opportunity to participate in an elite PhD coarse, “Anisotropy and mantle deformation,” organised by the Copenhagen School of Solid Earth Geophysics.  The workshop, held on 14-18 June, provided students with the unique opportunity to learn about anisotropy and mantle deformation from world leading researchers and interact with other international PhD students.

 

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? In 2013, Dr Matthew Pankhurst completed his PhD investigating the source regions of post-orogenic magmatism.  While at CCFS he was trained in major, trace and isotope geochemistry and developed analytical skills including ICPMS, (both solution and laser ablation) TIMS, EMPA and EBSD.  His thesis linked the production of small degree mantle partial melts during orogenesis to lithospheric crisis and thermal response producing A-type granites and termination of the local orogeny. In 2013, Matt commenced a Post-Doc fellowship at Leeds in the School of Earth and Environment investigating the timescales of magmatic and eruption processes of the 2010 eruptions of the Eyafjallajökull volcano.  Matt believes this research will play an important role in eventually improving civil disaster management strategies.   In November 2014, Matt visited CCFS to use the instruments housed in the GAU at MQ  (pictured left).

COMPLETED

Rachel Bezard (PhD):  Impact of crustal assimilation on the Lesser Antilles arc lava geochemistry  (MQ 2014)

David Clark (PhD):  Integrated magnetics: Contributions to improved processing and interpretation of magnetic gradient tensor data,  new methods  for source location and estimation of magnetisation, and predictive magnetic exploration models  (MQ 2014)

Jane Collins (PhD):  The structural evolution and mineralisation history of the Flying Fox komatiite-hosted Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposit, Forrestania Greenstone Belt, Western Australia  (UWA 2013)

Cara Danis (PhD):  Geothermal state of the Sydney-Gunnedah-Bowen Basin system  (MQ 2012)

Fiona Foley (PhD):  Magmatic consequences of subduction initiation and its role in continental crust formation  (MQ 2013)

Felix Genske (PhD):  Assessing the heterogeneous source of the Azores mantle plume  (MQ 2013)

Erin Gray (PhD):  Deformation of Earth’s upper mantle: insights from naturally occurring fabric types  (UWA2014)

Celia Guergouz (MSc): Study of the dynamic emplacement of Nickel mineralisation, as well as the geodynamics of the lithosphere  (UWA/Nancy, 2014)

Jin-Xiang Huang (PhD):  Origin of eclogite and pyroxenite xenoliths in kimberlites and basalts  (MQ 2012, see profile) 

Huiqing Huang (PhD):  The petrogenesis of Jurassic granitic rocks in Western Nanling Ranges of South China and tectonic implications  (CU 2013)

Shan Li (PhD):  Early Mesozoic magmatism and tectonics in the Beishan area of Inner Mongolia, China  (CU 2013) 

Yongjun Lu (PhD):  Controls on porphyry emplacement and Porphyry Au-Cu mineralisation along the Red River Fault, Hunan Province, China  (UWA 2012, see profile)

Kombada Mhopjeni (MSc):  Investigating the Uranium potential in Namibia using GIS-based techniques  (UWA 2013)

David Mole (PhD):  Quantifying melt-lithosphere interaction in space and time:  understanding nickel mineral systems in the Archaean Yilgarn craton  (UWA 2013, see profile) 

Melissa Murphy (PhD):  A novel approach for economic uranium deposit exploration and environmental studies  (MQ 2013)

Chongjin Pang (PhD):  Basin record of Mesozoic tectonic events in South China  (CU 2014)

Matthew Pankhurst (PhD):  Geodynamic significance of shoshonitic magmatism within the Andean Altiplano  (MQ 2013, See feature above)

Ekaterina Rubanova (PhD):  Fluid processes in the deep mantle: Geochemical studies of diamonds and related minerals  (MQ 2013)

James (Ed) Saunders (PhD):  The nature, abundance and mobility of gold in the mantle  (MQ 2014, see profile)

Elyse Schinella (PhD):  Constraining the contribution of isostasy and dynamic uplift at Venusian volcanic rises and tessera terrain: implications for rifting and volcanism (MQ 2014)

Mingdao Sun (PhD):  Late Mesozoic magmatism and its tectonic implication for the Jiamusi Block and adjacent areas of NE China  (CU 2013)

Zoja Vukmanovic (PhD):  A micromechanical and geochemical analysis of remobilisation of komatiite-hosted Ni sulfide ores  (UWA 2013 see profile) 

Weihua Yao (PhD):  Lower Palaeozoic basin record in Southern South China:  Nature of the Cathaysia basement and evolution of the Wuyi-Yunkai Orogeny  (CU 2014, see profile) 

Yao Yu (PhD):  The evolution and water inventory of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle: A new perspective from peridotite xenoliths (SE China) and zircon megacrysts from basalts  (MQ 2014)

Qingtao Zeng (PhD):  Regional controls on gold mineral systems in the western Qinling Belt, Gansu Province, China(UWA 2013)

Ganyang Zhang (PhD):  Sb-Au mineralisation mechanism and exploration targeting prediction research in the Northern Himalaya Metallogenetic Belt, Tibet, China  (UWA 2013)

Jianwei Zi (PhD):  Igneous petrogenesis and tectonic evolution of Cretaceous plutons, eastern Tibetan Plateau  (UWA 2013)

Kongyang Zhu (PhD):  Petrogenesis and tectonic setting of Phanerozoic granitic rocks in eastern South China  (CU 2014)

 

CONTINUING

Raphael Baumgartner (PhD):  Ore deposits of the future; magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE sulphide mineral systems on Mars;  IPRS  (UWA, commenced 2013) 

Katarina Bjorkman (PhD):  4D lithospheric evolution and controls on mineral system distribution: Insights from Marmion Terrane, Western Superior Province, Canada;  UWA SIRF  (UWA, commenced 2013)

Raul Brens Jr (PhD):  Origin of silicic magmas in a primitive island arc: The first integrated experimental and short-lived isotope study of the Tonga-Kermadec system;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2011)

Montgarri Castillo Oliver (PhD):  Compositional evolution of indicator minerals:  Application to diamond exploration;  iMQRES Cotutelle  (MQ, commenced 2014)

David Child (PhD):  Characterisation of actinide particles in the environment for nuclear safeguards using mass spectrometric techniques  (MQ, part-time, commenced 2007)

Bruno Colas (PhD):  Why is the San Andreas Fault so weak?;  HDRSCHOL, iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2013, pictured)

Stephen Craven (PhD):  The structural and metamorphic evolution of the Wongwibinda complex, NSW, Australia  (MQ, part time, commenced 2006)

Daria Czaplinska (PhD):  Flow characteristics of lower crustal rocks: Field studies and numerical modelling;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2012, pictured left)  See Research Highlight

Tara Djokic (MPhil):  Life in the Dresser Formation: The relationship between early life and hydrothermal fluids at c. 3.5 Ga in the North Pole Dome, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia (UNSW, commenced 2014)

Raphael Doutre (PhD):  Spatial periodicity, self-organisation and controls on large ore deposits;  International Sponsorship, Teck Resources Ltd  (UWA, commenced 2013)

Eileen Dunkley (PhD):  Hf isotopic behaviour in turbidites, migmatites and granites at Mount Stafford, central Australia  (MQ, part time, commenced 2010)

Alex Eves (MSc):  Geology, mineralogy and geochemistry of the newly discovered Speewah Dome V-Ti-Fe Deposit, East Kimberley;  Niplats Australia Limited  (UWA, commenced 2012)

Timmons Erickson (PhD):  Resolving the bombardment history of the early Earth using ancient zircons  (CU, commenced 2013)

Katherine Farrow (PhD):  In-situ melt generation and thermal origin of the Nagadarunga Granite: Implications for the geochronology and tectonic evolution of the eastern Arunta Region, Central Australia  (MQ, part time, commenced 2014)

Christopher Firth (PhD):  Integrating the volcanological and magmatic record of a young arc volcano: Yasur, Vanuatu;  APA  (MQ, commenced 2011)

Denis Fougourouse (PhD):  4D geometry and genesis of the Obuasi gold deposit, Mali;  International Sponsorship  (UWA, commenced 2012)

Yuya Gao (PhD):  Comparative study of origin and petrogenesis of A-Type granites in eastern China and southeastern Australia: Evidence from Hf-O-Li isotopes;  iMQRES Cotutelle  (MQ, commenced 2012) 

Robyn Gardner (PhD):  The nature of the lower crust: New insights from field compilations, experiments and numerical modelling;  MQRES  (MQ commenced 2012)

 

Robyn Gardner and Cait Stuart in Fiordland, New Zealand.

 

Rongfeng Ge (PhD):  Precambrian to Paleozoic tectono-thermal evolution in the Korla area, northern Tarim Craton, NW China;  Joint China Scholarship Council and Curtin University and Cotutelle  (CU, commenced 2012)

Christopher Gonzalez (PhD):  CO₂ devolatilisation and its influence on partial melting, subduction, and metasomatism in the mantle lithosphere;  UWA SIRF  (UWA, commenced 2012)

Louise Goode (PhD):  Volcanological and geochemical evolution of East Javanese Volcanoes, Indonesia;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2014)

Christopher Grose (PhD):  Geodynamics of oceanic lithosphere;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2011)  See Research Highlight

Matthew Hill (PhD):  4D structural, magmatic and hydrothermal evolution of the Au-Cu-Bi system in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field, NT, Australia; Emmerson Resources Ltd, APA  (UWA, submitted 2014)

Yosuke Hoshino (PhD):  Investigation of hydrocarbon biomarkers preserved in the Fortescue Group in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia;  iMQRES  (MQ, submitted 2014)

Linda Iaccheri (PhD):  Petrogenesis of the plutonic rocks in the Granites-Tanami Orogen;  UWA SIRF  (UWA, commenced 2013) 

Carissa Isaac (PhD):  4D architecture of the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia, in order to constrain the role of the lithospheric structure at 2.7 Ga in the localisation of nickel mineral systems;  ARC Linkage grant,  ARC DP (UWA, submitted 2014)

Kim Jessop (PhD):  Fluids and metamorphism: New insights from field mapping, metamorphic petrology and thermodynamic modelling;  APA  (MQ, commenced 2013)

Chengxin Jiang (PhD):  Combining seismic tomography and sedimentology to understand the deep structure and evolution of the northern edge of Tibetan Plateau;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2012, pictured left)

Elizabeth Keegan (PhD):  Measurement of Protactinium-231  (MQ, part-time, commenced 2011)

Heta Lampinen (PhD):  Mineral system footprints, Edmund Basin, Capricorn Orogen, Western Australlia;  SIEF  (UWA, commenced 2014)

Pablo Lara (PhD):  Late Neoproterozoic granitoid magmatism of the southernmost section of the Dom Feliciano Belt in Uruguay: Regional geology, geochemistry, geochronology and its significance for the geotectonic evolution of the Region;  iMQRES Cotutelle  (MQ, part time, commenced 2010)

Margaux Le Vaillant (PhD):  Characterisation of the nature, geometry and size of hydrothermal remobilisation of base metals and platinum group elements in magmatic nickel sulphide deposit systems.  Implications for exploration targeting;  MERIWA, UWA SIRF, ARC linkage grant  (UWA, submitted 2014, pictured right)

 

Vikram Selvaraja, Celia Guergouz, Dr Laure Martin and Margaux Le Vaillant at the CCFS Research meeting, July, 2014.

 

Erwann Lebrun (PhD):  4D structural modelling and hydrothermal evolution of the sediment hosted Siguiri gold deposit (Guinea) and implication on Paleoproterozoic gold targeting in West Africa;  International Sponsorship  (UWA, commenced 2011)

Ben Li (PhD):  Evolution of fluid associated with gold mineralisation in the Paleoproterozoic Granites-Tanami Orogen;  UWA SIRF, ARC Linkage grant  (UWA, commenced 2011)

Li-Ping Liu (PhD):  Timing and kinematics of Mesozoic-Cenozoic mountain building and cratonic thinning in eastern North China:  a combined structural and thermochronological study;  China Science Council and Curtin University joint Scholarship  (CU, submitted 2014)  See Research Highlight

Yingchao (Leo) Liu (PhD):  Recognising gold mineralisation zones using GIS-Based modelling of multiple ground and airborne datasets;  APRA  (CU, commenced 2010)

Jianggu Lu (PhD):  Nature and evolution of the lithospheric mantle beneath the South China block;  iMQRES Cotutelle, China Scholarship Council, iMQRES top-up  (MQ, commenced 2014, pictured)

Jelena Markov (PhD):  3D Geophysical Interpretation of the Archean-Paleoproterozoic Boundary, Leo-Man Shield, West Africa;  UWA SIRF, UIS  (UWA, commenced 2011)

Quentin Masurel (PhD):  Controls on the genesis, geometry and location of the Sadiola-Yatela Gold Deposit, Republic of Mali;  IPRS  (UWA, commenced 2012)

Samuel Matthews (PhD):  Tracking CO₂ sequestration using gravity gradiometry; CO₂CRC Scholarship  (MQ, commenced 2014)

 

PhD student Sam Matthews on field work to the Carsulae archeological site, Umbria, Italy. 

 

Nicole McGowan (PhD):  Messages from the mantle: Geochemical investigations of ophiolitic chromites;  APA  (MQ, commenced 2012, pictured p. 5)  See Research Highlight

Vicky Meier (PhD):  Metamorphic evolution of the Kerala Khondalite belt, India  (CU, commenced 2013)

Aileen Mirasol-Robert (PhD):  Field characterisation of Australian gold deposits;  IPRS  (UWA, commenced 2013)

Rosanna Murphy (PhD):  Stabilising a craton: the origin and emplacement of the 3.1 Ga Mpuluzi batholith (South Africa / Swaziland);  MQRES  (MQ, commenced 2010)

Jiawen Niu (PhD):  Neoproterozoic paleomagnetism of South China and implications for global geodynamics;  Curtin University ARC DP scholarship  (CU, commenced part time 2008)

Beñat Oliveira Bravo (PhD):  Multicomponent and multiphase reactive flows in the Earth’s mantle;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2013)

Luis Parra-Avila (PhD):  4D evolution of felsic magmatic suites and lithospheric architecture of the Paleoproterozoic Birimian terranes, West Africa;  IPRS, UWA SIRF, UIS, Ad Hoc Safety-Net Top-Up Scholarship, ARC Linkage project  (UWA, commenced 2011)

Carl Peters (PhD):  Biomarkers and fluid inclusions of early Earth using samples from Australia;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2013)

Jonathon Poh (MSc):  Numerical investigation of the driving forces of Archean fluid and heat transfer flows  (UWA, commenced 2014)

Shahid Ramzan (PhD):  The strength of oceanic plate bounding faults;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2012)

Farshad Salajegheh (PhD):  3D multivariable probabilistic inversion for thermochemical structure of Earth  (MQ, commenced part time 2014)

Vikram Selvaraja (PhD):  Mineralisation in the Capricorn Orogen: Where, when and how  (UWA, commenced 2014, pictured)

Liene Spruzeniece (PhD):  Fundamental link between deformation, fluids and the rates of reactions in minerals;  iMQRES  (MQ, commenced 2012)  See Research Highlight

Camilla Stark (PhD): Decoding mafic dykes in the southern Yilgarn Craton: Significance to Australia’s position in supercontinent-superplume cycles  (CU, commenced 2014)

David Stevenson (PhD):  4D modelling of the Tanami Inlier, Northern Territory  (UWA, commenced 2012)

Catherine Stuart (PhD):  Flow characteristics of lower crustal rocks: In depth analysis of xenoliths and experimental studies;  MQRES  (MQ, commenced 2012, pictured left with Bruno Colas)

Rajat Taneja (PhD):  The origin of seamount volcanism in the Northeast Indian Ocean;  iMQRES  (MQ, submitted 2013)