The conference is organised and will be fronted by Earth Science students from the University of Tasmania. The organising committee and fellow UTAS students are involved in many exciting Earth Science projects! Matthew Ferguson and Sally Watson study massive continental and seafloor magmatic events, respectively, Naomi Potter studies carbonatite volcanism at the Maasai’s Mountain of God, Tom Ostersen is using geophysics to study Tasmania’s lithospheric structurer, Laura Jackson is working on predicting and preventing mining waste before it’s even created, Tristan Wells is using elements found in some minerals in minute quantities to evaluate the potential for nearby copper mineralisation, and Jodi Fox has been working on improving our understanding of the only active Australian volcano on Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Some of the other projects our students are working on include: diamonds and kimberlites, the plumbing systems of magmatic and ore systems, using ice cores and advanced analytical techniques to study Earth’s recent history, geochemical cycling in the ocean and around glacial terrains, automated characterisation of rock properties, stratigraphy and deformation in volcanic belts, and the geology and geophysical characteristics of Antarctica.
GSA Earth Sciences Student Symposium November 2017
Matthew Ferguson
The South Australian Gawler Craton includes some of the world’s largest felsic lavas and an intrusive complex which hosts one of the world’s largest concentrations of iron, copper, gold and uranium. Matthew’s research is improving our understanding of the genesis and evolution of the felsic lavas, the related intrusive rocks, and their relationship to iron-copper-gold-uranium mineralisation in the Gawler Craton.
Laura Jackson
Mining for precious, base and ferrous metals can result in millions of tonnes of tailings and waste rock, which if left unmanaged can have dire environmental consequences. Laura’s research is finding methods to predict how a mine’s waste might impact the environment before it’s even created.
Naomi Potter
Carbonatites are naturally enriched in rare earth elements (REE), elements that are used in a diverse range of high-technology, making the study of deep mantle‐derived carbonatitic magmas important for future research and technology advances. Naomi's research will provide new insight on the differentiation processes involved in the genesis of the alkaline carbonatite complexes of Afrikanda and Guli and the carbonatite lavas from Oldoinyo Lengai.
Thomas Ostersen
Tom is working on a collaborative geophysical research project involving Mineral Resources Tasmania, Geoscience Australia and the University of Tasmania. The project seeks to define the conductivity structure of the Tasmanian lithosphere by generating conductivity models via geophysical inversion of state-wide magnetotelluric datasets acquired as part of the Tasmanian leg of the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP). Three-dimensional conductivity models will shed new light on the deep geological structure beneath Tasmania and may yield new insights into the tectonic history of this enigmatic island.
Sally Watson
The surface of our Earth is continually being shaped by tectonic plate motion and interactions between the lithosphere (the earth’s rigid outer shell) and the asthenosphere (the molten inner earth) by upwelling mantle plumes. Sally uses geologic and geophysical techniques including petrography, geochemistry, multibeam bathymetry and backscatter, and tectonic reconstruction to unravel how the surficial expression of plumes varies across different tectonic plate regimes in the marine environment.
Tristan Wells
The Macquarrie Arc in NSW hosts two world class Cu-Au porphyry districts and numerous other deposits and prospects. Mineral exploration in the Macquarie Arc is complicated by at least 4 phases of magmatism and the complex accretionary processes that formed eastern Australia. Tristan's research is using geochronology and trace element geochemistry to assses porphyry fertility. Developing a fingerprint for mineralising intrusions and improving resolution of the tectonic and intrusive history of the Macquarie Arc.
Jodi Fox
Heard Island is an active Australian volcano located in the southern Indian Ocean. Despite erupting as recently as February 2017 little is known about the geology and volcanic history of this heavily glaciated stratovolcano. Jodi’s research will produced the first published geological map of Heard Island and unravel the complex volcanic history of Heard Island using a range of historical data, remote sensing data and modern isotopic geochronology techniques.
GESSS-TAS Organising committee
Our parent institutions
The inaugural Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium is a student-run, student-focussed conference which will be held at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), located on Hobart’s scenic Salamanca waterfront. We aspire for this conference to benefit students at all levels by presenting examples of good scholarly research and project management as well as providing broader exposure to other Earth Science sub-disciplines.
Students organising and participating in the conference are members of the following University of Tasmania groups:
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The Discipline of Earth Sciences
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The Australia Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Transforming the Mining Value Chain (TMVC)
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The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)
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The Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits (CODES)
Discipline of Earth Sciences
The Discipline of Earth Sciences at the University of Tasmania is currently ranked amongst the top 75 Earth Science departments in the world. The current research directions include Economic Geology and Geoenviromental Science, Computational and Analytical Geoscience, Marine Geoscience, Deep time Earth, and Mantle structure, dynamics and geochemistry. The Discipline collaborates closely and shares resources and facilities with CODES and TMVC, and participates in several collaborative projects with IMAS.
Transforming the Mining Value Chain Hub
The TMVC encompasses a wide array of activities from exploration, discovery, ore deposit characterisation, and environmental assessment, through to mining, ore processing and waste rock disposal. The main objective of the Research Hub is to improve efficiencies within this value chain, focussing on areas that will have a marked impact on the value of Australia's mineral resources, thereby benefiting the nation's economy.
TMVC students work within three research themes: detecting proximity to ore, optimising geometallurgical prediction, and minimising geoenvironmental risks. These themes are integrated around the application of technology developed at the TMVC and applied to drill core at the industry partners' mine sites. The anticipated outcome from this collaboration is the development of more efficient and environmentally sustainable exploration, mining and waste disposal practices that will lead to extended mine lives and employment opportunities in Australia's regional mining centres, and help in the discovery of new resources near existing mines.
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
The IMAS facility is the base of operations for University of Tasmania scientists and collaborators working to improve our understanding of temperate marine, Southern Ocean and Antarctic environments, their resources, and their roles in global systems.
Students at IMAS use a range of tools to improve our knowledge and management of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ecology and Biodiversity, and the Oceans and Cryosphere, under the cross disciplinary themes of Climate Change, Ocean-Earth Systems, and Ocean-Antarctic Governance.
The Oceans and Cryosphere Research Centre encompasses Antarctic and ocean governance, physical oceanography, bio-geochemical oceanography, and marine geophysics. Research at the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Centre is aimed at delivering significant increases in production while minimising environmental impacts, so that we are able to provide adequate and sustainable nutrition to an increasing world population. Major lines of research at the Ecology and Biodiversity Research Centre are concerned with understanding the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems, including global environmental change, nature and roles of key species and functional groups in pelagic and reef systems, and the practice and effectiveness of marine conservation ecology.
Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits
CODES was founded in 1989 at the University of Tasmania and is home to 51 highly qualified research staff and over 120 postgraduate students, cementing its position as the largest university-based team of ore deposit researchers in the world.
Located within the University of Tasmania's School of Physical Sciences, part of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET), CODES’ strengths include economic geology (metallic mineral deposits), volcanology, igneous petrology, tectonics, marine geology, geophysics, geochemistry and geometallurgy.
Students and professionals use their wealth of ore body knowledge to provide the tools and techniques to gain a better understanding of specific rock properties and relate these to ore body and halo footprints in a modern mining setting, thus enhancing the prospects for new discoveries, and ensuring optimisation of existing reserves.
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