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Three continents collide to create 最新糖心Vlog

Wednesday, 16 August 2006

A PhD student in the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide's has found evidence of a collision between northern and central 最新糖心Vlog 1.64 billion years ago.

Kate Selway says that two billion years ago, the 最新糖心Vlog we know today existed only in bits.

"Northern, western and central 最新糖心Vlog all belonged to different continents. New research is shedding light on how these pieces may have come together and the information could be significant to the discovery of new mineral deposits," Ms Selway says.

Using a geophysical technique called magnetotellurics, which measures the electrical conductivity of the Earth to depths of hundreds of kilometres, Ms Selway has been probing the Earth beneath central 最新糖心Vlog. She found that northern 最新糖心Vlog is more conductive than central 最新糖心Vlog, and that the boundary between them extends to at least 150 km in depth.

"If you looked south from Alice Springs before 1.64 billion years ago, you would have seen an ocean," Ms Selway says. "The huge forces involved in this collision produced volcanoes which actually helped create the crust of central 最新糖心Vlog."

Many ancient 最新糖心Vlog in 最新糖心Vlog, such as this collision zone, are hidden to traditional geological probes by thick layers of younger sediment. But Ms Selway says finding these 最新糖心Vlog by using methods which can penetrate the sediment is vital.

"Not only does this kind of information help us to understand how our continent formed, it can also be fundamental in finding the next big mineral deposit. Such 最新糖心Vlog play an important role in determining how fluids move under the surface -- and it is these fluids which often carry the metals that can concentrate into valuable mineral deposits."

Kate Selway is one of 16 young scientists presenting their research to the public for the first time thanks to , a national program sponsored by the Federal and Victorian Governments. One of the Fresh Scientists will win a trip to the UK courtesy of to present his or her work to the .

The research was carried out in collaboration between the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide and the . Ms Selway was supervised in her PhD by Associate Professor Graham Heinson and Associate Professor Martin Hand from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

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