This project will apply an integrated a System Approach (combination of Mineral and Petroleum Systems Approaches) applied to basins of interest from one of three proposed geological provinces, to be decided in collaboration with our sponsors.
The System Approach combines the analytical power of multiple Earth-characterization techniques, including crustal-scale geophysics (seismic, gravity, magnetics, remote sensing), lithosphere-scale geophysics (seismic tomography, geodetics), geology (mineralogy, sedimentology) and geochemistry and geochronology. These will be coupled with numerical geological modelling and machine learning to investigate multi-scale and multi-stage deformation processes in the lithosphere and crust, and the effect on the evolving Earth surface, and the interactions with the atmosphere and hydrosphere. This fundamental knowledge is expected to define the key processes in the basin system and will underpin development of improved exploration criteria at all scales.
Basins, orogens, and associated magmatic bodies at the edges of Archean Cratons often host significant deposits of strategic (including green) metals (such as Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Au, Co, U, PGEs, REEs, Cr, W, Co, Cd, Ge, Se, Te, Re. Integrated multi-scale Solid Earth interpretation approach coupled with diverse modeling techniques support the better understanding of:
– lithospheric-scale forces driving the development of basins and orogens,
– the generation of associated magmas and the development of structures formed during deposition, and
– the reactivation during inversion.
This approach builds upon the workflow developed during the MRIWA M521 project that investigated the development of the Yeneena Basin in Western Australia, an area with historically limited geological data coverage. Within the workflow novel analytical and numerical techniques were applied to available material (drill cores) and datasets (geophysics, geochronology, spectral data).
For more information on this new project, please contact Weronika Gorczyk