The breakup of east Gondwana: assimilating constraints from Cretaceous ocean basins around India into a best-fit tectonic model, Gibbons et al. (2013)

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Citation
Gibbons, A., Whittaker, J. and R. Dietmar Müller, (2013), The break up of East Gondwana: assimilating constraints from Cretaceous ocean basins around India into a best-fit tectonic model. Journal of Geophysical Research, 118, 1-15: doi:10.1002/jgrb.50079

East GondwanaSummary
Published models for the Cretaceous seafloor-spreading history of East Gondwana result in unlikely tectonic scenarios for at least one of the plate boundaries involved and/or violate particular constraints from at least one of the associated ocean basins. We link East Gondwana spreading corridors by integrating magnetic and gravity anomaly data from the Enderby Basin off East Antarctica within a regional plate kinematic framework to identify a conjugate series of east-west-trending magnetic anomalies, M4 to M0 (~126.7–120.4 Ma). … Read more…

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Seawater chemistry driven by supercontinent assembly, breakup and dispersal, Müller et al. (2013)

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Muller etal Fig1 - Seawater Chemistry Driven by Supercontinental AssemblyCitation
Müller, R. D., Dutkiewicz, A., Seton, M. and Gaina, C. (2013). Seawater chemistry driven by supercontinent assembly, break-up and dispersal Geology. doi 10.1130/G34405.1.

Summary
Global oceans are known to have alternated between aragonite and calcite seas. These oscillations reflect changes in the Mg/Ca ratio of seawater, which control biomineralisation and the composition of marine carbonates and are thought to be caused by the time dependence of crustal accretion at mid-ocean ridge crests and associated high temperature mid-ocean ridge brine flux. Here we use global ocean basin reconstructions to demonstrate that these fluctuations are instead caused by the gradual growth and destruction of mid-ocean ridges and their relatively cool flanks during long-term tectonic cycles thus linking ocean chemistry to off-ridge low temperature hydrothermal flux. Early Jurassic aragonite seas were a consequence of supercontinent stability and minima in mid-ocean ridge length and basalt alteration. The break-up of Pangaea led to a gradual doubling in ridge length and a 50% increase in hydrothermal flux mainly through an enormous increase in ridge flank area, leading to enhanced alteration of basalt, lowered seawater Mg/Ca ratios and marine hypercalcification from 140 to 35 Ma. … Read more…

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A review of observations and models of dynamic topography

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Citation
Flament, N., Gurnis, M., & Müller, R. D. (2013). A review of observations and models of dynamic topography. Lithosphere, 5(2), 189-210. doi: 10.1130/L245.1

Flament-et-al_fig1Summary
The topography of Earth is primarily controlled by lateral differences in the density structure of the crust and lithosphere. In addition to this isostatic topography, flow in the mantle induces deformation of its surface leading to dynamic topography. This transient deformation evolves over tens of millions of years, occurs at long wavelength, and is relatively small (<2 km) in amplitude. Here, we review the observational constraints and modeling approaches used to understand the amplitude, spatial pattern, and time dependence of dynamic topography. … Read more…

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Opal exploration research recognised as outstanding highlight

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Recent EarthByte research on opal exploration was recognised as an outstanding highlight and reflects the work of many of the group including, Andrew Merdith, Tom Landgrebe, Adriana Dutkiewicz and Patrice Rey. Congratulations to all of the contributors to the project and specifically to John Cannon and Michael Chin, the GPlates developers!

Precambrian Research – The evolution of the 87 Sr/86 Sr of marine carbonates does not constrain continental growth

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Flament, N., Coltice, N., & Rey, P. F. (2013). The evolution of the 87 Sr/86 Sr of marine carbonates does not constrain continental growth. Precambrian Research, 229, 177-188. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2011.10.009. The evolution of the 87 Sr/86 Sr of marine carbonates does not constrain continental growth

Tectonophysics – The Moho: boundary above upper mantle peridotites or lower crustal eclogites? A global review and new interpretations for passive margins

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Mjelde, R., Goncharov, A., & Müller, R. D. (2013). The Moho: boundary above upper mantle peridotites or lower crustal eclogites? A global review and new interpretations for passive margins. Tectonophysics, 609, 636-650. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.03.001. The Moho: boundary above upper mantle peridotites or lower crustal eclogites? A global review and new interpretations for passive margins

EarthByte welcomes Professor Sanzhong Li and PhD student Shan Yu

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EarthByte would like to welcome Professor Sanzhong Li who is visiting for 2 months from the Ocean University of China. We also welcome Shan Yu, a PhD student at the Ocean University of China who will study at EarthByte for 1 year. She will be developing plate reconstructions of the Paleotethys in central China and … Read more…

Earth and Planetary Science Letters – Convergence of tectonic reconstructions and mantle convection models for significant fluctuations in seafloor spreading

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Coltice, N., Seton, M., Rolf, T., Müller, R. D., & Tackley, P. J. (2013). Convergence of tectonic reconstructions and mantle convection models for significant fluctuations in seafloor spreading. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 383, 92-100. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.09.032. Convergence of tectonic reconstructions and mantle convection models for significant fluctuations in seafloor spreading

GPlates News, out now!

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GPlates News, a new email update on recently added GPlates functionality, new tutorials, and GPlates related research and downloadable datasets has been launched. View GPlates News here

Tectonics – The Late Jurassic to present evolution of the Andean margin: Drivers and the geological record

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Maloney, K. T., Clarke, G. L., Klepeis, K. A., & Quevedo, L. (2013). The Late Jurassic to present evolution of the Andean margin: Drivers and the geological record. Tectonics, 32(5), 1049-1065. doi: 10.1002/tect.20067. The Late Jurassic to present evolution of the Andean margin: Drivers and the geological record

Simon William's paper selected as a research highlight in EOS

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The recently published paper by Simon Williams et al. 2013, on Early India-Australia spreading history revealed by newly detected Mesozoic magnetic anomalies in the Perth Abyssal Plain, was selected as one of three research highlights in the current edition of EOS. Well done! Download EOS research highlights – pdf Download the paper – pdf

Simon William’s paper selected as a research highlight in EOS

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The recently published paper by Simon Williams et al. 2013, on Early India-Australia spreading history revealed by newly detected Mesozoic magnetic anomalies in the Perth Abyssal Plain, was selected as one of three research highlights in the current edition of EOS. Well done! Download EOS research highlights – pdf Download the paper – pdf

Understanding the deep driving forces of Earth’s large-scale topography through time

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Global paleogeography figureProject Summary
Continents and sedimentary basins through time record fundamental Earth system cycles, reflecting environmental change, migration of fauna and flora and shifting coastlines. It was originally thought that successive advances and retreats of shallow inland seas mainly reflect global sea level variations (eustasy). It is now well known in principle that large-scale surface morphology such as the high topography of the East African Rift, the low-lying Amazon River Basin and the southwest to northeast tilt of the Australian continent are strongly controlled by processes deep within the Earth, but progress has been slow in quantifying the magnitude and time-dependence of these relationships. … Read more…

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Proceedings of the West Australian Basins Symposium IV – Tectonic Evolution and Continental Fragmentation of the Southern West Australian Margin

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Whittaker, J.M., Halpin, J.A., Williams, S.E., Hall, L.S., Gardner, R., Kobler, M.E., Daczko, N.R. and Müller, R.D., (2013). Tectonic Evolution and Continental Fragmentation of the Southern West Australian Margin. Proceedings of the West Australian Basins Symposium IV, 18p. Tectonic Evolution and Continental Fragmentation of the Southern West Australian Margin

Proceedings of the West Australian Basins Symposium IV – Newly-recognised Continental Fragments Rifted from the West Australian Margin

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Williams, S. E., Whittaker, J. M., & Müller, R. D. (2013). Newly-recognised continental fragments rifted from the West Australian margin. In The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia IV. Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, WA (p. 10). Newly-recognised continental fragments rifted from the West Australian margin

Proceedings of the West Australian Basins Symposium IV – Structural Architecture of Australia's Southwest Continental Margin and Implications for Early Cretaceous Basin Evolution

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Hall, L., Gibbons, A. D., Bernardel, G., Whittaker, J. M., Nicholson, C., Rollet, N., & Müller, R. D. (2013). Structural architecture of Australia’s southwest continental margin and implications for Early Cretaceous basin evolution. In Proceedings, West Australian Basins Symposium. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (pp. 18-21). Structural architecture of Australia’s southwest continental margin and implications for … Read more…

Proceedings of the West Australian Basins Symposium IV – Structural Architecture of Australia’s Southwest Continental Margin and Implications for Early Cretaceous Basin Evolution

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Hall, L., Gibbons, A. D., Bernardel, G., Whittaker, J. M., Nicholson, C., Rollet, N., & Müller, R. D. (2013). Structural architecture of Australia’s southwest continental margin and implications for Early Cretaceous basin evolution. In Proceedings, West Australian Basins Symposium. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (pp. 18-21). Structural architecture of Australia’s southwest continental margin and implications for … Read more…

L'Oréal Fellowship for Women in Science awarded to Dr Jo Whittaker

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Ex-Earthbyter Dr Joanne Whittaker was awarded the L’Oréal Fellowship for Women in Science for research on ‘How India and Australia Broke up over the last 100 million years’. Congratulations Jo! Royal Society Annual Awards Dinner 2013, left to right: The President, Donald Hector, Judith Wheeldon AM, Professor Marilyn Renfree AO, John Hardie MRSN, Dr Joanne … Read more…