Dr Tristan Salles

Tristan Salles-TaingAcademic Staff

tristan.salles@sydney.edu.au

Phone: +61 2 8627 4123

Madsen Building F09, Room 454
School of Geosciences
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

View Tristan's Sydney Uni page

See below for EarthByte content related to Tristan.

Carbonate platform evolution in response to the Mid – Pleistocene climate transition on the North-West Shelf of Australia: Insights from forward stratigraphic modelling

by
Regional bathymetric map showing Scott Reef's location on Australia's Northwest Shelf relative to nearby reefs and tectonic features.

Researchers used forward stratigraphic modelling to reconstruct how Scott Reef, on Australia's Northwest Shelf, grew and changed shape during the Middle Pleistocene Transition, a period when ice age cycles became longer and more extreme. They found that a major sea-level fall around 1.2 million years ago exposed and karstified the reef, while a later long … Read more…

Evolution and Provenance of the Polish Rotliegend in the Southern Permian Basin

by
3D reconstruction of the Polish Trough at 256 million years ago showing sediment provenance areas, thickness and drainage systems.

Researchers used an open-source landscape and stratigraphic evolution model (goSPL) to simulate how sediment filled the Polish Trough, part of the Southern Permian Basin, between 285 and 256 million years ago. By testing six different tectonic and climate scenarios, they identified two models that best match known sediment volumes, hiatus timing and depositional depth, and … Read more…

Spatial variability of wave signatures and profile morphotypes of beaches in estuaries and bays across different tidal regimes

by
Map showing the Ría de Vigo and Pittwater estuaries with the locations of eight studied beaches and wave measurement sites.

This study compares sandy beaches within estuaries and bays in a microtidal system (Pittwater, Sydney) and a mesotidal system (Ría de Vigo, Spain) to understand how waves, tides and sediment shape beach profiles. Swell waves dominate wave energy in both settings, but their relative contribution decreases further from the estuary entrance, where wind and infragravity … Read more…

Impact of Cenozoic sea-level fluctuations on passive margin stratigraphic architecture: Implications for underground hydrogen storage potential

by
Global map showing passive margins with thick sedimentary successions and greenhouse–icehouse regime shifts relevant to hydrogen storage potential.

This study used forward stratigraphic modelling of the Hunter offshore margin in New South Wales to examine how Cenozoic sea-level changes shaped the layering of sediments on passive continental margins. The results show that warm 'greenhouse' periods produced thick, continuous sediment layers good for storing gases, while colder 'icehouse' periods produced thinner, stacked layers that … Read more…

Coral thermal tolerances constrain extreme Mesozoic–Cenozoic hothouse reconstructions

by
Maps comparing coral habitat suitability under two paleogeographic reconstructions, with fossil coral sites marked as crosses.

Modern reef-building corals only thrive within a narrow sea surface temperature range of about 22–30°C. The authors use this preference as an independent check on past climate models, running an ensemble of simulations from 250 million years ago to today across a range of CO2 levels and paleogeographies. Their coral-constrained temperature curve closely matches earlier … Read more…

Coral reef trajectories: Altered disturbance regimes correspond with divergence toward ‘flattened’ and ‘algal-dominated’ reef states

by
Map of Great Barrier Reef study locations with satellite images of Lizard, Low Isles and One Tree Reefs showing survey sites.

Coral reefs need enough living coral cover to support habitats, build carbonate structures and buffer waves, but it has been unclear exactly when reefs shift between healthy and degraded states, especially since different reefs have different baseline coral cover. This study tracked benthic cover from 1995 to 2022 at three Great Barrier Reef sites, indexing … Read more…

Nature: Landscape dynamics and the Phanerozoic diversification of the biosphere

by

The long-term diversification of the biosphere responds to changes in the physical environment. Yet, over the continents, the nearly monotonic expansion of life started later in the early part of the Phanerozoic eon1 than the expansion in the marine realm, where instead the number of genera waxed and waned over time2. A comprehensive evaluation of … Read more…

Environmental controls on the resilience of Scott Reefs since the Miocene (North West Shelf, Australia): Insights from 3D seismic data

by

North and South Scott Reefs are isolated carbonate platforms separated by an inter-reef channel on the NWS, Australia. They evolved from a barrier reef in the Miocene, and into isolated carbonate build-ups (ICB’s) during the Pliocene, and finally to the isolated carbonate platforms that continued to present day. However, the timings of coral reef turn … Read more…

Science: Hundred million years of landscape dynamics from catchment to global scale

by

Our capability to reconstruct past landscapes and the processes that shape them underpins our understanding of paleo-Earth. We take advantage of a global-scale landscape evolution model assimilating paleoelevation and paleoclimate reconstructions over the past 100 million years. This model provides continuous quantifications of metrics critical to the understanding of the Earth system, from global physiography … Read more…

Scientific Reports: Javanese Homo erectus on the move in SE Asia circa 1.8 Ma

by

The migration of Homo erectus in Southeast Asia during Early Pleistocene is cardinal to our comprehension of the evolution of the genus Homo. However, the limited consideration of the rapidly changing physical environment, together with controversial datings of hominin bearing sites, make it challenging to secure the robust timeline needed to unveil the behavior of early humans. Here, … Read more…

Marine Geology: Tidal dynamics drive ooid formation in the Capricorn Channel since the Last Glacial Maximum

by

Relative sea-level changes can dramatically alter coastal geomorphology and coastlines, which, in turn, can fundamentally alter tidal regimes. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has undergone around 120 m of relative sea level (RSL) rise since the Last Glacial Maximum, ∼20,000 years ago (ka). Ooid grains (sand sized carbonate sediment) that formed in shallow water (>5 m depth) … Read more…

Geoscience Letters: Geophysical model generation with generative adversarial networks

by

With the rapid development of deep learning technologies, data-driven methods have become one of the main research focuses in geophysical inversion. Applications of various neural network architectures to the inversion of seismic, electromagnetic, gravity and other types of data confirm the potential of these methods in real-time parameter estimation without dependence on the starting subsurface … Read more…

Nature Reviews Earth and Environment: A glimpse into a possible geomorphic future of Tibet

by

The Tibetan Plateau plays a central role in global atmospheric circulation, acts as a key biodiversity hotspot, and delivers fresh water for more than 20% of the global population. Projecting its future uplift and erosion trajectory over geological time can offer potential testable hypotheses into interactions between tectonic and surface processes. Rey, P., Salles, T., … Read more…

Nature Communications: Coupled influence of tectonics, climate, and surface processes on landscape evolution in southwestern North America

by

The Cenozoic landscape evolution in southwestern North America is ascribed to crustal isostasy, dynamic topography, or lithosphere tectonics, but their relative contributions remain controversial. Here we reconstruct landscape history since the late Eocene by investigating the interplay between mantle convection, lithosphere dynamics, climate, and surface pro- cesses using fully coupled four-dimensional numerical models. Our quantified … Read more…

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences: The roles and seismic expressions of turbidites and mass transport deposits using stratigraphic forward modeling and seismic forward modeling

by

Turbidity currents and mass transport are two principal processes in deepwater settings. However, their roles in shaping deepwater depositional systems and interpreting their deposits in seismic profiles have not been fully settled due to the lack of extensive well data and high-quality seismic data in comparison with onshore oil fields. Therefore, this study integrated stratigraphic … Read more…

Geomorphology: Combining stratigraphic forward modeling and susceptibility mapping to investigate the origin and evolution of submarine canyons

by

The debate on the submarine canyon origin between the upslope erosion model dominated by retrogressive mass failures and the downslope erosion model controlled by gravity flows has not been fully settled. However, this debate is critical for explaining submarine canyon evolution. This study combines susceptibility mapping and stratigraphic forward modeling (SFM) to examine the origin … Read more…

STELLAR – Spatio TEmporaL expLorAtion for Resources

by
stellar_logo_light

Project STELLAR (Spatio TEmporaL expLorAtion for Resources) is a collaboration between BHP and the EarthByte Group aimed at implementing big and complex spatio-temporal data analysis and modelling to support the needs of BHP in global resource exploration. Split into multiple phases over the next 3.5 years, the project will connect BHP’s warehouse of global resource knowledge with … Read more…

PhD Scholarship Opportunity for Domestic Australian Students

by

THE RISE AND DEMISE OF EARTH’S GIANT REEF SYSTEMS   Expression of Interest This PhD scholarship is only available to Australian domestic applicants. Submit your expression of interest for this PhD scholarship opportunity to Dr Sabin Zahirovic via email (sabin.zahirovic@sydney.edu.au) by 30 June 2021 (with the subject line “DECRA-PHD-2021”). In your expression of interest, include … Read more…

Paper in Frontiers of Earth Science: Modeling the Dynamic Landscape Evolution of a Volcanic Coastal Environment Under Future Climate Trajectories

by

Modeling the Dynamic Landscape Evolution of a Volcanic Coastal Environment Under Future Climate Trajectories Kyle Manley, T. Salles and R. D. Müller As anthropogenic forcing continues to rapidly modify worldwide climate, impacts on landscape changes will grow. Olivine weathering is a natural process that sequesters carbon out of the atmosphere, but is now being proposed … Read more…

Bayeslands: A Bayesian inference approach for parameter uncertainty quantification in Badlands

by

Abstract: Bayesian inference provides a rigorous methodology for estimation and uncertainty quantification of unknown parameters in geophysical forward models. Badlands is a landscape evolution model that simulates topography development at various space and time scales. Badlands consists of a number of geophysical parameters that needs estimation with appropriate uncertainty quantification; given the observed present-day ground truth … Read more…

Tectonic, geodynamic and surface process driving forces of Australia’s paleogeography since the Jurassic

by

Abstract: Today the eastern highlands of Australia are significantly more elevated than western Australia, but the continent’s geodynamic evolution suggests that the opposite was the case during Cretaceous times, when the Eromanga Sea dominated the eastern Australian landscape. Previous geodynamic and surface processes models have been used to simulate the evolution of this seaway, but … Read more…

EarthByte Honours and Masters Projects 2020

by
EarthByte globe icon

EarthByte has now released a list of Honours/Masters projects to be offered in 2020. These projects are outlined below. We can also tailor projects to your interests. Feel free to contact us by clicking the supervisor links below. Project Title Supervisor(s) How climate and subsidence control the sedimentation along the Norwegian Margin? Claire Mallard , … Read more…

EarthByte Honours and Masters Projects 2019

by
EarthByte globe icon

EarthByte has now released a list of Honours/Masters projects to be offered in 2019. These projects are outlined below. Project Title Supervisor(s) How is landscape complexity driving biodiversity over geological time scales? Tristan Salles & Patrice Rey How well are tectonic and climatic signals preserved in the stratigraphic record? Tristan Salles & Claire Mallard Vertical motions … Read more…

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial-scale climatic forcings: insights from the 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

by

In a paper published this week in European Geosciences Union – EGUGMD Journal, Tristan Salles, Jodie Rae, Jody M Webster & Belinda Dechnik present a 1-D model of coral reefs’ evolution over centennial to millennial timescales. The model allows to estimate the effects of environmental conditions (such as oceanic variability, sedimentation rate, sea-level fluctuations or tectonics) and ecological coral competition on reef … Read more…

Exploring coral reef responses to millennial-scale climatic forcings: insights from the 1-D numerical tool pyReef-Core v1.0

by

Abstract: Assemblages of corals characterise specific reef biozones and the environmental conditions that change spatially across a reef and with depth. Drill cores through fossil reefs record the time and depth distribution of assemblages, which captures a partial history of the vertical growth response of reefs to changing palaeoenvironmental conditions. The effects of environmental factors on … Read more…

Workshop on “Bayeslands: Bayesian inference for Badlands”

by

Overview: In recent years, the Bayesian inference has become a popular methodology for the estimation and uncertainty quantification of parameters in geological and geophysical forward models via the posterior distribution. Badlands is a basin and landscape evolution model for simulating topography development at various space and time scales. This workshop will present  BayesLands which provides … Read more…

pyBadlands: A framework to simulate sediment transport, landscape dynamics and basin stratigraphic evolution through space and time

by

Abstract Understanding Earth surface responses in terms of sediment dynamics to climatic variability and tectonics forcing is hindered by limited ability of current models to simulate long-term evolution of sediment transfer and associated morphological changes. This paper presents pyBadlands, an open-source python-based framework which computes over geological time (1) sediment transport from landmasses to coasts, … Read more…

Untangling The Role Of Climate On Sediment And Reef Evolution Over Millennial Timescales

by

Climatic variability like precipitation changes or increase in extreme events such as storms and tropical cyclones is known to significantly modify the Earth’s surface. Yet, our understanding of how sediment dynamics and reef evolution might respond to these changes is still limited. In a recent study, a team of researchers from the University of Sydney’s … Read more…

EarthByte Honours and Masters Projects 2018

by
EarthByte globe icon

EarthByte has now released a list of Honours/Masters projects to be offered in 2018. These projects are outlined below. Project Title Supervisor(s) Dynamic Earth models, landscape dynamics and basin evolution in Australasia Dietmar Müller, Sabin Zahirovic, Tristan Salles, Rohit Chandra, Sally Cripps (Centre for Translational Data Science) Incorporating modern plate tectonic reconstructions into box models of the deep-time deep-Earth … Read more…

Influence of mantle flow on the drainage of eastern Australia since the Jurassic period

by

Author List: Tristan Salles, Nicolas Flament & Dietmar Müller. Citation: Salles, Tristan & Flament, Nicolas & Müller, Dietmar. (2017). Influence of mantle flow on the drainage of eastern Australia since the Jurassic Period. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 18. . 10.1002/2016GC006617. Abstract:  Recent studies of the past eastern Australian landscape from present-day longitudinal river profiles and from mantle flow models … Read more…