News
Welcome to the Earth Dynamics Research Group Chutian!
November, 2023
The Earth Dynamics Research Group welcomed a new member, Dr Chutian Shu, to the team, who will provide a new perspective on the dynamics and evolution of the Earth’s interior.
Welcome Chutian!
EDRG Fieldtrip to Pilbara region to study some of the oldest rocks in Australia
September, 2023
A team of Earth Dynamics Research Group scienctists travelled to the Pilbara region to sample some of Australia’s oldest rocks in order to constrain the paleogeographic evolution of the Pilbara during the Paleoarchean (3.2 – 3.6 billion years ago).
6th International Archean Symposium and ACTER social event
July, 2023
The Australia-China Joint Research Centre for Tectonics and Earth Resources (ACTER) held a social lunch following the International Archean Symposium held in Fremantle, Western Australia. It was a pleasure to reinvigorate the partnerships and develop new connections.
2023 AESC Special Symposium and WA Palaeomagnetic and Rock-magnetic Facility Visit
June, 2023
The Special Symposium on Dynamic Evolution of Earth and its Environment, held during the Australian Earth Sciences Convention, was a great success. It was also a pleasure to catch up with the Australian Palaeomagnetic and Rock-magnetic community following the convention.
2023 EDRG Annual Science Retreat
May, 2023
The Earth Dynamics Research Group held another enjoyable Annual Science Retreat in May 2023, at the wonderful Seashells Resort in Mandurah, Western Australia.
European clues to unlocking the ancient ocean record
May, 2023
In April and May, EDRG members conducted a field trip to Scotland, Wales, Portugal and Spain with the aim to collect samples from oceanic rocks that belonged to two Palaeozoic oceans that separated the southern megacontinent Gondwana from Laurentia, the precursor to North America.
Congratulations Dr Brennan!
March, 2023
EDRG member Daniel Brennan was recently conferred his Doctor of Philosophy. His work set a very high standard for geoscience PhD work, and helped to make the team greater.
Congratulations Dr Brennan and all the best!
Welcome back Dr Uwe Kirscher
March, 2023
Dr Kirscher has returned to the EDRG to drive forwards the measurement of palaeointensities using the Western Australia Paleomagnetic and Rock-magnetic Facility located at Curtin.
It is great to welcome Uwe back to Curtin and the EDRG!
EDRG welcomes numerous visitors to the team
March, 2023
The Earth Dynamics Research Group has had a very productive start to 2023 with a number of visitors joining us. Thank you Prof. Ionov, and welcome Ms Kang and Mr Bao!
Dr Silvia Volante awarded prestigious Chris Powell Medal
December, 2022
Dr Silvia Volante, a PhD graduate from the EDRG, was recently awarded the prestigious Chris Powell Medal by the Geological Society of Australia for her outstanding PhD paper in the journal of Tectonics (Volante et al., 2020.).
Congratulations on this exceptional honour Silvia!
Simulating one billion years of mantle convection
October, 2022
An informative article in Eos Magazine discusses the intriguing mantle reference frame geodynamic model published by the EarthByte Group, and invitied EDRG’s Prof Zheng-Xiang Li to comment on the findings and the importance of incorporating geological constraints.
PhD gradute awarded “best Ph.D” at award ceremony
June, 2022
Dr Gamaleldien was awarded the Krishna & Pamela Sappal Prize, acknowledging his exceptional doctoral research and producing the best doctoral thesis in Geoscience during 2021. The School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Discipline of Spatial Sciences and Geology Student Prizes and Award Ceremony was held on June 2, 2022.
Congratulations Hamed!
2022 EDRG Annual Science retreat
May, 2022
The Earth Dynamics Research Group held their Annual Science Retreat in May, coming full circle to once again visit the venue where the original planning meeting was held in 2016.
Article listed in the 2021 Top 100 Scientific Reports
March, 2022
An article published last year in the journal Scientific Reports, has recently been announced as one of the top 100 most downloaded earth science papers for Scientific Reports in 2021.
The article reports the discovery that diamonds found in oceanic rocks and the so-called super-deep continental diamonds share a common origin of recycled organic carbon deep within the Earth’s mantle.
Welcome new members to EDRG after a long Covid-19 travel freeze!
March, 2022
The EDRG welcome our first new students since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Both Ms Maëlys Privat and Ms Yuchi Cui joined us on Curtin University’s Bentley campus from early 2022 to undertake their PhD research with our group.
Welcome Yuchi and Maëlys!
Daniel Brennan awarded best presentation at GESSS-WA
November, 2021
The GSA – Earth Science Student Symposium (GESSS-WA) was hosted at Curtin University in November 2021. Curtin EPS HDR students took home four of the six best presentation prizes including EDRG’s own Daniel Brennan.
Congratulations Dan!
EDRG’s 1st field trip since COVID-19 to the Jack Hills a great success
September, 2021
EDRG members recently returned from the first post- COVID-19 field trip. The trip to the Jack Hills, including visiting a site that contains some of the Earth’s oldest zircons, was a great success with fantastic outcrops and exceptional wildflowers.
EDRG connects with remote community school
September, 2021
Two members from the Earth Dynamics Research Group recently spent a few days visiting the Pia Wadjarri Remote Community School in Murchison, WA.
2021 EDRG Annual Science Retreat
June, 2021
The Earth Dynamics Research Group held their 2021 Annual Science Retreat in the idyllic Porongurup Range in south-west Western Australia.
EDRG named 2020 SAE Research Team of the year
June, 2021
The Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University recently held their 2020 Excellence Awards, at which the Earth Dynamics Research Group was named the Research Team of the year.
Congratulations everyone!
Article listed in the 2020 Top 100 Scientific Reports and selected as one of Editor’s choice
March, 2021
An article published last year in the journal Scientific Reports, has recently been announced as one of the top 100 most downloaded earth science papers for Scientific Reports in 2020. As futher indication of it’s significance it was also selected as one of 5 Editor’s choice in geochemistry (Mantle).
PhD student receives Commendation from the Chancellor!
March, 2021
PhD graduate, Hamed Gamal El Dien, was recently acknowledged with a Chancellor’s commendation for his extraordinary efforts during his doctoral research.
Congratualtions and well done Hamed!
New article in Nature Geoscience!
May, 2020
A recently published Nature Geoscience article outlines the critical importance of water in the melting that occurs in subduction zones. This work, lead by Prof. Bill Collins, also discusses how this fluid-fluxed melting influences the mineralogical and geochemical signatures of the continental crust.
Dr Sergei Pisarevsky awarded Russian Megagrant
May, 2020
Dr Sergei Pisarevsky was recently awarded a Russian “megagrant” for the project “Orogenesis: Assembly and Growth of Continents and Supercontinents”. The grant will lead to the creation of a new facility at the Institute of the Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Congratulations Sergei!
Daniel Brennan awarded best student geologic map
October, 2019
PhD student Daniel Brennan was recently awarded the best student geologic map at the 2019 Geological Society of America’s Annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Dan’s work, undertaken during his Master degree at Idaho State University, investigated the Bayhorse Anticline in Custer County, central Idaho.
Well done Dan!
Prof. Zheng-Xiang Li recognised in 2019 Class of AGU Fellows
August, 2019
Each year AGU elects Fellows whose visionary leadership and scientific excellence have fundamentally advanced research in their respective fields. Professor Zheng-Xiang Li has been named in the list of 62 new AGU Fellows to be honored at the AGU Fall Meeting 2019 in San Francisco, California.
Congratulations Prof. Li!
IGCP 648 2019 Field Symposium – A Geologic Transect of Madagascar
July, 2019
The IGCP 648 2019 Field Symposium on the Precambrian evolution of Madagascar was well attended, with 31 geoscientists representing 11 countries. Read an entertaining account of the symposium written by Prof. Damian Nance.
IGCP 648 2018 Field Symposium – From Rodinia to Pangea: Geodynamics, Life and Climate
November, 2018
The IGCP 648 annual field symposium was held in the Three Gorges and Shennongjia regions in South China between 1 – 9 Nov., 2018. A wonderful recount of the symposium has been written by one of the student attendees, Ms Georgina Virgo.
Australian Geoscience Council Convention
October, 2018
The Earth Dynamics Research Group (and IGCP 648) had a strong showing at the inaugural Australian Geoscience Council Convention (AGCC 2018) held in Adelaide, South Australia.
2018 ACTER Field Symposium – Tectonic evolution of the North Qilian Mountains
September, 2018
The fourth annual ACTER field symposium was held from 25th August to 3rd September, 2018 in the Gansu Province, a historical and cultural province lying between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus in north-western China.
Recognition for a lifetime of achievement
September, 2018
Professor Zheng-Xiang Li featured in The Australian‘s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Leaderboard, and named the Field Leader for Geology.
(source: The Australian, Wednesday, September 26, 2018, pages 37 to 96)
Did plate tectonics set the stage for life on Earth?
Astrobiology Magazine wrote an article on a recent paper (co-authored by our own Dr Ross Mitchell) about the rising phosphorus content in basalts as Earth cools over time. (Image credit: NASA.)
The Day the Earth Stood still
February, 2018
A fantastic article in Scientific American about one of the groups recent publications.
Inspiring the next generation of West Australian Geologists
Novermber, 2017
During November 2017 Earth Dynamic Research Group members Amaury Pourteau and Erin Martin, along with Curtin PhD Student Samuel Bain, visited students at East Victoria Park Primary School.
2017 ACTER Field Symposium – Tectonic Evolution and Granite Petrogenesis of the Lachlan Fold Belt, Eastern Australia
October, 2017
The third annual ACTER field symposium was held from 23rd – 29th October, 2017, throughout the Lachlan Fold Belt of regional New South Wales, Australia.
Group members announced as finalists in the 2017 Premier’s Science Awards
July, 2017
Professor Zheng-Xiang Li announced as a finalist for Scientist of the Year while Dr. Chris Spencer, representing Travelling Geologist, is a finalist in the Chevron Science Engagement Initiative of the Year category.
Rodinia 2017 a great success! Townsville
June, 2017
The Rodinia 2017 Conference, organised by Professor Peter Betts and the IGCP648 team, was successfully held over 11 – 14 June in tropical North Queensland, Australia.
2017 Hadyn Williams Fellowship Public Lecture
May, 2017
Professor Brendan Murphy once again entertained and enlightened his audience during a public lecture held at Curtin University’s Bentley campus entitled “Why leprechauns know how mountains form”.
Empowering the next generation of research leaders
May, 2017
A career development workshop led by Professor Brendan Murphy, Professor Garry Alison, and Professor Brett Kirk.
Workshop on publishing your research by Prof. Murphy
April, 2017
On 11 April, Professor Brendan Murphy (Haydn Williams Fellow) gave a seminar at the Curtin Applied Geology Department on the art of getting published in geoscience journals.
Another productive annual retreat for the Earth Dynamics Research Group
March, 2017
The Earth Dynamics Research Group recently spent a productive 2-days in Mandurah redressing the project aims and outcomes for all current group members.
Welcome Prof. Murphy!
March, 2017
Prof. Brendan Murphy is currently visiting the Earth Dynamics Research group at Curtin University as a Haydn Williams Fellow. He will be spending two academic terms with the department, one in early 2017 and another in 2018.
Evidence falls into place for once and future supercontinents
January, 2017
A number of IGCP 648 members, including our own Ross Mitchell, were quoted in a recent ScienceNews article written by Alexandra Witze.
The Earth Dynamics Research Group is growing
December, 2016
December 2016 saw the addition of another member to the Earth Dynamics Research Group, Mr. Jiangyu Li.
35th International Geological Congress in Cape Town
September, 2016
IGCP project 648 was well presented at the 35th IGC, held during 27 August–4 September 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Latest addition to the team
August, 2016
We would like to welcome our latest addition to the Earth Dynamics Research Group, Ms. Silvia Volante.
Seventh International Dyke Conference (IDC7) in Beijing
August, 2016
IGCP 648 co-sponsored a successful Seventh International Dyke Conference in Beijing (http://idc7.csp.escience.cn).
CCFS Short Course on Snowball Earth by Professor Paul Hoffman
July, 2016
A CCFS-sponsored short course on the global climatic phenomenon known as Snowball Earth was held at Curtin University on 15 July, 2016. The seminars were recorded and are available to view online.
Prof. Li awarded S.W. Carey Medal, 2016
June, 2016
At the Australian Earth Science Convention 2016 held in Adelaide, Prof. Li was honoured by being presented the S.W. Carey medal by the Geological Society of Australia. The S.W. Carey medal is awarded to a person distinguished in the field of tectonics and is in honour of S.W. “Sam” Carey who won international respect and renown as a provocative generator of new, major integrative hypotheses that were revolutionary but highly credible concerning the dynamics of our earth.
2016 Australian Earth Sciences Convention session – Adelaide
June, 2016
IGCP 648 sponsored session on “Supercontinent Cycles and Global Geodynamics” at the Australian Earth Sciences Convention (AESC) 2016 was a success.