ANU Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/145063

The Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) has its origin in the Department of Geophysics, which was an original department of the Research School of Physical Sciences (RSPhysS), which was in turn one of the founding research schools in the Institute of Advanced Studies of The Australian National University. The appointment of Professor J.C. Jaeger, the foundation Professor of Geophysics at ANU and the first professorial appointment in geophysics in Australia, commenced on 1 January 1952.Discussion Papers

The initial topics covered by the department involved the solid Earth, notably the physics of the crust and interior of the Earth. Studies in petrology and of phase transformations that take place under high pressure led to strengths developing in geochemistry; in 1964, the name of the department was expanded to the Department of Geophysics and Geochemistry. Developments in dating rocks by radioactive methods complemented the important work in palaeomagnetism at that time; together, these pursuits made major contributions to the remarkable developments of Plate Tectonics, which revolutionised the Earth Sciences in the latter half of the 20th century. Another highlight at the end of the 1960s was the return to Earth of samples from the Moon, and work on some of these at the department.

In 1973, the Department ceased to be part of RSPhysS, and became the new RSES, with A.L. Hales as its first director. Growth has continued since that time, with research efforts continually moving into new fields opened by experimental and theoretical developments, and instrumental possibilities (including computing). RSES has been, from the start, non-departmental, with research groups set up less formally, making scientific interactions easier between scientists across the school. That tradition has continued, although the school is now grouped for administrative purposes into three areas: Geophysics, Geochemistry, and Ocean and Climate Geosciences.

Geophysics was initially housed in a set of buildings at the western end of the Acton Peninsula, first looking out onto the Canberra racecourse, and then onto Lake Burley Griffin as it filled in the early 1960. By the end of that decade, the Department of Geophysics and Geochemistry had moved to new buildings to the east, at a high point on the ridge of the peninsula, where Canberra Hospital had been in the period 1914-1943. Some of the hospital buildings, in the typical country-hospital weatherboard style of the early 20th century, are preserved in the RSES complex.

The merger of the Research School of Earth Sciences with the Department of Geology at ANU has brought together of our research and teaching activities. Completion of the Jaeger 8 building and refurbishment of the Florey building have now allowed all of our staff and laboratories to be co-located within the Research School of Earth Sciences on Mills Road.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

Access status: Open Access ,
Ocean Planet: An ANZIC workshop report focused on future research challenges and opportunities for collaborative international scientific ocean drilling.
(Australian and New Zealand IODP Consortium, Australian National University, 2020-01-15) Coffin, Millard; Parr, Joanna; Grice, Kliti; Pages, Anais; Lisé-Pronovost, Agathe; Clennell, Ben; Mortimer, Nick; McKay, Robert; McGregor, Helen; Riesselman, Christina; Poiner, Ian; Armand, Leanne
Executive summary: The ANZIC Ocean Planet Workshop (14-16 April 2019) and focused Working Group sessions represent a multidisciplinary community effort that defines scientific themes and challenges for the next phase of marine research using the capabilities of current and anticipated platforms of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). Attended by 75 mostly early- and mid-career participants from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the United States, the workshop featured nine keynote presentations. Working groups identified important themes and challenges that are fundamental to understanding the Earth system. This research relies upon ocean-going research platforms to recover geological, geobiological, and microbiological information preserved in sediment and rock beneath the seafloor and to monitor subseafloor environments through the global ocean. The workshop program was built around five scientific themes: Biosphere Frontiers, Earth Dynamics, Core to Crust, Global Climate, Natural Hazards, and Ocean Health through Time. Workshop sessions focused on these themes and developed 19 associated scientific challenges. Underpinning these are legacy samples and data, technology, engineering, education, public outreach, big data, and societal impact. Although all challenges are important, the asterisks that follow denote those of particular relevance and interest to ANZIC. Ocean Health through Time comprises the ocean’s response to natural perturbations in biogeochemical cycles*; the lateral and vertical influence of human disturbance on the ocean floor; and the drivers and proxies of evolution, extinction, and recovery of life*. Global Climate entails coupling between the climate system and the carbon cycle; the drivers, rates, and magnitudes of sea level change in a dynamic world*; the extremes, variations, drivers, and impacts of Earth’s hydrologic cycle*; and cryosphere dynamics*. Biosphere Frontiers addresses the habitable limits for life*; the composition, complexity, diversity, and mobility of subseafloor communities*; the sensitivity of ecosystems to environmental changes; and how the signatures of life are preserved through time and space*. Earth Dynamics: Core to Crust encompasses the controls on the lifecycle of ocean basins and continents*; how the core and mantle interact with Earth’s surface*; the rates, magnitudes, and pathways of physico-chemical transfer among the geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere*; and the composition, structure, and dynamics of Earth’s upper mantle. Natural Hazards involves the mechanisms and periodicities of destructive earthquakes*; the impacts of submarine and coastal volcanism; the consequences of submarine slope failures on coastal communities and critical infrastructure*; and the magnitudes, frequencies, and impacts of natural disasters*. The ANZIC Ocean Planet Workshop will contribute to formulating the next science framework for scientific ocean drilling which in turn will guide the focused planning of specific drilling, logging, and monitoring projects.
Access status: Open Access ,
Full fathom five : 15 years of Australian involvement in the ocean drilling program
(Australian Ocean Drilling Secretariat, University of Sydney) University of Sydney. Australian Ocean Drilling Secretariat
The Ocean Drilling Program, which finished in October 2003, has been an international partnership of scientists and research institutions organised to explore the evolution of the Earth - looking at the past, present and future. It has been the world's largest multinational geoscience program involving 22 countries and many hundreds of researchers in an inspirational program of research. In the veneer of buried sedimentary sections and underlying crust of the sea-bed is a rich history of the waxing and waning of glaciers, the creation and aging of oceanic lithosphere, the evolution and extinction of micro-organisms and the building and erosion of the continents. Ocean drilling has explored this history in increasing detail, revealing the complexity of the processes that control crustal formation, earthquake generation, oceanic circulation and chemistry, and global climate change. Drilling has also revealed that deep within marine sediments, rock pore spaces and rock fractures is an active environment where ocean water circulates, microbes thrive and natural resources accumulate. Australia has participated in ODP for the last 15 years as partners first with Page 1 Canada and then with Canada, South Korea and Taiwan in the PACRIM Consortium. Australia's participation has been funded predominantly by the Australian Research Council, Geoscience Australia (and its predecessor organisations) and Australian universities. Through Australia's participation in the program, Australian scientists have been able to participate in an international program of earth science research of unprecedented scale and scope to Australia's benefit. Through the program it has been possible to deploy the ODP drill ship JO/DES Resolution in Australian waters to address research questions of importance to Australia that simply could not have been addressed by other means. This publication summarises Australia's achievements in the program. By any measure these achievements are impressive. They are a testament to the vision of those who conceived Australia's participation and to the dedication of current and past members of the Australian ODP community whose work made it all possible.
Access status: Open Access ,
Unearthed: Research School of Earth Sciences Newsletter
(Canberra, ACT : Research School of Earth Sciences, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, The Australian National University.) Australian National University. Research School of Earth Sciences; King, Penny; McGowan, Lachlan
Our newsletter is published once or twice a year, and is intended to be one of the ways that our community can keep in touch with what is happening in earth sciences at ANU.
Access status: Open Access ,
Interactions of the Totten Glacier with the Southern Ocean through multiple glacial cycles (IN2017-V01): Post-survey report
(Canberra, ACT: Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, 2018) Armand, Leanne; O'Brien, Philip; Armbrecht, Linda; Barker, Hugh; Caburlotto, Andrea; Connell, Thomas; Cotterle, Diego; Duffy, Meghan; Edwards, Stuart; Evangelinos, Dimitrios; Fazey, Jason; Flint, Aaron; Focardi, Amaranta; Gifford, Stuart; Holder, Liam; Hughes, Peter; Lawler, Kelly-Anne; Lieser, Jan; Leventer, Amy; Lewis, Mark; Martin, Tara; Morgan, Nicole; López Quirós, Adrián; Malakoff, Karl; Noble, Taryn; Opdyke, Bradley; Palmer, Rodney; Perera, Rushi; Pirotta, Vanessa; Post, Alexandra; Romeo, Roberto; Simmons, Jack; Thost, Doug; Tynan, Sarah; Young, Asaesja
The Sabrina Sea Floor Survey was a major marine geoscience expedition to the Antarctic margin which took place between 14 January and 7 March 2017. It sailed on the Australian Marine National Facility vessel RV Investigator. This document describes survey activities, data collected on the ship and important metadata. Some preliminary results are included and the location of samples and data sets reported for future use. The report also provides information on data ownership and acknowledgement for future use and publication. It is intended as an aid to future research and use of results and has not been rigorously edited and peer-reviewed.
Access status: Open Access ,
Afforestation and plantation forestry
(Canberra, ACT: The Australian National University, Resource Management in Asia-Pacific, (RMAP) Program,, 1997) Kanowski, Peter
Plantation forests now comprise around 135 million ha globally, with annual plantation afforestation and reforestation rates nearing 10% of total area. Some 90% of plantation forests have been established primarily to provide industrial wood, and their relative global importance in this role is increasing rapidly. Most of the remaining 10% of plantation forests were established primarily to supply fuel or wood for non-industrial use. About 75% of the existing plantation forest estate is established in temperate regions, but it is in the tropics that the rate of expansion is greatest. The expanding tropical plantation forest estate includes trees grown primarily as agricultural plantation crops and which now also supply wood to forest industries. Almost all existing plantation forests were established and are managed as even-aged monocultures; species and interspecific hybrids of a few genera dominate plantation forestry worldwide. Effective research and development, based on appropriate genetic resources and good silviculture, are the foundations of successful plantation forestry production. Resolving relatively fundamental issues remain the priority in many young plantation programmes; in more advanced programmes, the application of more sophisticated technologies - particularly in biotechnology and processing - is necessary to maintain improvements in production. Many plantation forests, particularly in the tropics, are not yet achieving their productive potential. The sustainability of plantation forestry is an issue of wide interest and concern. The evidence from industrial plantation forestry suggests that biological sustainability, in terms of wood yield, is likely to be realised provided good practice is maintained. The relative benefits and costs of plantation forestry in broader environmental terms, and in terms of its social impacts, are the subject of greater controversy, and pose the greatest challenge to plantation foresters as we approach the millennium. Our experience with plantation forestry as it has developed this century offers us an excellent platform for rising to these challenges.

Browse

Recent Submissions