Investigating the Structure and Evolution of the Continental Crust: A Virtual Facility for Thermochronology, Noble Gas Geochemistry and Geochronology

This proposal will build a 'Virtual Facility' of complementary infrastructure for thermochronology at three major centres in Australia. Thermochronology uses temperature-sensitive geological dating methods to reconstruct the cooling histories of rocks, with important applications across many branches of the earth sciences. Building on existing concentrations of expertise, the new equipment will support an integrated set of complementary research techniques, from surface dating and low-temperature methods (UQ), to low- to intermediate-temperature (UM) and high-temperature methods (ANU) of thermochronology. This will provide Australian earth scientists with an unprecedented range of analytical capabilities and research opportunities.