From Snowball Earth to Animals: the Influence of Mantle Dynamics. This project aims to investigate how solid Earth processes contributed to ‘Snowball Earth’ events around 700 million years ago and to

Description

From Snowball Earth to Animals: the Influence of Mantle Dynamics. This project aims to investigate how solid Earth processes contributed to ‘Snowball Earth’ events around 700 million years ago and to the explosion of complex life 540 million years ago, which will shed light on our origin as a species. The approach consists of merging cutting-edge models of the plate-mantle system with the global rock record. The intended outcome is to understand relationships between mantle convection, the behaviour of the magnetic field, global sea levels, continental-scale topography, and the composition of the ocean and atmosphere. Expected significant benefits include building capacity in Earth Sciences and the development of new models that can be used to explore the mineral endowment of the Australian crust.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 3706 - Geophysics. Lead: A/Prof Nicolas Flament