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Simon
Paul Johnson Senior Geologist Geological Survey of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum Mineral House 100 Plain Street East Perth WA 6004 Tel: +61 8 9222 3127 e-mail: simonpaul.johnson@dmp.wa.gov.au web address: http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au |
Education:
BSc (Hons). Portsmouth University, 1991-1994, Geology
PhD. University of St Andrews, 1995-1998, Geology
Research and professional experience:
Research Fellow. Tectonics Special Research Center (TSRC), University of Western Australia, 2000-2002.
Researcher. JAMSTEC, 2002-2006.
Senior Geologist. Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA), 2006-present.
Research interests:
Assembly history of continental regions, especially Australia and Africa.
Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic continent-continent collision zones, especially the West Capricorn Orogen (Australia) and Irumide Orogen (Central Africa).
The use of Hf-zircon isotopes to understand crust-mantle evolution and early Earth processes.
Meso- and Neoproterozoic tectonics of Africa and associated cratonic blocks.
Configuration of the Rodinia supercontinent, the history and process of its break-up and the subsequent timing of Gondwana assembly.
The nature of geochemical and metasomatic processes involved in forming high-pressure whiteschist lithologies.
Early Palaeozoic tectonics of the eastern Laurentian margin - basement sources and the origin of the peri-Gondwanan terranes.
The use of U-Pb-Th dating and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons in sourcing sedimentary basins.
Advancing and improving geological techniques, i.e. use of digital technology for geological mapping (both in the field and office).
Current research projects:
The Palaeo- to Neoproterozoic tectonics of the Gascoyne Province, Western Australia. The tectonometamorphic evolution of the Archean to Paleoproterozoic Glenburgh Terrane and Paleo- to Neoproterozoic reworking of the Gascoyne Province. Significant interest in deciphering the metamorphic and tectonic development of the Glenburgh Orogeny and the role of the various tectonic events in controlling the location, timing and significance of mineral deposits. Understanding the role of the Glenburgh Terrane in the amalgamation of the West Australian Craton and the tectonic drivers for the subsequent reworking events with respect to supercontinent assembly and dispersal processes. Project collaborators: Dr Steve Sheppard, Prof. Birger Rasmussen, Prof. Ian Fletcher, Dr Janet Muhling, Dr Elena Belousova.
The Proterozoic to
early Palaeozoic evolution of the southern margin of the Congo Craton.
The
tectonic belts that form the southern margin of the Congo Craton
(Ubendian, Irumide, Southern Irumide and Zambezi) record a variety of
craton-margin tectonic processes ranging from continental-margin-arc
magmatism, through juvenile oceanic-arc-accretion, culminating in the
final collision between the Congo and Kalahari cratons. At certain time
intervals crustal-recycling has played a major part in shaping the
craton margin. A better understanding of the thermo-tectonic evolution
of these belts will provide crucial information on cratonization
processes, continental growth and palaeogeographic reconstructions.
Project collaborators: Dr. Bert
De Waele, Prof. Ernst Hegner, Prof. Axel Gerdes, Prof. Toby Rivers,
Dr. Francis
Tembo, Dr. Benjamin Mapani.
Fingerprinting the source of the Southern Uplands Terrane sediments in Scotland. The Southern Uplands Terrane is made up of Ordovician and Silurian strata most likey deposited as an accretioanry prism in an active subduction zone. Detrital heavy minerals throughout the sequence are dominated by metamorphic detritus presumably from the Dalradian metamorphic sequence to the north. In order to test this model we are dating (by LA-Q-ICPMS) detrital zircons from the sedimentary sequence and determining the intial Hf-ratios of these zircon grains (by LA-MC-ICPMS) in order to better constrain the sediment source. Project collaborators: Dr. Grahame Oliver, Prof. Takafumi Hirata, Dr. Tsuyoshi Iizuka.
Understanding crustal-recycling processes from Hf-isotopes in zircon: The West Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia as a natural laboratory. The tectonothermal evolution of West Avalonia in Nova Scotia, Appalachian orogen, provides an excellent example of the application of zircon Hf-isotope analyses to tectonic studies. Regional synthesis indicates that this terrane originated in the Neoproterozoic as a "peri-Gondwanan terrane" and is characterized by arc-related magmatism. However, detailed Sm-Nd isotope studies on the volcanic and related sedimentary lithologies indicate that recycling of "proto-Avalonian" (1.0 to 1.2 Ga) crust was a dominant process in the formation of these rocks. By determining the inital Hf-isotope ratio of detrital and inherited zircons in the sedimentary and igneous lithologies respectively, we will be able to gain detailed insights into the basement terranes that were recycled. Project collaborators: Prof. Brendan Murphy, Dr. Javier Fernandez-Suarez, Dr. Teresa Jeffries.
Students Supervised:
Dr. Huntly Cutten. PhD Thesis 2004. "Development of a GIS/ACCESS database research tool and its use to synthesize the Proterozoic tectonic history of the Mozambique Belt, Eastern Africa".
Current and Previous Funding:
ARC Linkage Grant 2009-2011: Decipering the low-grade tectonothermal history of the Western Capricorn Orogen (with Prof. Birger Rasmussen at Curtin University). (Aus$ ~ 250,000).
Kaken-Hi 2002 - 2004: The Amalgamation of the Southern African Cratons: Implications for supercontinent breakup and assembly and the transition between a Meso- and Neoproterozoic Earth. (2,800,000 Yen - US$26,500)
The University of Western Australia small grant 2001: Tanzania and Madagascar: ancient spouses or newly married cratons. (Aus$10,231 - US$8,000)
Australian Research Council, IREX Fellowship 2000 - 2001: Dating the collision between the Zimbabwe and Congo Cratons: implications for the reconstruction of Rodinia (Aus$58,352 - US$45,000)
Fingerprinting the source of the Southern Uplands Terrane sediments in Scotland. The Southern Uplands Terrane is made up of Ordovician and Silurian strata most likey deposited as an accretioanry prism in an active subduction zone. Detrital heavy minerals throughout the sequence are dominated by metamorphic detritus presumably from the Dalradian metamorphic sequence to the north. In order to test this model we are dating (by LA-Q-ICPMS) detrital zircons from the sedimentary sequence and determining the intial Hf-ratios of these zircon grains (by LA-MC-ICPMS) in order to better constrain the sediment source. Project collaborators: Dr. Grahame Oliver, Prof. Takafumi Hirata, Dr. Tsuyoshi Iizuka.
Understanding crustal-recycling processes from Hf-isotopes in zircon: The West Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia as a natural laboratory. The tectonothermal evolution of West Avalonia in Nova Scotia, Appalachian orogen, provides an excellent example of the application of zircon Hf-isotope analyses to tectonic studies. Regional synthesis indicates that this terrane originated in the Neoproterozoic as a "peri-Gondwanan terrane" and is characterized by arc-related magmatism. However, detailed Sm-Nd isotope studies on the volcanic and related sedimentary lithologies indicate that recycling of "proto-Avalonian" (1.0 to 1.2 Ga) crust was a dominant process in the formation of these rocks. By determining the inital Hf-isotope ratio of detrital and inherited zircons in the sedimentary and igneous lithologies respectively, we will be able to gain detailed insights into the basement terranes that were recycled. Project collaborators: Prof. Brendan Murphy, Dr. Javier Fernandez-Suarez, Dr. Teresa Jeffries.
Students Supervised:
Dr. Huntly Cutten. PhD Thesis 2004. "Development of a GIS/ACCESS database research tool and its use to synthesize the Proterozoic tectonic history of the Mozambique Belt, Eastern Africa".
Current and Previous Funding:
ARC Linkage Grant 2009-2011: Decipering the low-grade tectonothermal history of the Western Capricorn Orogen (with Prof. Birger Rasmussen at Curtin University). (Aus$ ~ 250,000).
Kaken-Hi 2002 - 2004: The Amalgamation of the Southern African Cratons: Implications for supercontinent breakup and assembly and the transition between a Meso- and Neoproterozoic Earth. (2,800,000 Yen - US$26,500)
The University of Western Australia small grant 2001: Tanzania and Madagascar: ancient spouses or newly married cratons. (Aus$10,231 - US$8,000)
Australian Research Council, IREX Fellowship 2000 - 2001: Dating the collision between the Zimbabwe and Congo Cratons: implications for the reconstruction of Rodinia (Aus$58,352 - US$45,000)
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