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Thursday April 7th, 6pm – 7:30pm (talk starts 6.30)
Coopers Alehouse, 316 Pulteney Street, Adelaide
Geology is all about time. For ore deposits, how fast things happen, and when they happen can be make or break. This talk will begin by looking at what we know about the rate of various geological processes, from faulting, fluid migration, to plate tectonic movement. With this perspective, we will then take a deep dive into the cool waters of an old but arguably underappreciated geochronological technique, 40Ar/39Ar geochronology.
We hope to show that there are advantages to this method for those of us aiming for a wholistic understanding of the rock record. From here we will then take a brief detour through some new techniques for dating minerals being popularised currently, before attempting – perhaps foolishly – to answer the question, “Yes, that’s all very well, but does it really matter how old my rocks are anyway?”.
Dr Anthony Reid is Senior Principal Geoscientist with the Geological Survey of South Australia with a background in structural geology and geochronology. When not writing ministerial briefings and reviewing pieces for the departmental comms team, he has lately been working with MinEx CRC researchers looking at novel applications of the argon geochronology method in the Gawler Craton and Delamerian Orogen.
First Thursday of every month the South Australian branch of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists holds informal geoscientific talks in a casual setting. Attendence at this meeting can also contribute towards AIG’s Registered Professional Geoscientist (RPGeo) program.
