ラベル 15'Aus の投稿を表示しています。 すべての投稿を表示
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9/09/2015

Australia Excursion: Days 6-8 (2 - 4/3/2015)

Yue Chin again - this time with my third and final post about the Australia trip. Apologies for this being so long overdue!

In the morning of the 2nd we headed off to the University of Wollongong after bidding the remote beauty of Kioloa a reluctant goodbye. On the way, a quick restroom stop turned into a doughnut pilgrimage. The town of Berry is home to the Donut Van (or more specifically, The Famous Berry Donut Van). Thanks to Prof. Yokoyama for generously treating us all to doughnuts! These were piping hot, brushed with icing sugar and cinnamon. Seriously one of the best doughnuts I've eaten, and I've had quite a few.


After getting to the University of Wollongong at around lunchtime, we were given a brief introduction to the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences by Dr. Zenobia Jacobs, the head of the department. We then had a look into the various laboratories where the main geochemical work is done. Dr. Florian Dux took us around the clumped isotope lab. Clumped isotope work is based on the principle of differentiating isotopologues (molecules which have the same chemical composition but not isotopic composition), and requires extreme caution in order not to contaminate the end results.

Florian explains that the room temperature must be kept constant

Dr. Allen Chivas then took us around the other geochemical laboratories, giving us an overview of the mass spectrometers peppered around the facilities and the samples that go into these powerful machines. The suite of labs has massive analytical capabilities that allow scientists to answer palaeoenvironmental as well as archaeological questions.

Dr. Chivas explaining about the mass spectrometer

The University of Wollongong is home to one of the world's leading Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating laboratories and has produced many answers to significant archaeological questions, and we were privileged enough to be able to step inside. You enter through a revolving door, and once in the lab your eyes take a few seconds to adjust to the darkness and seeing everything in shades of red. Similar to a darkroom, the entire lab has to be kept free of all light except red wavelengths in order not to disturb the measurements. No pictures unfortunately, it was a bit too challenging to take any.

The group trooped down to the ground floor and had a look at the extensive field equipment owned by the department. With mountains and the sea almost at their doorstep, the field is just minutes' away.

Prof. Yokoyama with a Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) device

A walk through the school grounds with Dr. Chivas concluded the tour and we said our goodbyes before heading off to Sydney.

Thanks to the staff and students of the University of Wollongong!

Before we knew it we had arrived. Dinnertime was free and easy so the Yokoyama lab members headed off to explore, walking through the streets of a city all abuzz. I'd been in Sydney before but somehow the place had taken on a much more vibrant and high-paced persona and it was interesting to retrace old footsteps and see places both familiar and foreign. As the sun set over pizza and drinks in Darling Harbour, Prof. Yokoyama told us about his days as a Ph.D. student in Australia.

Sydney sightseeing

Dinner at Darling Harbour

Bright and early the next morning we stepped onto the grounds of the University of Sydney, heading straight for the Madsen Building which houses the School of Geosciences. Prof. Jody Webster gave us an overview of the work his Geocoastal Research group does, following which each member of his group gave us a more in-depth look at their research.

Introduction of earth science research at USyd by Prof. Webster

After a tour of the campus by Prof. Webster's students, we had lunch at one of the school cafés before heading to the Madsen basement, where Mr. Tom Savage gave us a tour of the geoscience facilities. In the Sedimentary Lab, we began a practical on how to log fossil reef cores. The ones we looked at were collected from all over the Indo-Pacific. At the start it was really tough to pick out the characteristics and link them to their formational history but with some help from the student demonstrators we gradually developed a bit of an eye for it. After having been at it for a few hours we trooped over to Herman's, where the two groups from UTokyo and USyd had enlightening conversations about coral research over drinks.

Looking at coral cores
Going through the samples
Drinks just minutes away

The next day we left with all our packed bags to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, where our journey began. We had come full circle. The trip had lasted for just over a week, yet we had learnt such a immense amount. Many of us had never been overseas before, and it was a great eye-opening opportunity to explore universities, landscapes and cultures different to our own.

Debriefing by Prof. Yokoyama
Final photo before flying home to Japan

For us students, this Australia trip left an indelible mark on our memories. We were invited to peer into the geochemical laboratories at the very cutting edge of science, and were privileged enough to learn from scientists who have made significant findings and are continuing with their good work. On top on all this, we got a chance to incorporate field geology into the mix, giving us a holistic perspective of the real science being done. Every edition of the trip promises something different, fresh and undiscovered - like in science. Thanks so much to Prof. Yokoyama, without whom this trip and the ones preceding it wouldn't have been possible.

3/12/2015

Australia Excursion: Days 4-5 (28/2-1/3/2015)

It's Yue Chin again, here to report about the second part of our trip!

We left Canberra early in the morning to begin our journey along the South Coast, through Murramarang National Park. First stop, Depot Beach. Prof. De Deckker taught us not only about the geology of the area, but also past Aboriginal settlement on the beach and showed us pumice from a recent underwater volcanic eruption among other things.

Observing the gastropods living in the vesicular structures of honeycomb weathering

Geological evidence of an ancient meandering river

Getting a close-up look at flaser bedding

Spotted gums lining Depot Beach
After a productive morning, we had lunch in the Myrtle Beach carpark before heading on down to the beach proper which was quite a walk away. Our route took us past cycad plants of an ancient lineage dating back to when Australia was still part of Gondwana. We quickly discovered that the secluded nature of Myrtle made it conducive for being clothing-optional! The juxtaposition between us in our hard hats and hiking gear and the beach-goers was interesting, to say the very least. We soon forgot about that though once we started looking at the geology. Australia, being a relatively tectonically stable continent with low erosion rates, has much of its Palaeozoic geology well-preserved and intact. We saw Permian geology unconformable with underlying rocks dating back to the Ordovician which would be the oldest rocks we would see on this excursion. 

Change in depositional environment

After Myrtle, we stopped by Emily Miller and Wasp Head to observe the variation and extent of the formations we had already seen at the previous two beaches. Most of what we saw were from an underwater environment with varying amounts of bioturbation. Dropstones were observed in some areas, indicating that in those areas the environment of deposition was cold and covered by sea ice.

Looking at dropstones at Wasp Head
Happy faces after a full day of geology

We also happened across some eastern grey kangaroos near the beach (some of the undergraduates managed to get pictures with them!).

Beautiful Wasp Head

ANU's Kioloa Coastal Campus was our home for two nights. The 348ha area was a gift from Joy London to ANU in honour of her mother Edith London, for use in teaching and research of the field sciences. The place was positively brimming with biodiversity. Lots of kangaroos (too many in fact!) graze in the surrounds, vibrantly-coloured parrots nest in the trees and Banksia trees, endemic to Australia, line the driveways. Best of all, a pristine beach was less than 10 minutes' walk away from our apartments! 

An unsuccessful chase after the kangaroos

For dinner, we were all mobilised as Prof. De Deckker's sous-chefs to prepare a feast made all the more enjoyable after spending the day outdoors. That night we had a bonfire set up for us by the caretaker. After soaking up the warmth only a proper fire can bring some of us headed to the beach to gaze at the stars in our Milky Way. Indescribable feelings.

Profs. De Deckker and Yokoyama with enough food to feed an army

Everyone chipping in to prepare dinner 



To William Smith!

The next day we were at Merry Beach and got to see lots of bivalve fossils in the rock, including some massive scallops. We then drove up to Pointer Gap Lookout in Morton National Park to have a look at the Nowra and Ulladulla Formations.

Nowra Sandstone overlying Ulladulla Mudstone
Prof. De Deckker explaining the depositional environments

At our final stop of the day, Warden Head, a thunderstorm was on its way in so it got extremely windy. Despite the poor weather we managed to get a good look at an inconceivable abundance of fossils such as corals, crinoids and brachiopods in the rocks belonging to the Ulladulla Mudstone sequence. Faulting could also be observed, but these were caused by local slumping and not tectonic activity.



We had to head back to Kioloa to escape the storm but it was not in vain as Prof. Yokoyama gave us a 'bigger picture' talk on what we had learnt and seen over the course of the trip so far, helping us digest the information and put it into context. Not to mention the delicious pasta we had for dinner!

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Prof. De Deckker the next morning and leave for Sydney (which I'll elaborate on in my next and final post). We really had an amazing time learning from him as he delivered his material in a clear, concise manner, always spicing things up with his sense of humour. Thank you Patrick-sensei!

Profs. De Deckker and Yokoyama




3/10/2015

Australia Excursion: Days 1-3 (25-27/2/2015)

Hi everyone,

Yue Chin here. We've been back in Japan for a few days now but I suspect my memories of Australia will stay fresh in my mind for a long while to come, it was such an amazing time. I'm splitting up my account into 3 parts for ease so do stay tuned for the next 2 parts of our trip!

Our journey began with us taking a night flight from Narita Airport on the 24th and arriving in Sydney's Kingsford Smith the next morning. There we met our friendly bus driver Ricardo who would be with us throughout our trip (who I sadly have no pictures of) and he spirited us away. Before our tired bodies knew it we had arrived at our first stop for lunch in Goulburn! Who would have guessed this mundane place was home to a gigantic concrete sheep? A quick search on the interwebs revealed his name to be Rambo, built as a monument to the area and its fine wool industry.


Onward we went, stopping at last at Lake George and meeting Prof. Yokoyama for our first insight into the geology of Australia. Ever since the Lake George escarpment's rise along a fault blocked the drainage into the Yass River and formed the eponymous lake, the amount of water in the lake has been controlled purely by precipitation and evaporation. Pollen and geomagnetic records have indicated that the oldest sediments in the lake date back to around 3-4 Ma.

First outcrop of the trip

Members (and a guest star) of the excursion at Lake George

We then drove up to Mt. Ainslie where we got a spectacular view of Canberra and the Great Dividing Range at its rear. As the capital city Canberra was built to order as a compromise to settle the dispute between Sydney and Melbourne, one can observe its well-planned geometric design, actualised in accordance with the Griffin Plan by the American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin (with the lake dominating the middle of the city being named Lake Burley Griffin in his honour).

Beautiful view of Canberra and its surrounds

The main centre of the city is delineated by three axes; namely, the water axis cutting through the lake, the municipal axis parallel to that along which Constitution Avenue runs, and the land axis perpendicular to those two marking a line from the Australia War Memorial through Anzac Park all the way up to Parliament on Capital Hill. Which, in fact, our next stop was.

As geologists we were there not to think about politics but about the beautiful exposed geology.

Silurian sandstone beds unconformably overlying shales

The next day was jam-packed with illuminating lectures in the ANU Research School of Earth Science (RSES). We were first addressed by the Director of RSES, Prof. Ian Jackson, welcoming us to the school.

Prof. Jackson giving a welcome speech

Prof. Jörg Herman then took over and gave us a geologic problem of a crustal rock containing coesite, a high pressure polymorph of quartz which is not normally present in crustal rocks, and took us through the experimental steps and laboratories required to solve this problem.

Prof. Herman showing us a P-T field simulator

Several Ph.D. students gave us insight into their superbly interesting projects on isotope geochemistry which ranged from lunar impact melts to fish otolith oxygen isotope geochemistry. We were shown by Prof. Daniela Rubatto the equipment that makes their research possible, including the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (Reverse Geometry), or SHRIMP RG for short.

Prof. Rubatto explaining the mechanism behind SHRIMP RG

We met Prof. Patrick De Deckker, who would be exploring coastal geology with us on the Kioloa leg. He spoke to us about William "Strata" Smith, also known as the Father of English Geology, and his painstakingly hand-drawn and coloured geological map of the British Isles, one of the very few that are still in near-mint condition and exist in the world today.

Prof. De Deckker looking at the original stratigraphy column

Lunch was a lovely relaxed affair, with the student union kindly organising a barbecue for us! Had a really good time chatting with the students and professors out in the sun. 

Hotdog assembly line

We were then shown the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) supercomputer, imported all the way from..Japan! Raijin, which means God of Lightning, has astonishing data processing capabilities and a great deal of its systems focus on earth science and climate models.


On the 27th, we met up with Prof. Duanne White for our hike through the Snowy Mountains (where we saw no snow, it was brilliantly hot that day). Part of the Australian Alps, it is the only place on the Australian continent to exhibit direct evidence of Quaternary glacial activity. Guided by Professors White and Yokoyama, we learnt about the Last Glacial Maximum and other cold periods creating cirques and glacial moraines in the landscape.

Prof. White


Group photo in the middle of huge granite outcrops and moraines

Hadley Tern in the background
Chilling amongst the wildflowers and moraines

Our place of accommodation for all 3 nights was the ANU University House. Located on the expansive ANU campus itself with beautiful surrounds and comfortable rooms, with the city centre just a short walk away, we couldn't have asked for more.



Clouds illuminated by the setting sun, seen on the way back to ANU from the city centre