Jonathan is a Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES) at The University of Queensland. Originally from New Zealand, he grew up on an active plate boundary where the rocks and types of landscapes he studies are generated. After graduating with a BSc Hons and MSc at the University of Otago and a stint in Antarctica, he studied in Japan as a Monbusho Schol at Niigata University. Following that he came to Australia where he undertook PhD studies at UNE focussing on the tectonic evolution of the New England orogen using radiolarian microfossils to determine the ages of marine rocks and constrain the timing of tectonic events. On completion of his PhD, he participated in the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Expedition 126 to the Izu-Bonin-Marianas system as a micropaleontologist to investigate intra-oceanic island arc development. He then returned to Japan to take up a JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) postdoctoral fellowship at Kochi University examining radiolarians in subduction complex rocks on the island of Shikoku. After spending five years during the early 1990s at the Department of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Sydney, he moved to the University of Hong Kong in 1995. At HKU he led the HKU Tibet Research Group and has now worked for over two decades on the India-Asia collision system. Most of his work involves using microfossils to constraint the ages of different rocks and thereby deduce the timing of tectonic events. We was Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at HKU from 2003-2009. In 2011, he returned to Australia and the University of Sydney after accepting the Edgeworth David Chair of Geology. Professor Aitchison commenced with UQ as Head of the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management in February 2015 until the end of 2016 when this school was merged with Earth Sciences to become the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He was busy with duties and responsibilities as head of this very large school from 2017 through 2021. Now free to get on with his research, Jonathan maintains active programs in both micropaleontology and tectonics including: Early Paleozoic radiolarian evolution and development of microCT imaging techniques for microfossils, the India-Asia collision system, tectonics of eastern Gondwana, as well as paleobiogeography in Galapagos and the Indian Ocean. He has recently commenced an exciting investigation into deep recycling of organic carbon and the possibility that 'biodiamond's might occur in ophiolites of the SW Pacific region.
Grant has degrees in both Chemistry and Earth Sciences and is presently focused on assessing the environmental impact of fluid-rock interactions on groundwater chemistry. This entails a variety of rock characterisation techniques (elemental, mineralogical, petrophysical), benchtop sequential extraction experiments, and pressure vessel experiments that mimic in-situ conditions deep underground, with data then fed into geochemical modelling software. The analytical equipment that Grant has operated to achieve his research outcomes includes ICP-MS, ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, Microprobe, XRF, Synchrotron XFM beamline, Petrographic Microscopes (both scanning and standard), Gas Permeameter, Helium Pycnometer, Pressure Vessels, etc. Grant also has an active interest in the geological storage of carbon dioxide, both via injection into deep geological formations and direct atmospheric capture facilitated by rock weathering to form stable carbonate rocks (mineral trapping of CO2). In the past, Grant has studied natural carbonate mineralisation (both veins and cement) throughout the Great Artesian Basin, to explore the variety of natural conditions that promote the transformation of CO2 into minerals. Early in his research career, Grant participated in paleo-climate research projects that involved botanically describing and assessing the cell morphology of fossil woods, coal petrography, studying coral cores, and picking foraminifera recovered from the sea floor.
I am a sedimentary geochemist, and I work on a variety of problems in sedimentary geology, paleoclimate, and basin analysis through the use of petrology, elemental geochemistry, and stable isotope geochemistry. I run the Carbonate Research and Geochemistry group at UQ, where we have a variety of facilities for sample petrology, carbonate precipitation under controlled environmental conditions, and geochemical analysis. Several active and potential research areas are outlined below.
Clumped Isotope Reordering and Basin Analysis
Currently we are investigating clumped isotope reordering - the change that occurs in a sample's clumped isotope value as a result of solid-state diffusion of 18O and/or 13C within the crystal lattice of a carbonate mineral. This is important to understand for two reasons. First, if we are trying to get accurate paleoclimate data using clumped isotope paleothermometry, we need to know what conditions (burial depth and heating) allow for primary signals, and under which conditions the primary signal is lost. Second, if we know the kinetics of clumped isotope reordering, we can then apply that knowledge to understand past heat flow in a basin. Combined with a stratigraphic column and burial history for a body of rock, we can reconstruct geothermal gradients, and evaluate tectonic/basin models based on whether they could produce the required heat flux to match observed clumped isotope values. Areas of active research include precipitating model carbonates in the lab to study the effects of different cations, burial diagenesis, and applications to sediment hosted ore bodies/other economic systems.
Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis
Carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis is one of our active research areas, with a focus on combining laboratory experiments, modern analogues, and ancient rocks to understand the long term evolution of carbonates and other sediments. Clumped isotopes are useful here as it turns out they do record the temperature of formation in most cases, and can be applied to a variety of problems, such as contemporary dolomite formation, or the temperature of formation of otherwise engimatic carbonate textures, such as 'beef' calcites. We are also interested in the sedimentation and diagenesis of carbonate reefs, such as the geological history of the Great Barrier Reef, and are currently studying the halogen composition of carbonates, reef rocks and corals, and oceanic sediments in general.
Paleoclimate Research
I have been interested in paleoclimate since I took my first geology class at Northwestern. Since then, I've worked on a variety of timescales and systems, but the common theme has been the application of stable isotopes and clumped isotopes. Clumped isotopes are a wonderful tool for paleoclimate research in situations where the water oxygen isotope composition is uncertain, such as terrestrial and lacustrine settings, deep time where even the oxygen isotopic composition of the ocean is uncertain, or even in (relatively) more modern systems that might be affected by runoff or glacial meltwater. Active projects and areas of interest include Holocene climate change/ENSO, Southern Ocean Cenozoic paleoclimatology, and 'bizzare' climate events such as the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth glaciations.
Degrees and Positions Held
2008 B.A. Geological Sciences and Integrated Sciences (Honors), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
2014 Ph.D. Geology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
2014-2017 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
2017-2019 Berg-Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
2019-Present Lecturer in Geochemistry, University of Queensland
Gilbert Price is a Senior Lecturer in Palaeontology at The University of Queensland. He is a vertebrate palaeoecologist and geochronologist, particularly interested in the evolution and emergence of our planet’s unique ecosystems and fauna, and their response to prehistoric climatic changes. His major research focus has been on the development of palaeoecological models for Australia’s Cenozoic, especially the Quaternary megafauna. Critically, this also involves the production of reliably-dated records for the fossils that he studies. You can follow Gilbert on Twitter (@TheFatWombat) and read his reserach blog at www.diprotodon.com.
