Project PLATO is an ARC Linkage project as a collaboration between the EarthByte Group and Lithodat.
CIs, PIs and AIs include
- Dietmar Müller (Usyd)
- Maria Seton (Usyd)
- Sabin Zahirovic (Usyd)
- Sara Polanco (Usyd)
- Brent McInnes (Curtin Univ.)
- Fabian Kohlmann (Lithodat)
In addition, Dr Ehsan Farahbakhsh is a research fellow and Elnaz Heidari is a PhD student in the project. Michael Chin (Usyd) is involved in connecting Lithodat and AuScope AusGeochem data to the GPlates Web Service to make them reconstructable.
Other researchers involved in the project include Addison Tu, who did his Honours research project as part of the project in 2023, and Sam Boone, who was involved in co-supervising Addison.
The aims of the project are to:
- Integrate Lithodat and open-access geochemistry data with our plate tectonic software and Python library and global tectonic plate and terrane models to enable next generation resource prospectivity mapping
- Enable cloud-based reconstruction and visualisation of Lithodat and AusGeochem data through a web interface
- Apply machine learning algorithms to multidimensional data analysis to discover associations between the formation of Cordilleran ore deposits with their geochemical signatures and key subduction parameters (see Figure below)
- Apply surface and exhumation process models to constrain the history of uplift, erosion and preservation of copper ores in Cordilleran settings
PLATO includes research on porphyry deposits in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the central Tethys.
Porphyry copper-gold deposits (A) are known to form under specific conditions along Cordilleran mountain belts. Important parameters include plate convergence rates (B), sediment thickness on the downgoing plate (related to downgoing volatiles, C), distance from the nearest edge of the subduction system and crustal thickness on the overriding plate.
