Three-dimensional subduction models of overriding plate deformation and mantle flow using laboratory and numerical methods

A fundamental unresolved question in geology is how do the tectonic plates that cover the Earth's surface
interact at subduction zones, places where one plate (subducting plate) sinks below another plate (overriding
plate) into the Earth's interior (mantle). This project will investigate how the subducting plate, overriding plate
and mantle interact with each other using plate kinematic calculations and state-of-the-art three-dimensional
geodynamic models of progressive free subduction. Outcomes will include new insight into the style and
degree of deformation of overriding plates bordering subduction zones, and will thereby enhance our
understanding of the tectonic evolution of the Australian plate during the last 100 million years.