Tectonics Special Research Centre

Dr Myra Keep

Position: Senior Lecturer, Structural Geology and Basin Tectonics

Tectonics Special Research Centre
School of Earth and Geographical Sciences (M004)
The University of Western Australia, Crawley WA 6009

Telephone: +61 (08) 6488 7198
Fax: +61 (08) 6488 1037 
Email: mkeep@tsrc.uwa.edu.au

Research Affiliations

  • Tectonics Special Research Centre

Teaching

  • Engineering Geology 251
  • Structural Geology and Geomechanics 264
  • Structural Geology and Tectonics 365

 

 

 

Research Programs

  • Neogene tectonic history of the North West Shelf, Australia
         

Collision of the Australian Plate with the Banda Arc approximately 25 Ma caused deformation along the entire North West Shelf.  Deformation is strongly partitioned in areas of different structural style.  Areas of left-lateral strike-slip deformation in the Timor Sea cause transtensional structures.  Areas of right-lateral deformation in the Browse Basin cause transpressional structures.  Larger-scale tectonic influences from the collision of Timor, subduction of the continent-ocean boundary and the uplift of Sumba may all contribute to the distribution of strain on the North West Shelf.  My students and I examine patterns of Neogene deformation in various basins and sub-basins of the North West Shelf, to identify and map Neogene faults, understand their linkage and examine the role of basement structures during reactivation.  Influences from both the Indonesian and Australian sides of the plate boundary need to be considered.  Recent and current projects include mapping of Neogene structures in the Timor Sea, Barcoo Sub-basin, Dampier Sub-basin and Ashmore Platform.

  •  Integrating Stress and Strain data for the North West Shelf
         

A new collaborative project with the NCPGG in Adelaide seeks to examine the link between contemporary stress and Neogene to Recent strain.  Orientations of principal horizontal stress vary considerably between the Timor Sea and Carnarvon Basin.  However, gaps in both the stress and strain databases do not allow a complete understanding of the stress or strain distributions.  This project seeks to accumulate both stress and strain data, and to examine the link between the two, to see if contemporary stress orientations can explain the orientation and reactivation of young fault systems. 
    

  • Analogue modelling of continental collisional processes


Analogue modelling of continental collision processes at Australia’s northern margin try to understand first-order controls on collision, and the effects of factors such as speed of collision, angle of obliquity of collision and angle of subduction dip.  Models use layers of silicone putty (lithosphere), floating in a tank of glucose (asthenosphere), which are driven by stepper motors.  I vary the thickness and shape of the lithosphere, the speed and angle of collision, and am currently trying to generate transitional lithosphere in order to model subduction.
     

Current Postdoctoral Researchers

  • Dr. Mathew Harrowfield
  • Dr. Warwick Crowe


Current Ph.D. Projects

  • Jane Cunneen: - Neogene reactivation history of the NW Shelf. Sponsored by Woodside Petroleum and Shell Australia.

Current MSc. Projects

  • Nathan Palmer: - Tectonic controls on reactivation and inversion in the Dampier Sub-basin, NW Shelf.  Sponsored by Woodside Petroleum, Santos, AGIP, MERIWA.

Current Honours Projects

  • Neogene deformation associated with the Long Island transfer fault, Carnarvon Basin (Felicity Lunt, sponsored by Apache Energy).

Completed Honours Projects

2001

  • Louisa Beck: “Structural architecture of an active orogenic wedge, Timor Sea, Australia”.  Sponsored by Woodside Energy

2000

  • Dan Pickering: Structural evolution of exploration permit 389, onshore Perth Basin, Western Australia”.  Sponsored by Empire Oil and Gas
  •  Felicity Lunt: “Neogene deformation associated with the Long Island transfer fault, Carnarvon Basin” . Sponsored by Apache Energy

1999

  •  Martyn Clough: "Neogene deformation in the Timor Sea", sponsored by Woodside Petroleum.

1998

  • Anna Bishop: "Neogene Structural History of the Barcoo sub-basin, Browse Basin, North West Shelf, Australia", sponsored by Woodside Offshore Petroleum Pty.
  • Jenny Safstrom, Curtin University: "Neogene Structural History of the Barrow sub-basin, Carnarvon Basin, North West Shelf, Australia".

Click here for a list of publications.