Dr Michael Wingate
Position: ARC Australian Research Fellow Tectonics Special Research Centre Telephone: +61 (08) 6488 2680 Research Affiliations
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ResearchMy principal areas of research expertise are in palaeomagnetism and SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology, particularly of mafic rocks, and in their integrated application towards reconstructing the configurations of continental blocks during Precambrian time. My recent work has focused on determining the relative positions of Neoproterozoic continents that might have been parts of the supercontinent Rodinia, and has involved projects in Australia, southern Africa, India, Siberia, and SE Asia. I have also used palaeomagnetism on regional scales, to elucidate structural relationships during Eocene core complex development in the southern Omineca Belt of western Canada. My current research aims to understand how and when Australia was assembled by comparing well-dated palaeomagnetic poles from its major crustal blocks to constrain the amounts of latitudinal separation between them at key times during the Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic. I also have an interest in the U-Pb geochronology of mafic rocks using the SHRIMP ion microprobes. I developed techniques for SHRIMP analysis of the mineral baddeleyite (ZrO2), and discovered an important crystal orientation effect that can impart significant bias to Pb/U ratios measured in baddeleyite by ion microprobe. I have applied baddeleyite and zircon U-Pb techniques to determine precise ages for a wide variety of mafic intrusive rocks in Australia and in other continents, and have upgraded several palaeomagnetic poles with accurate age information, a pre-requisite for their use in formulating reliable continental reconstructions.
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