Variations and controls on lithospheric thermal regimes in Southeast Australia
Surface heat flow variation in Victoria, Southeastern AustraliaPlain Language Summary
Understanding how heat flows through the Earth’s crust is crucial for assessing geothermal energy potential, understanding tectonic processes, and predicting the mechanical behaviour of rocks at depth. This study presents 182 new heat flow measurements and 66 heat production measurements from Southeastern Australia — a region where thermal data had previously been sparse.
The results reveal three distinct thermal zones within the region: the cooler Delamerian zone, the warmer Lachlan zone, and the highly variable Newer Volcanics zone. In the Newer Volcanics zone, which experienced volcanic eruptions within the last 8 million years, heat flow can vary dramatically over just a few kilometres. This extreme variability cannot be explained by steady-state models and is likely caused by lingering thermal disturbances from recent volcanic activity.
These findings provide important baseline data for evaluating geothermal resources in southeastern Australia and highlight how recent volcanism can create localised hot spots in the crust that persist long after eruptions have ceased.
I am an ARC Industry Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at The University of Melbourne. I am an expert in fusing Earth evolution models with data to understand how groundwater moves critical minerals through the landscape. Related research interests include the cycling of volatiles within the Earth, probabilistic thermal models of the lithosphere to unravel past tectonic and climatic events, and understanding the how enigmatic volcanoes form.
I am a vocal advocate for the integral role of geoscience in responding to challenges we face in transitioning to the carbon-neutral economy. As an expert in my field, I have been interviewed in national and international print media, TV, and radio on a wide variety of subjects including earthquakes, volcanoes, groundwater, and critical minerals.
