Low-temperature thermochronology is a powerful tool for constraining the thermal evolution of rocks and minerals in relation to a breadth of tectonic, geodynamic, landscape evolution, and natural ...resource formation processes through deep time. However, complexities inherent to these analytical techniques can make interpreting the significance of results challenging, requiring them to be placed in their geological context in 4-dimensions (3D + time). We present a novel tool for the geospatial archival, analysis and dissemination of fission-track and (U-Th)/He data, built as an extension to the open-access AusGeochem platform ( https://ausgeochem.auscope.org.au ) and freely accessible to scientists from around the world. To demonstrate the power of the platform, three regional datasets from Kenya, Australia and the Red Sea are placed in their 4D geological, geochemical, and geographic contexts, revealing insights into the tectono-thermal evolutions of these areas. Beyond facilitating data interpretation, the archival of fission track and (U-Th)/He (meta-)data in relational schemas unlocks future potential for greater integration of thermochronology and numerical geoscience techniques. The power of formatting data to interface with external tools is demonstrated through the integration of GPlates Web Service with AusGeochem, enabling thermochronology data to be readily viewed in their paleogeographic context through deep time from within the platform.
Determining the timing of post-Caledonian brittle faulting in northern Norway is important for the understanding of the extensional tectonic evolution of the north Norwegian continental margin. Fault ...gouges from the Troms and Vesterålen regions of northern Norway yield Carboniferous to Permian and Carboniferous to Cretaceous K–Ar illite ages, respectively. The results show a contrast in fault activity and exhumation between the Troms and the Vesterålen regions: while major faulting in the Troms region appears to have ceased after the Permian faulting event, faulting continued into at least the Cretaceous in the Vesterålen region. The findings highlight the importance of a widespread Permian tectonic event followed by a distinct southwestward migration of post-Permian tectonic activity on the north Norwegian passive margin. Late Triassic to Early Jurassic apatite fission track ages do not show significant age offsets across major fault zones in Troms, indicating that most or all of fault activity took place prior to the Late Triassic. The thermal history models are consistent and indicate continuous cooling to about 60°C in the Late Permian–Triassic.
•New K–Ar illite and AFT ages from onshore northern Norway•Timing of post-Caledonian brittle extensional faulting and exhumation•Widespread Permian brittle faulting event onshore and offshore•The location of the extensional deformation migrated southwestward post-Permian.
The majority of geochemical and cosmochemical research is based upon observations and, in particular, upon the acquisition, processing and interpretation of analytical data from physical samples. The ...exponential increase in volumes and rates of data acquisition over the last century, combined with advances in instruments, analytical methods and an increasing variety of data types analysed, has necessitated the development of new ways of data curation, access and sharing. Together with novel data processing methods, these changes have enabled new scientific insights and are driving innovation in Earth and Planetary Science research. Yet, as approaches to data-intensive research develop and evolve, new challenges emerge. As large and often global data compilations increasingly form the basis for new research studies, institutional and methodological differences in data reporting are proving to be significant hurdles in synthesising data from multiple sources. Consistent data formats and data acquisition descriptions are becoming crucial to enable quality assessment, reusability and integration of results fostering confidence in available data for reuse. Here, we explore the key challenges faced by the geo- and cosmochemistry community and, by drawing comparisons from other communities, recommend possible approaches to overcome them. The first challenge is bringing together the numerous sub-disciplines within our community under a common international initiative. One key factor for this convergence is gaining endorsement from the international geochemical, cosmochemical and analytical societies and associations, journals and institutions. Increased education and outreach, spearheaded by ambassadors recruited from leading scientists across disciplines, will further contribute to raising awareness, and to uniting and mobilising the community. Appropriate incentives, recognition and credit for good data management as well as an improved, user-oriented technical infrastructure will be essential for achieving a cultural change towards an environment in which the effective use and real-time interchange of large datasets is common-place. Finally, the development of best practices for standardised data reporting and exchange, driven by expert committees, will be a crucial step towards making geo- and cosmochemical data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable by both humans and machines (FAIR).
To promote a more efficient and transparent geochemistry data ecosystem, a consortium of Australian university research laboratories called the AuScope Geochemistry Network assembled to build a ...collaborative platform for the express purpose of preserving, disseminating and collating geochronology and isotopic data. In partnership with geoscience‐data‐solutions company Lithodat Pty Ltd, the open, cloud‐based AusGeochem platform (https://ausgeochem.auscope.org.au) was developed to simultaneously serve as a geosample registry, a geochemical data repository and a data analysis tool. Informed by method‐specific groups of geochemistry experts and established international data reporting practices, community‐agreed database schemas were developed for rock and mineral geosample metadata and secondary ion mass spectrometry U‐Pb analysis, with additional models for laser ablation‐inductively coupled‐mass spectrometry U‐Pb and Lu‐Hf, Ar‐Ar, fission‐track and (U‐Th‐Sm)/He under development. Collectively, the AusGeochem platform provides the geochemistry community with a new, dynamic resource to help facilitate FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data management, streamline data dissemination and advanced quantitative investigations of Earth system processes. By systematically archiving detailed geochemical (meta‐)data in structured schemas, intractably large datasets comprising thousands of analyses produced by numerous laboratories can be readily interrogated in novel and powerful ways. These include rapid derivation of inter‐data relationships, facilitating on‐the‐fly data compilation, analysis and visualisation.
Key Points
AusGeochem is an open, cloud‐hosted geospatial platform for global geochemistry data.
It simultaneously serves as a geosample registry, geochemistry data repository and data interrogation tool, which can be accessed by external systems via its application programming interface.
Its relational database architecture enables analytics to be performed across geochemistry data types.
Determining the timing of post-Caledonian brittle faulting in northern Norway is important for the understanding of the extensional tectonic evolution of the north Norwegian continental margin. Fault ...gouges from the Troms and VesterAYlen regions of northern Norway yield Carboniferous to Permian and Carboniferous to Cretaceous KaAr illite ages, respectively. The results show a contrast in fault activity and exhumation between the Troms and the VesterAYlen regions: while major faulting in the Troms region appears to have ceased after the Permian faulting event, faulting continued into at least the Cretaceous in the VesterAYlen region. The findings highlight the importance of a widespread Permian tectonic event followed by a distinct southwestward migration of post-Permian tectonic activity on the north Norwegian passive margin. Late Triassic to Early Jurassic apatite fission track ages do not show significant age offsets across major fault zones in Troms, indicating that most or all of fault activity took place prior to the Late Triassic. The thermal history models are consistent and indicate continuous cooling to about 60 degree C in the Late Permian-Triassic.
Apatite fission track analysis and in particular, computer-assisted fission track recognition require the determination of crystallographic orientation, crystal morphology, cracks, fractures and ...inclusions. The selection of a crystal for fission track analysis has largely been based on its surface and track etching characteristics that, in conventional fission track dating, is performed by the analyst. This requires manual scanning of the entire mount for suitable grains, which is a very time-intensive process during manual fission track counting. Therefore, a computer-assisted grain characterisation system is of interest to allow for an automated pre-selection of suitable crystals. With the use of a fully automated Fabric Analyser,
c-axis orientations can be measured inside an apatite crystal for each pixel with a spatial resolution of 5
μm. The results are represented in
geometric quality and
retardation maps consisting of the
c-axis orientations for each pixel and two quality values evaluating each orientation. These maps allow the determination of the crystallography of the apatite grain as well as its outline. In addition, most of the crystal morphologies, fractures and impurities, which can influence automated fission track recognition techniques based on image analysis, are determinable using the quality maps. On the other hand, the method is not sensitive to smaller crystal cracks, high fission track densities or coating. The quantification of the crystal geometric properties by this method is a step forward to develop a fully automated fission track analysis process.
Determining the timing of post-Caledonian brittle faulting in northern Norway is important for the understanding of the extensional tectonic evolution of the north Norwegian continental margin. Fault ...gouges from the Troms and Vesterålen regions of northern Norway yield Carboniferous to Permian and Carboniferous to Cretaceous K–Ar illite ages, respectively. The results show a contrast in fault activity and exhumation between the Troms and the Vesterålen regions: while major faulting in the Troms region appears to have ceased after the Permian faulting event, faulting continued into at least the Cretaceous in the Vesterålen region. The findings highlight the importance of a widespread Permian tectonic event followed by a distinct southwestward migration of post-Permian tectonic activity on the north Norwegian passive margin. Late Triassic to Early Jurassic apatite fission track ages do not show significant age offsets across major fault zones in Troms, indicating that most or all of fault activity took place prior to the Late Triassic. The thermal history models are consistent and indicate continuous cooling to about 60 °C in the Late Permian–Triassic.
The post-Caledonian structural and morphological evolution of the North Sea rift margin in southwestern Norway is largely unresolved. A comprehensive understanding of the importance of onshore fault ...reactivation and the magnitude of crustal uplift has been hindered by the near absence of post-Devonian sediments. This study aims to delineate the tectonic history of the passive margin hinterland from the Permian onwards by means of apatite fission-track (AFT) analysis and (U-Th)/He thermochronology. AFT analysis has been performed on 32 samples from the steep flanks of the innermost segments of the Hardangerfjord. The resulting cooling ages range from Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous and define a general positive age-elevation trend that is locally disturbed by large age offsets, suggestive of post-Mid Jurassic faulting on the order of several hundred metres. Four samples from the Eidfjord and Ulvik districts have been analysed by the (U-Th)/He method, giving primarily Cretaceous single-grain ages. Thermal history modelling reveals two distinct episodes of accelerated cooling (2-6degreesC/Myr- super(1)), confined to the Permo-Triassic and the latest Cretaceous to Cenozoic. The high Permo-Triassic cooling rates may be explained by flexural rift-flank uplift and increased tectonic activity onshore as a response to rifting in adjacent offshore areas. Rapid exhumation throughout the Cenozoic is consistent with sustained elevated topography and periodic rejuvenation of relief as a result of local fault activity. In combination with previously reported AFT data, the results presented in this contribution suggest that faulting has exerted a major control on the overall morphology of the passive margin. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic exhumation history reflects a complex interplay between tectonic activity, flexural uplift and erosion.
Simple sensor-based procedures, including auscultation and electrocardiography (ECG), can facilitate early diagnosis of valvular diseases, resulting in timely treatment. This study assessed the ...impact of combining these sensor-based procedures with machine learning on diagnosing valvular abnormalities and ventricular dysfunction. Data from auscultation at three distinct locations and 12-lead ECGs were collected from 1052 patients undergoing echocardiography. An independent cohort of 103 patients was used for clinical validation. These patients were screened for severe aortic stenosis (AS), severe mitral regurgitation (MR), and left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) with ejection fractions ≤ 40%. Optimal neural networks were identified by a fourfold cross-validation training process using heart sounds and various ECG leads, and their outputs were combined using a stacking technique. This composite sensor model had high diagnostic efficiency (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values: AS, 0.93; MR, 0.80; LVD, 0.75). Notably, the contribution of individual sensors to disease detection was found to be disease-specific, underscoring the synergistic potential of the sensor fusion approach. Thus, machine learning models that integrate auscultation and ECG can efficiently detect conditions typically diagnosed via imaging. Moreover, this study highlights the potential of multimodal artificial intelligence applications.
Soft and flexible conductors are essential for the development of soft robots, wearable electronics, electronic tissue, and implants. However, conventional soft conductors are inherently ...characterized by a large change in conductance upon mechanical deformation or under alternating environmental conditions, e.g., humidity, drastically limiting their application potential. This work demonstrates a novel concept for the development of strain‐invariant, highly elastic and highly water stable all‐organic soft conductors, overcoming the limitations of previous strain‐invariant soft conductors. For the first time, thin film deposition technologies are combined in a three‐dimensional fashion, resulting in micro‐ and nano‐engineered, multi‐layered (<50 nm), ultra‐lightweight (< 15 mg cm−3) foam‐like framework structures based on Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), characterized by a highly strain‐invariant conductivity (≈184 S/m) between 80% compressive and 25% tensile strain. Both the initial electrical and mechanical properties are retained during long‐term cycling, even after 2000 cycles at 50% compression. Furthermore, the PTFE thin film renders the framework structure highly hydrophobic, resulting in stable electrical properties, even when immersed in water for a month. Such innovative multi‐scaled and multi‐layered functional materials are of interest for a broad range of applications in soft electronics, energy storage and conversion, sensing, water and air purification, as well as biomedicine.
Through the combination of different thin film technologies a foam‐like framework structure of Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) with strain‐variant conductance, plasticity during mechanical cycling and swelling due to water absorption is converted into a soft conductor with strain‐invariant conductance over a large range of compressive and tensile strain, super elastic deformation and water stability even after 30 days in water.
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