b'Education matters makers in the Basra governance in orderAndriana Stoddart, Australian Nationaldust sources may potentially be able to reduce and improve the negativeUniversity: Characterising the magneticto provide a means for identifying environment/human interventionsmineralogy of Australian dust source areas. dust provenance, doing so accurately impacting the whole environment setuprequires an understanding of the along the channel and threatening theThe Australian dust cycle has anlimitations involved with using such economy and freshwater supply to Basraextensive inuence on the environment,environmental parameters. It is city and surrounding agricultural areas. extending from iron cycling in oceanicrecommended that future analysis ecosystems to the transportation ofof the full coercivity distribution dusts to major cities. Investigations intoof deatable dusts is employed for MSc/MPhil theses mechanisms governing the Australianaccurately characterising the magnetic Xiaoran Wang, Australian Nationaldust cycle predominantly involve a dustmineral properties of dusts in regions. University: Mass balance change in Westsink analysis, focusing on the magneticAdditionally, while alternative methods Antarctica, focusing on the accuracy ofmineralogy of marine sedimentsfor dust provenance may provide techniques and consequences of differentwithout consideration of the magneticsufficient detail to delineate dust estimated spatial patterns. mineralogy of dust sources. Suchsources, it is also recommended that analysis limits efforts to understandfuture investigations supplement the In this thesis, I discuss the spatialthe Australian dust cycle, therefore thissample set used in this study to enable patterns of mass balance change ininvestigation involved exploring thea more comprehensive data set for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)magnetic mineralogy of dust sources,analysis.estimated by satellite laser-altimetrynamely Australian desert regions. mission and three different publishedUsing samples collected from majorJulian Diaz Rodriguez, University of GRACE (the Gravity Recovery anddune elds across Australia, commonlySydney: Predicting the emplacement Climate Experiment) mass concentrationemployed environmental parametersof Cordilleran porphyry copper systems (mascon) solutions. In addition towere used to test if magnetic mineralusing a spatio-temporal machine learning the various native spatial resolutions,properties have the potential tomodel.mass balance estimates generated bydetermine the provenance of aeolian Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)dust preserved in marine sediments. By displays an obvious different smoothobserving the range of environmental spatial pattern both in the monthlymagnetic parameters obtained for mass anomalies and the long-termdistinct bioregions, based on the mass balance trend. The main aim ofInterim Biogeographic Regionalisation this project is to identify whether thefor Australia, it was established that cause of different spatial patterns isAustralian deserts display a complex and the construction of the regularizationvariable array of magnetic properties matrix (the key component in GRACEthat cannot be readily differentiated. mascon solutions). Experiments in theAdditionally, by sieving samples to static state normal equations fromobtain fractions representative of the ANU GRACE mascon solutionsaeolian dust, the magnetic mineralogy identify that the smooth property isof deatable Australian dust was found derived from the nonzero covarianceto consist of a large low coercivity between the mascon blocks and thecomponent alongside a highly variable diagonal constraints only calculated byhigh coercivity component. Such the mascons distance-related value inresults challenge the commonly held WAIS. The different correlation distanceassumption that the magnetic mineral also has an influence. Besides, priorassemblage of dusts is dominated by constraint correlations generated byhigh coercivity material. Furthermore, the geographical models could losecommonly employed parameters the regional signal in other areas wheredesigned to identify relative and GRACE mascon solutions are popularlyabsolute abundances of high and low applied to research. Considering allcoercivity magnetic minerals were foundPorphyry copper systems occur along the effects, a modified regularizationto be inaccurate. This was establishedmagmatic belts derived in subduction matrix is generated; this modifiedto be the result of typical laboratoryzones. Current understanding of their approach reduces the workload andelds being incapable of magneticallyformation is restricted to overriding is more suitable for the differentsaturating samples, as well as the use ofplate observations, resulting in a spatial-resolution ANU mascons. Theconventional methods that neglect theknowledge gap with processes estimated mass balance based on thisoverlap of behaviours when separatingoccurring in the convergence zones regularization matrix doesnt displaymagnetic mineral components basedthrough time. An association between smooth characteristics in spatialon coercivity. Such limitations resultkey tectonic processes and the timing patterns and agrees with the previouslyin abundances of high coercivityand location of these systems requires published results. This project enhancesmaterial being underestimated, whichlinking geological observations to the understanding of GRACE masconcould impact the interpretation ofplate tectonic subduction models. This solutions and is helpful to obtainparameters and inferences concerningthesis is connecting the evolution of high-accuracy mass change balancedust quantication and characterisation.subduction zones and down-going slab estimates in WAIS. While investigations into Australianproperties with the history of porphyry DECEMBER 2021 PREVIEW 40'