Alan T. Baxter

“A new geological map of the Lau Basin (SW Pacific Ocean) reveals crustal growth processes in arc-backarc systems”, research led by Meg Stewart at Mount Royal University, was published online at GSA’s open-access journal Geosphere. It discusses the development of a new 1:1,000,000 lithostratigraphic map of the Lau Basin, which is a type-example of an active back-arc basin, located in the SW Pacific Ocean. The map was constructed using remote predicitve mapping techniques and provides a new way to quantify the amount and distribution of different types of crust in the oceans. It also helps to better understand how active back-arc basins form and evolve over time.

“Geologic and Structural Evolution of the NE Lau Basin, Tonga: Morphotectonic Analysis and Classification of Structures using Shallow Seismicity“, research led by Melissa Anderson at the University of Toronto, was recently accepted for publication at the open access journal Frontiers in Earth Science. This research incorporates remote predictive mapping and morphotectonic analysis to better understand how subduction-transform motion influences the structural and magmatic evolution of the northeast Lau back-arc basin.

Our paper, linking seafloor structures mapped in the Lau Basin to shallow seismic events, was recently accepted at the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. We digitised over 4000 seafloor lineaments and compared them to the nodal planes of shallow CMTs in the region. We used this new data set to classify new plate boundary segments, where possible. This study highlights that back-arc basins stress regimes are highly variable and are not exclusively extensional. Check out the paper here.

The German research vessel, RV Polarstern, is currently in the Southern Ocean investigating hydrothermal vents and cold seeps within the Sandwich microplate. They have live streaming of their Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV MARUM QUEST) available at this website.

This week I started at the University of Ottawa as a Research Associate. I will be working on modern oceans and how they relate to ore bearing provinces in Canada. If you would like to learn more about the project click here!

Last week I flew down to New Orleans to attend and present at the AGU Fall Meeting. It was a great conference, I got to meet up with my old shipmates from Expedition 344 and 354 and other colleagues and friends from around the world. I attended many great talks and I have a long list of new research ideas to work on. The post-conference part wasn’t too bad either!

A second paper from the IODP Expedition 352 project I was working on over the last year was accepted at Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. It focuses on the tephra history of the IBM forearc sediments. Congrats to all involved!

“Tephrostratigraphy and provenance from IODP Expedition 352, Izu-Bonin arc: tracing tephra sources and volumes from the Oligocene to the Recent” Kutterolf, S., Schindlbeck, J.C., Robertson, A.H.F., Avery, A., Baxter, A.T., Petronotis, K. and Wang. K-L. In press at Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

An analysis of submarine landslides offshore Yamba NSW Australia: implications for their timing, downslope motion and possible triggers | Hubble, T.C.T., Yeung, S.J., Clarke, S.L., Baxter, A.T. and De Blasio, F. Accepted. Geological Society of London’s Special Publication: Assessing Geohazards, Environmental Implications and Economic Significance of Subaqueous Landslides, Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences (8th), edited by D. Mosher et al.

ANU Press just released a new book entitled “Australian and New Zealand achievements in the first phase of IODP Scientific Ocean Drilling (2008-2013)“ which chronicles the scientific accomplishments of the first phase of IODP. It specifically recounts how Australian and New Zealand scientists have contributed to the program. I was invited to contribute to this book and gave a personal account of my time on the ship. If you would like to read it, the ebook can be downloaded for free by clicking on the title above.