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Professor Dietmar Müller, PhD

Dietmar Muller

Professor of Geophysics and Australian Laureate Fellow

Madsen Building (F09), Rm 406
Phone: +61 2 9036 6533
Fax: +61 2 9351 0184
Email:
Web: Personal pages

Research Interests and brief CV

Dietmar Müller received his undergraduate degree from the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel in Germany, followed by a PhD in Earth Science from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego/California in 1993. After joining the University of Sydney as a Lecturer in Geophysics in 1993, he established the University of Sydney Institute of Marine Science and built the EarthByte e-research group. The EarthByters are known for pursuing open innovation, involving the collaborative development of open-source software as well as global digital data sets made available under a creative commons license. One of the fundamental aims of the EarthByte Group is geodata synthesis through space and time, assimilating the wealth of disparate geological and geophysical data into a four-dimensional Earth model.
Professor Müller's achievements have been acknowledged by winning the year 2000 Fresh Science Prize, awarded by the British Council and ScienceNOW, followed by the Carey Medal in 2004 for his contributions to the understanding of global tectonics. In 2006, he was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and in 2009 he was awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship. Currently (January to July 2010) he is visiting Professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, funded by a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) Mercator Fellowship. His research interests include marine geology and geophysics, plate tectonics, geodynamics, continental margin evolution, deep Earth natural resources, paleoclimate and seafloor imaging. Currently funded research projects include:

AuScope EarthByte e-research infrastructure development, NCRIS, 2007-2011, CI: R.D. Müller

Integrating deep-earth and surface processes for frontier-basin exploration, ARC Linkage, 2009-2011, CI/PI: R.D. Müller, G. Iaffaldano, C. Heine, M. Ross, P. Unternehr

The Subduction Reference Framework: unravelling the causes of long-term sea-level change, ARC Discovery, 2009-2012, CI: R.D. Müller, M. Sdrolias, M. Gurnis. T. Torsvik

Planet-scale reorganizations of the plate-mantle system, ARC Discovery, 2009-2011, PI/CI: R.D. Müller, G. Morra

Gondwanaland extension, breakup and continental margin evolution, StatoilHydro Industry Grant, 2009-2011, PI/CI: R.D. Müller

Dynamic Earth Models and Surface Maps for South America, StatoilHydro Industry Grant, 2009-2011, PI/CI: R.D. Müller, M. Gurnis

Worldwide Universities Network Paleo-Map Maker, International Program Development Fund, 2009-2010, PI: R.D. Müller

The Virtual Geological Observatory: a four dimensional view into the Earth through deep-time data-mining, Australian Laureate Fellowship, 2009-2014, CI: R.D. Müller

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Selected Publications

  • Rey, P.F. and Müller, R.D., 2010, Fragmentation of Active Continental Plate Margins Owing to the Buoyancy of the Mantle Wedge, Nature Geoscience, 3, 257-261, DOI: 10.1038/NGEO825.
  • Liu, L., Gurnis, M., Seton, M., Saleeby, J., Müller, R.D., Jackson, J.M., 2010, Predictions of oceanic plateau subduction beneath North America and new insights into the Laramide Orogeny, Nature Geoscience, in press.
  • Heine, C., Müller, R.D., DiCaprio, L. and Steinberger, B., 2010, Integrating deep Earth dynamics in paleogeographic reconstructions of Australia, Tectonophysics, 483, 135-150.
  • Di Caprio, L., Müller, R.D., and Gurnis, M., 2010, A dynamic process for drowning carbonate reefs on the Northeastern Australian Margin, Geology, 38, 11-14, doi: 10.1130/G30217.1
  • Seton, M. , Gaina, C., Müller R.D. and Heine, C., 2009, Mid-Cretaceous seafloor spreading pulse: fact or fiction?, Geology, 37, 687-690.
  • Herold, N., You, Y., Müller, R.D. and Sdrolias, M., 2009, Climate model sensitivity to changes in Miocene paleotopography, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 56, 1049-1059.
  • Tong, J.A., You, Y., Müller, R.D. and Seton, M., 2009, Climate Model Sensitivity to Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations for the Middle Miocene, Global and Planetary Change, 67, 129-140.
  • You, Y., Huber, M., Müller, R.D., Poulsen, C.J., and Ribbe, J., 2009, Simulation of the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum, Geophysical Research Letters 36, L04702, doi:10.1029/2008GL036571.
  • Becker, T.W., Conrad, C.P., Buffett, B. and Müller, R.D., 2009, Past and present seafloor age distributions and the temporal evolution of plate tectonic heat transport , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 278, 233-242
  • Di Caprio, L., Gurnis, M. and Müller, R.D., 2009, Long-wavelength Tilting of the Australian Continent since the Late Cretaceous, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 278, 175-185.
  • Di Caprio, L., Müller, R.D., Gurnis, M. and Goncharov, A., 2009, Linking active margin dynamics to overriding plate deformation: Synthesizing geophysical images with geological data from the Norfolk Basin , Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 10, Q01004, DOI:10.1029/2008GC002222
  • You, Y., Huber, M., Müller, R.D., Poulsen, C.J., and Ribbe, J., Simulation of the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum, Geophysical Research Letters 36, L04702, DOI:10.1029/2008GL036571.
  • Clark, S.R., and Müller, R.D., 2008, Convection models with imposed plate motion and thermal histories, Journal of Geodynamics , 46, 1-9
  • Clark, S.R., Stegman, D. and Müller, R.D., 2008, Episodicity in back-arc tectonic regimes, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Special Volume on Computational Geology and Geodynamics, edited by B.J.P. Kaus, T.V. Gerya and D.W. Schmid, 171, 265-279
  • Dyksterhuis, S., and Müller, R.D., 2008, Cause and evolution of intraplate orogeny in Australia, Geology 36, 495-498
  • Heine, C., Müller, R.D., Steinberger, B. and Torsvik, T., 2008, Anomalous subsidence in intracontinental basins, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Special Volume on Computational Geology and Geodynamics, edited by B.J.P. Kaus, T.V. Gerya and D.W. Schmid, 171, 252-264
  • Heine, C., and Müller, R. D., 2008, The IntraCONtinental basinS (ICONS) atlas: applications in eastern Australia, Eastern Australasian Basins III, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Special Publ., 275-290.
  • Herold, N., Seton, M., Müller, R.D., You, Y. and Huber, M., 2008, Middle Miocene tectonic boundary conditions for use in climate models, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol 9, 10, Q10009, DOI:10.1029/2008GC002046.
  • Maus, S., Yin, F., Lühr, H., Manoj, C., Rother, M., Rauberg, J., Michaelis, I., Stolle, C. and Müller, R.D., 2008, Resolution of direction of oceanic magnetic lineations by the sixth-generation lithospheric magnetic field model from CHAMP satellite magnetic measurements, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol 9, 7, Q07021, DOI:10.1029/2008GC001949.
  • Müller, R.D., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C. Steinberger, B. and Heine, C., 2008, Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics, Science, , 319, 1357-1362, DOI: 10.1126/science.115154.
  • Müller, R.D., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C. and Roest, W.R., 2008, Age, spreading rates and spreading asymmetry of the world's ocean crust, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 9, Q04006, DOI:10.1029/2007GC001743.
  • Spasojevic, S., Liu, L., Gurnis, M., and Müller, R.D. 2008, The case for dynamic subsidence of the U.S. east coast since the Eocene, Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L08305, DOI:10.1029/2008GL033511.
  • Torsvik, T.H., Müller, R.D., Van der Voo, R., Steinberger, B. and Gaina, C. 2008, Global plate motion frames: Toward a unified model, Reviews of Geophysics, 46, RG3004/2008.
  • Whittaker, J., Müller, R. D., Roest, W.R., Wessel, P. and Smith, W.H.F., 2008 How supercontinents and superoceans affect seafloor roughness, Nature 456: 938-942.
  • Whittaker, J.M., Müller, R.D., Leitchenkov, G., Stagg, H., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C., and Goncharov, A., 2008, Response to comment on "major Australian-Antarctic plate reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor bend time" , Science, v. 321, p. U23-U24.
  • Xie, X., Müller, R.D., Ren, J., Jiang, T., and Zhang, C., 2008, Stratigraphic architecture and evolution of the continental slope system in offshore Hainan, northern South China Sea, Marine Geology, 247, 129-144
  • Dyksterhuis, S., Rey, P., Müller, R.D., & Moresi, L. 2007, Effects of Initial Weakness on Rift Architecture, In: Imaging, Mapping and Modelling Continental Lithosphere Extension and Breakup, eds: Karner, G., Manatschal, G. and Pinheiro, L., Geological Society of London Special Publication, 282, 443-455, DOI: 10.1144/SP282.18
  • Dyksterhuis, S., Müller, R.D., Rey, P. and Moresi, L., 2007, A Graphical User Interface for Particle-in-Cell Finite Element Analysis of lithospheric deformation and mantle convection in two dimensions, Computers and Geosciences, 33, 1088-1093.
  • Gaina, C, Müller, R.D., Brown, B., Ishihara, T. and Ivanov, S., 2007, Breakup and early seafloor spreading between India and Antarctica, Antarctica, Geophysical Journal International, DOI:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03450.x, 1-19.
  • Gaina, C. and Müller, R.D., 2007, Cenozoic tectonic and depth/age evolution of the Indonesian gateway and associated back-arc basins, Earth Science Reviews, 83, 177-203.
  • Goyette, S., Takatsuka, M., Clark, S., Müller, R.D., Rey, P., and Stegman, D., 2007, Increasing the Usability and Accessibility of Geodynamic Modelling Tools to the Geoscience Community: UnderworldGUI, Visual Geosciences, DOI 10.1007/s10069-007-0006-3.
  • Müller, R.D., 2007, An Indian Cheetah, Nature 449, 795-797.
  • Müller, R.D. and Eagles, S., 2007, Mapping seabed geology by textural image/neural network classification of acoustic backscatter mosaics, Mathematical Geology 39, (6).
  • Müller, R.D., Gohl, K., Cande, S.C., Goncharov, A. and Golynsky, A., 2007, Eocene to Miocene geometry of the West Antarctic Rift System, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 54, 1033-1045
  • Müller, R.D. and Dyksterhuis, S., 2007, Current and palaeo-stress models for central Australian Basins, In: Proceedings of the Central Australian Basins Symposium, Alice Springs, August, 2005 eds: Munson TJ and Ambrose GJ, Northern Territory Geological Survey Special Publication 2, 1-9.
  • Wessel, P., & Müller, R.D. 2007, Plate Tectonics, In: Treatise on Geophysics Elsevier Vol 6. 49-98
  • Whittaker, J., Müller, R.D., Leitchenkov, G., Stagg, H., Sdrolias, M., Gaina, C. and Goncharov, A., 2007, Major Australian-Antarctica Plate Reorganization at Hawaiian-Emperor Bend Time, Science, 318, 83-86, DOI:10.1126/science.1143769
  • Whittaker, J., Müller, R.D., Sdrolias, M. and Heine, C., 2007, Sunda-Java trench kinematics, slab window formation and overriding plate deformation since the Cretaceous, Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 255, 445-457, DOI:10.1016/j.epsl.2006.12.031
  • Brown, B., Gaina, C. and Müller, R.D., 2006, Circum-Antarctic
    palaeobathymetry: illustrated examples from Cenozoic to Recent times, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology, 231, 158-168.
  • O'Neill, C., Moresi, L., Müller, R.D., Albert, R. and Dufour, F., 2006, Ellipsis 3D: a particle-in-cell finite element hybrid code for modelling mantle convection and lithospheric deformation, Computers and Geosciences, 32, 1769-1799.
  • Sdrolias, M. and Müller, R.D., 2006, Controls on back-arc basin formation, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. Vol. 7, Q04016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005GC001090.
  • Whittaker, J. and Müller, R.D., 2006, Seismic Stratigraphy of the Adare Trough Area, Antarctica, Marine Geology, 230, 179-197
  • Xie, X., Müller, R.D., Li, S., Gong, Z., and Steinberger, B., 2006, Origin of anomalous subsidence along the northern South China Sea Margin and its relationship to dynamic topography, Marine and Petroleum Geology, 23, 745-765.
  • Dyksterhuis, S., Müller, R.D. and Albert, R., 2005, Palaeo-stress field evolution of the Australian continent since the Eocene, Journal of Geophysical Research. 110, B05102 DOI:10.1029/2003JB002728, 13pp
  • Dyksterhuis, S., Albert, R. and Müller, R.D., 2005, Finite element modelling of intraplate stress using ABAQUS, Computers and Geosciences 31, 297-307.
  • Finn, C.A., Müller, R.D., and Panter, K. S., 2005, A Cenozoic alkaline magmatic province in the SW Pacific without rift or plume origin, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 6, No 1, DOI:10.1029/2004GC000723, 26pp.
  • Heine, C., and Müller, R.D., 2005, Late Jurassic Rifting Along the Australian Northwest Shelf: Margin Geometery and Spreading Ridge Configuration, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 52, 27-39
  • Müller, R.D., Cande, S.C., Stock, J.M., and Keller, W.R., 2005, Crustal Structure and Rift Flank Uplift of the Adare Trough, Antarctica, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 6, Q11010, DOI:10.1029/2005GC00102
  • Müller, R.D., Goncharov, A., and Kritski, A., 2005, Geophysical Evaluation of the Enigmatic Bedout Basement High, Offshore Northwestern Australia, Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 237, 264-284
  • O'Neill, C., Müller, R.D., and Steinberger, B., 2005, On the uncertainties in hotspot reconstructions, and the significance of moving hotspot reference frames, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 6, No 4, DOI:10.1029/2004GC000784, 35pp.
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