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A/Prof Patrice Rey, PhD

Associate Professor

Madsen Building (F09), Rm 437
Phone: +61 2 9351 2067
Fax: +61 2 9351 3644
Email:
Web: Personal pages

Research Interests

Patrice is a tectonicist interested in (1) the evolution of the continental lithosphere through tectonic processes, and (2) the evolution of tectonic processes through time. His research activities are therefore problem-driven and process-oriented. They are supported by research strategies involving quantitative multidisciplinary approaches, based on field work, numerical modelling and physical modelling. In the past Patrice has been working on the seismic structure of the continental crust and its relation to mountain building processes. He has produced work on the seismic reflectivity of ductile shear zones in the crust. In Europe he has worked on the evolution of the Variscan belt and its tectonic relationships with the Caledonides. In the last five years he has been investigating the tectonics processes that have shaped the surface of the early Earth in the Archaean era (4.03 to 2.5 Ga).

Patrice Rey has acted as main Chief Investigator in three successive ARC-funded research projects. The most recent, titled "From synchrotron characterization of single fluid inclusions to Archaean geodynamics: An integrated study of fluid-rock intereaction in the primitive crust.", has received $360,000 over the 2003-2005 period. The outline of this project is as follows:

In the primitive Earth, a wide range of phenomena including the initiation of biological activity and the formation of ore deposits were related to the mobilisation of mineralised fluids through the crust. In the Archaean craton of the Pilbara (WA), we have identified, within its tectonic framework, a crustal-scale plumbing system that channelled large volumes of mineralised hydrothermal solutions. Our objective is to understand the development of this plumbing system in relation to Archaean crustal geodynamics using a combination of structural geology, metamorphic petrology, geochronology, geochemistry, and the analysis of single-fluid inclusion using synchrotron and other X-ray sources. This research project is a collaborative effort involving an international team of geoscientists from Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Paris.

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Selected Publications

Digital version of Patrice's publications can be accessed here.

  • P.F. Rey, C. Teyssier and D. Whitney (2010). The limit of channel flow in orogenic plateaux, Lithosphere (in press).
  • P.F. Rey and R.D. Müller (2010). Fragmentation of active continental plate margins owing to the buoyancy of the mantle wedge. Nature Geoscience, v. 3, p. 257-261 (Highlights in News & Views, Microplate motion, by Christine Siddoway, Nature Geosciences).
  • D. L. Whitney, C. Teyssier and P. Rey, (2009). Consequences of crustal melting in continental subduction. Lithosphere, v.1, p. 323-327. (Research Highlights in Nature 462, 828 (17 December 2009) | doi:10.1038/462828e)
  • P.F. Rey, C. Teyssier, and D. Whitney, (2009). The Role of Partial Melting and Extensional Strain Rates in the Development of Metamorphic Core Complexes. In Chardon D., Rey P., Teyssier C. and Whitney D.L. (editors), Hot Orogen, Tectonophysics, v. 477, p. 135-144
  • P.F. Rey, C. Teyssier and D. Whitney (2009). Extension rates, crustal melting, and core complex dynamics. Geology, v. 37, 394-397.
  • N. Coltice, H. Bertrand, P.F. Rey, F. Jourdan, B. R. Phillips and Y. Ricard, (2008). Global warming of the mantle beneath continents back to the Archaean. Gondwana Resarch, doi:10.1016/j.gr.2008.10.001.
  • N. Flament, N. Coltice and P. Rey, (2008). A case for late-Archaean continental emergence from thermal evolution models and hypsometry. Earth Platet. Sci. Lett., doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.08.029. (News, NewScientist, v. 2689, December 2008: Ancient Earth was a Barren Waterworld, By David Shiga)
  • P.F. Rey and N. Coltice, (2008). Neoarchean strengthening of the lithosphere and the coupling of the Earth's geochemical reservoirs. Geology, v. 36, 635–638. (Research Highlights, Nature v. 454, 7, August 2008: The End of Flat Earth)
  • N. Thébaud, P. Philippot, P. Rey, J. Brugger, M. Van Kranendonk and N. Grassineau, (2008). Protracted fluid-rock interaction in the mid-Archaean and implication for gold mineralization: Example from the Warrawoona Syncline (WA). Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., v. 272, 639-655.
  • S. Dyksterhuis, D. Müller, P. Rey, L. Moresi, (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.
  • S. Dyksterhuis, P. Rey, D. Müller and L. Moresi. (2007). Effect of Initial Weakness on Rift Architecture: In Karner , G. D., Manatschal, G. & Pinheiro, L. M. (eds), "Imaging, Mapping and Modelling Continental Lithosphere Extension and Breakup". Geological Society of London Special Publication 282, 443-455.
  • G. Duclaux, P. Rey, S. Guillot and R.P. Ménot, (2007). Orogen parallel flow during continental convergence: numerical experiments and Archean field examples. Reply to Dutch R., Hand M. and Reid, A. comment, DOI: 10.1130/G24480Y.1.
  • G. Duclaux, P. Rey, S. Guillot and R.P. Ménot, (2007). Orogen parallel flow during continental convergence: numerical experiments and Archean field examples. Geology, 35, 715-718.
  • N. Thébaud, P. Philippot, P. Rey, J. Cauzid, (2006). Composition and origin of fluids associated with lode gold deposits in a mid-Archaean greenstone belt (Warrawoona Syncline, Pilbara, WA) using Synchrotron radiation X-Ray Fluorescence. Contribution to Mineralogy and Petrology. 152, 4, 485-503.
  • P.F. Rey, Houseman, G. (2006). Lithospheric Scale Gravitational Flow, The Impact of Body Forces on Orogenic Processes from Archaean to Phanaerozoic. In Buiter, S. J. H & Schreurs, G., (eds), Analogue and Numerical Modelling of Crustal-Scale Processes. Geological Society Special Publication, 253, 153-167.
  • P. Rey, P. Philippot, and N. Thebaud (2003) Contribution of Mantle Plume, Crustal Thickening and Greenstone Blanketing to the 2.75-2.65 Ga Global Crisis. Precambrian Res. V. 127, pp 43-60.
  • P. Rey, P. Philippot, and N. Thebaud (2003) Contribution of Mantle Plume, Crustal Thickening and Greenstone Blanketing to the 2.75-2.65 Ga Global Crisis. Precambrian Res.
  • P. Rey, O. Vanderhaeghe, and C. Teyssier (2001) Gravitational Collapse of the continental crust: Definition, Regimes, and Modes. Tectonophysics, v.342, pp.435-449.
  • P. Rey, (2001) From Lithospheric Thickening and Divergent Collapse to Active Continental Rifting. In Miller, J.A., Buick, I.S., Hand, M., and Holdsworth, R.E., (eds).Continental Reworking and Reactivation, Geological Society of London Special Publication, Nº184, pp. 372-398.
  • O'Halloran, G., and P. Rey, (1999) Isostatic constraints on the Central Victorian lower crust: Implication for the tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 46, pp. 633-639.
  • P. Rey, D. Fountain and T. Boundy (1998) Kinematic indicators in eclogite-facies shear zones. in Snoke, A.W., Tullis, J.A, and Todd, V.R., eds., Atlas of Mylonitic and Fault-Related Rocks, Princeton University Press, pp. 444-447.
  • P. Rey, J.P Burg and M. Casey (1997) The Scandinavian Caledonides and their relationship to the Variscan belt. In Burg, J.P., and M. Ford (eds), Orogeny Through Time, Geological Society of London, Spec. Pub., Nº121, pp. 179-200.
  • S. Costa and P. Rey (1995) Lower crustal rejuvenation and crustal growth during post-thickening collapse: Insights from a crustal cross section through a metamorphic core complex. Geology , v. 23, pp. 905-908.
  • P. Rey, D.Fountain and W. Clement (1994) P-waves velocity across a non-coaxial ductile shear zone: consequences for the upper-crustal reflectivity. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99, B3, pp. 4533-4548.
  • P. Rey (1993) Seismic and tectono-metamorphic characters of the lower continental crust in phanerozoic areas: a consequence of post-thickening extension. Tectonics , 12, 2, pp. 580-590.
  • P. Rey , J.P. Burg and J.M. Caron (1992) Middle and late-carboniferous extension in the Variscan Belt: Structural and petrological evidences from the Vosges Massif (Eastern France). Geodinamica Acta, 5, 1-2, pp. 17-36.
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Units Taught

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