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Dr Christian Heine

Australian Postdoctoral Fellow, EarthByte Group


Phone: +61 2 91140997
Email:
Personal page: http://www.earthbyte.org/people/christian/

Research Interests

Christian is currently working in the EarthByte group as Senior Researcher in an ARC Linkage Project entitled "Linking deep Earth and surface processes to frontier basin exploration", sponsored by Shell International Exploration and Production and TOTAL. His research interests are predominantly in structural geology, plate tectonics and mantle dynamics and the use of geospatial computing tools such as GPlates to integrate different datasets and couple plate kinematic models to lithosphere deformation.

Curriculum vitae

Christian graduated as Diplom-Geologe (M.Sc. Geology) from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (Germany) in 2002. He subsequently relocated to Sydney the following year to start a PhD under supervision of Dietmar Müller at The University of Sydney. After completing his degree early 2007 he moved to Norway to work for Norsk Hydro Oil and Energy in Oslo as Explorationist on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With the merger of Statoil and Hydro, he was transferred into the Exploration Technology unit of Statoil(Hydro), working first in Basins Analysis and later as Senior Geologist in the Tectonics and Structural Group. He also spent parts of his time in Statoil's Exploration Research. His main task consisted of providing specialist services in geodynamics and regional tectonics to the exploration teams and has worked extensively on the tectonic evolution of the conjugate South Atlantic Pre-Salt basins, as well as East Africa, the African equatorial margin, SE Asia, and Australia. Christian left Statoil in Mid-2010 for the sunny shores of Sydney to work in a Shell and Total sponsored ARC Linkage project as Australian Postdoctoral Fellow.

Selected Publications

  • C. Heine, R.D. Müller, B. Steinberger and L. DiCaprio (2010): Integrating deep Earth dynamics in paleogeographic reconstructions of Australia. Tectonophysics. doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.08.028
  • M. Seton and R.D. Müller and C. Gaina and C. Heine (2009): Mid-Cretaceous seafloor spreading pulse: Fact or fiction? Geology 37:687–690. doi: 10.1130/G25624A.1
  • C. Heine, R.D. Müller, B. Steinberger and T.H. Torsvik (2008): Subsidence in intracontinental basins due to dynamic topography. Phys. Earth Planet. Int.. doi: 10.1016/j.pepi.2008.05.008
  • R.D. Müller, M. Sdrolias, C. Gaina, B. Steinberger and C. Heine (2008): Long-Term Sea-Level Fluctuations Driven by Ocean Basin Dynamics. Science, 319:1357–1362. doi: 10.1126/science.1151540
  • J.M. Whittaker, R.D. Müller, M. Sdrolias and C. Heine (2007): Sunda-Java trench kinematics, slab window formation and overriding plate deformation since the Cretaceous. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 255: 445–457. doi: 10.1016/j.epsl2006.12.031
  • N. F. Exon, P. J. Hill, C. Heine and G. Bernadel (2006): The Kenn Plateau off northeast Australia: an important continental fragment in the southwest Pacific jigsaw. Aust. J. Earth Sci, 53:541-564. doi: 10.1080/08120090600632300
  • C. Heine and R.D. Müller (2005): Late Jurassic rifting along the Australian Northwest Shelf: margin geometry and spreading ridge configuration. Aust. J. Earth Sci., 52:27-40. doi: 10.1080/08120090500100077
  • C. O'Neill and C. Heine (2005): Reconstructing the Wolfe Creek meteorite impact: deep structure of the crater and effects on target rock. Aust. J. Earth Sci., 52:699–709. doi: 10.1080/08120090500100077
  • C. Heine, R.D. Müller, C. Gaina (2004): Reconstructing the lost Eastern Tethys Ocean Basin: Constraints for the convergence history of the SE Asian margin and marine gateways, IN: Clift, Peter and Hayes, Dennis and Kuhnt, Wolfgang and Wang, Pinxian (eds.), Continent-Ocean Interactions in Southeast Asia, Vol 149, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., American Geophysical Union, Washington.
  • C. Heine, R.D. Müller, and M.S. Norvick (2002): Revised tectonic evolution of the Northwest Shelf of Australia and adjacent abyssal plains, IN: Gorter, John (ed.) The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 3,Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Perth, pp. 955-957.
  • R.D. Müller, D. Mihut, C. Heine, C. O'Neill, and I. Russell (2002): Tectonic and volcanic history of the Carnarvon Terrace: Constraints from seismic interpretation and geodynamic modelling, IN: Gorter, John (ed.), The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 3, pp. 719-740, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Perth.

Units Taught

GEOS3104/3804 Geophysical Methods