Professor Dietmar Müller, PhD

Head of School

Madsen Building (F09), Rm 476
Phone: +61 2 9351 3244
Fax: +61 2 9351 3644
Email:
Web: Personal pages

Dietmar Müller is an earth scientist with interests in marine geophysics, tectonic plate motions, geodynamics, continental margin tectonics, petroleum exploration, 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

Total funding 2009-2012: A$3.9 Million

• 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.
• Dyksterhuis, S., and Müller, R.D., 2004, Modelling the contemporaneous and palaeo stress field of Australia using finite element modelling with automatic optimisation, Exploration Geophysics 35 (4) 236-241.
• Heine, Ch., Müller, R.D., Gaina, C., 2004, Reconstructing the Lost Eastern Tethys Ocean Basin: Convergence history of the SE Asian margin and marine gateways, In: P. Clift et al. (eds.), Continent-Ocean Interactions in Southeast Asia, AGU Monograph. 149, 37-54.
• Sdrolias, M., Roest, W.R. and Müller, R.D., 2004, An Expression of Philippine Sea Plate Rotation: the Parece Vela and Shikoku Basins, Tectonophysics 394, 69-86.
• Sdrolias, M., Müller, R.D., Mauffret, A., and Bernardel, G. 2004, The enigmatic formation of the Norfolk Basin, SW Pacific: A plume influence on back-arc extension, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems Vol. 5, No. 6, 28pp.
• Zhao, S., Müller, R.D., Takahashi, Y., and Kaneda, Y. 2004, 3D finite element modelling of deformation and stress associated with faulting: Effect of inhomogeneous crustal structures, Geophysical Journal International 157, 629-644.
• Baldwin, S., White, N. and Müller, R.D., 2003, Resolving multiple rift phases using strain rate inversion in the Bonaparte Basin and the North West Shelf of Australia, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 245-263.
• Brown, B., Müller, R.D., Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Gaina, C., Stagg, H. and Symonds, P., 2003, Formation and evolution of Australian passive margins: Implications for locating the boundary between continental and oceanic crust, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 223-243.
• Gaina, C., Müller, R.D. Brown, B. and Ishihara, T., 2003, Microcontinent formation around Australia, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 405-416.
• Gurnis, M. and Müller, R.D., 2003, Origin of the Australian Antarctic Discordance from an ancient slab and mantle wedge, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 417-429.
• Hall, C.E., Gurnis, M., Sdrolias, M., Lavier, L.L. and Müller, R.D., 2003, Catastrophic initiation of subduction following forced convergence at transform boundaries. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 212, 15-30.
• Hillis, R. and Müller, R.D., 2003, The Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate, Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 432 pp. Müller, R.D., 2003, Marine geo-informatics, In: From Zero to Infinity, eds: J.A. Nicholls and B.A. Pailthorpe, The Science Foundation for Physics, 107-120.
• Müller, R.D., 2003, Understanding how the Earth works: A geodynamic revolution based on Linux computing, In: From Zero to Infinity, eds: J.A. Nicholls and B.A. Pailthorpe, The Science Foundation for Physics, 99-106.
• O'Neill, C., Müller, R.D. and Steinberger, B., 2003, Revised Indian Plate Rotations Based On The Motion Of Indian Ocean Hotspots. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 215, 151-168.
• Sdrolias, M., Müller R.D. and Gaina, C., 2003, Tectonic Evolution of the Southwest Pacific Using Constraints from Back-arc Basins, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, 343-359.
• Zhao, S. and Müller, R. D., 2003, Three-dimensional finite element modelling of the tectonic stress field in continental Australia, In: Hillis R.R. & Müller R.D. eds. Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication 22 and Geological Society of America Special

• GEOS 2124/2924 - Fossils and Tectonics
• GEOS 2115/2915 - Oceans, coasts and climate change
• GEOS 3104/3804 -Geophysical Methods
• Data Processing & Plotting using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT)
• Advanced GMT Methods