- Sedimentology and stratigraphyedit
Contemporary foraminiferal sediment samples were collected from the intertidal sabkha of Al-Kharrar Lagoon, Saudi Arabia, to study the vertical distribution of foraminifers and, based on a modern training set, their potential to develop a... more
Contemporary foraminiferal sediment samples were collected from the intertidal sabkha of Al-Kharrar Lagoon, Saudi Arabia, to study the vertical distribution of foraminifers and, based on a modern training set, their potential to develop a predictor of former sea-level changes in the area. Based on hierarchical cluster analysis, the intertidal sabkha is divided into three vertical zones (A, B, and C) represented by three foraminiferal assemblages, where agglutinated species occupied Zone A and calcareous species occupied the other two zones. In Zone A (high intertidal), Agglutinella compressa, Clavulina angularis and C. multicamerata are dominant species with a minor presence of Peneroplis planatus, Coscinospira hemprichii, Sorites orbiculus, Quinqueloculina lamarckiana, Q. seminula, Ammonia convexa and A. tepida. In contrast, in Zone B (middle intertidal) the most abundant species are P. planatus, C. hemprichii, S. orbiculus, Q. lamarckiana, Q. seminula and Q. laevigata, while Zone ...
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An elevated sheltered pocket beach sequence at Batemans Bay, NSW, Australia, composed of shelly fine- to medium-grained sand provides geomorphological evidence of higher than present sea level during the mid-Holocene. The sequence is... more
An elevated sheltered pocket beach sequence at Batemans Bay, NSW, Australia, composed of shelly fine- to medium-grained sand provides geomorphological evidence of higher than present sea level during the mid-Holocene. The sequence is composed of a sand facies with variable amounts of shell and contains a number of well-defined dipping reflectors identified in GPR profiles indicative of a small prograded
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ABSTRACT An aminostratigraphy of Lake Illawarra and St Georges Basin, two wave-dominated barrier estuaries in southeastern Australia, has been derived on the basis of the extent of aspartic acid racemisation in the Holocene fossil... more
ABSTRACT An aminostratigraphy of Lake Illawarra and St Georges Basin, two wave-dominated barrier estuaries in southeastern Australia, has been derived on the basis of the extent of aspartic acid racemisation in the Holocene fossil molluscs Anadara trapezia and Notospisula trigonella. Relative ages were also assigned to Late Pleistocene fossil molluscs on the basis of the extent of racemisation of the slower racemising amino acids valine, leucine, and praline. Aminostratigraphy indicates that remnant Last Interglacial deposits within both incised valleys form a substrate over which Holocene estuarine sediments have been deposited and form a core for the Holocene barrier. Results from this study also indicate that the early geomorphological evolution of wave-dominated barrier estuaries formed in broad and relatively shallow, incised valleys is different from previously published models of Holocene barrier estuary evolution that explain successions in narrow, drowned valleys. Divergence from previous models is seen with the deposition of a near-basinwide shell-rich transgressive sandsheet deposited as rising sea levels breached remnants of Last Interglacial barriers during the most recent postglacial marine transgression (PMT; ca. 12,000-7000 Cal BP). Subsequent development of the estuaries follows the previously developed models with the Holocene barrier and central mud basin accumulating over the initial transgressive sandsheet. The aminostratigraphic framework derived from this study will serve as a geochronological template for future studies in wave-dominated barrier estuaries on the southeast coast of Australia.
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Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Geology, Erosion, Sediment, and 3 moreDigital Elevation Model, Terrain, and Arid
Coastal environments are subject to trace metal pollution via a combination of industry and urbanised sources. The pollutants accumulate within surface sediments, especially in the quieter backwaters of estuaries. An environmental... more
Coastal environments are subject to trace metal pollution via a combination of industry and urbanised sources. The pollutants accumulate within surface sediments, especially in the quieter backwaters of estuaries. An environmental assessment of the Port Hacking estuary, southern Sydney, Australia, was undertaken using 233 surface samples. Trace metal concentrations (Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and As) in these samples indicated that most elements in Port Hacking were below the relevant ANZECC/ARMCANZ guideline low trigger value (ISQG-low), but a few sites exceeded this value. The low trace metal concentrations are mainly because the catchment areas have limited urban development and few discharge points. In contrast, one site in Gunnamatta Bay has Zn and Cu concentrations that exceeded the high trigger value (ISQG-high), due to moored vessels, boatyards, and stormwater outlets in this vicinity. Port Hacking is considered to be relatively unpolluted and healthy when compared with other Sydne...
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Australia, Stormwater, Sediments, Pollution, and 5 moreNSW, Estuary, Trace Metal, Trace element, and Bay
Global elevation datasets such as the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) are the best available terrain data in many parts of the world. Consequently, SRTM is widely used for understanding the risk of... more
Global elevation datasets such as the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) are the best available terrain data in many parts of the world. Consequently, SRTM is widely used for understanding the risk of coastal inundation due to climate change-induced sea level rise. However, SRTM elevations are prone to error, giving rise to uncertainty in the quality of the inundation projections. This study investigated the error propagation model for the Shatt al-Arab River region (SARR) to understand the impact of DEM error on an inundation model in this sensitive, low-lying coastal region. The analysis involved three stages. First, a multiple regression model, parameterized from the Mississippi River delta region, was used to generate an expected DEM error surface for the SARR. This surface was subtracted from the SRTM DEM for the SARR to adjust it. Second, residuals from this model were simulated for the SARR. Modelled residuals were subtracted from the adjust...
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The present work is conducted on the Paleozoic (Ordovician) Khabour and the (Silurian) Akkas shales in the Akkas-1 well of western Iraq. The study is aiming to determine the implications of clay mineral transformation, organic mineral... more
The present work is conducted on the Paleozoic (Ordovician) Khabour and the (Silurian) Akkas shales in the Akkas-1 well of western Iraq. The study is aiming to determine the implications of clay mineral transformation, organic mineral distribution and maturity of hydrocarbon generation, using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in addition to organic matter concentrations. In the shale of the Khabour Formation, amorphous organic matter is common and includes various Tasmanite-type organic matter, vitrinite, inertinite, and bituminite. The main clay minerals observed include illite, chlorite, kaolinite, in addition to mixed-layer illite-smectite and rare smectite. In Silurian shale, high content of organic matter is recorded in addition to abundant vitrinite and low content of grainy organic matter (Tasmanites) and pyrite. Illite and kaolinite are commonly found in addition to chlorite and illite-smectite clay minerals. Conversion of smectite to mixed-layer il...
Research Interests: Geology, Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Minerals, Iraq, and 15 moreClay Minerals, Oil Shale, Matter, Generation, Hydrocarbon, Organic, Clay, Maturity, Implications, Organic Matter, Deeply, Maceral, Kaolinite, Illite, and Chlorite
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Research Interests: Earth Sciences, Geology, Marine Geology, Provenance, Storm, and 3 moreSediment, Sedimentary Rock, and Overwash
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Research Interests: Environmental Science, Geology, Australia, DISTRIBUTION, Trace, and 11 moreHacking, Spatial, Particles, Pollution, Sediment, Port, NSW, Distribution, Trace element, Element, and Bay
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Conference presentation. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Al-Nasrawi, A. K. M., Jones, B. G., Yazichi, Y. Al. & Hamylton, S. (2015). Modelling the future ecogeomorphological... more
Conference presentation. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Al-Nasrawi, A. K. M., Jones, B. G., Yazichi, Y. Al. & Hamylton, S. (2015). Modelling the future ecogeomorphological change scenarios of coastal ecosystems in southeastern Australia for sustainability assessment using GIS. ACSUS 2015 Proceedings: The Second Asian Conference on the Social Sciences and Sustainability (p. 0196). Japan: The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences and Sustainability. This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/3402
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Late Quaternary paleoenvironments are of particular interest to understand how the Earth System’s climate will respond to the undramatic changes during this period, compared with the broader glacial-interglacial variations. In this study,... more
Late Quaternary paleoenvironments are of particular interest to understand how the Earth System’s climate will respond to the undramatic changes during this period, compared with the broader glacial-interglacial variations. In this study, a shallow sediment core (2.84 m long) retrieved from the Red Sea coastal zone in northern Ghubbat al Mahasin, south of Al-Lith, Saudi Arabia, is used to reconstruct the mid-Late Holocene paleoenvironments and sea level based on a multiproxy approach. Remote sensing data, sedimentary facies, benthic foraminiferal assemblages, δ18O and δ13C stable isotopes, elemental composition and14C dating were utilized. The stratigraphy of the core shows three distinctive depositional units. The basal pre 6000 year BP unit consists of unfossiliferous fine to medium sand sharply overlain by black carbonaceous mud and peat, suggesting deposition in a coastal/flood plain under a warm and humid climate. The middle unit (6000-3700 year BP) records the start and end of...
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Surface elevation dynamics have always responded to disturbance regimes. Creating Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to detect surface dynamics has led to the development of several methods, devices and data clouds. DEMs can provide accurate... more
Surface elevation dynamics have always responded to disturbance regimes. Creating Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to detect surface dynamics has led to the development of several methods, devices and data clouds. DEMs can provide accurate and quick results with cost efficiency, in comparison to the inherited geomatics survey techniques. Nowadays, remote sensing datasets have become a primary source to create DEMs, including LiDAR point clouds with GIS analytic tools. However, these data need to be tested for error detection and correction. This paper evaluates various DEMs from different data sources over time for Apple Orchard Island, a coastal site in southeastern Australia, in order to detect surface dynamics. Subsequently, 30 chosen locations were examined in the field to test the error of the DEMs surface detection using high resolution global positioning systems (GPSs). Results show significant surface elevation changes on Apple Orchard Island. Accretion occurred on most of th...
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Surface water resources in the Australian interior are unreliable and scarce. However, they are vital in supporting the vegetation along and near river channels and in maintaining a delicate ecological balance along the waterholes "... more
Surface water resources in the Australian interior are unreliable and scarce. However, they are vital in supporting the vegetation along and near river channels and in maintaining a delicate ecological balance along the waterholes " billabongs ". Our research has identified and described shallow groundwater of low salinity forming freshwater lenses up to 1 km wide. These are located directly adjacent to major waterholes, and overlying the otherwise widespread saltier regional groundwater along the Cooper Creek floodplain near Ballera (southwest Queensland).
The open-air archaeology of southern Africa is extremely rich, yet has been only modestly influential in constructions of Late Pleistocene human behavior. Here we report on two seasons of work conducted as part of the Doring River... more
The open-air archaeology of southern Africa is extremely rich, yet has been only modestly influential in constructions of Late Pleistocene human behavior. Here we report on two seasons of work conducted as part of the Doring River Archaeology Project, which aims to reveal patterns of human land use and technological decision-making from the Earlier Stone Age through to the appearance of herders in southern Africa’s semi-arid interior. Across those two seasons we have mapped and analyzed more than 20,000 cores and tools across six open-air localities, with the small sample of available ages suggesting the accumulation of archaeologically-rich sediment bodies along the Doring River extends back to at least 200,000 years. Our results suggest clustering of artifacts at multiple temporal and spatial scales, from individual knapping events to aggregates of hundreds of bifacial tools. All known phases of the archaeological record appear to be represented in these assemblages, and previousl...
Research Interests: Archaeology, Paleoanthropology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Human Evolution, Landscape Archaeology, and 13 moreSettlement Patterns, Middle Stone Age (Archaeology), Remote sensing and GIS applications in Landscape Research, Earlier Stone Age (Archaeology), Evolution and Human Behavior, Prehistory, Stone Age Archaeology, Early Stone Age, South Africa, Middle Stone Age, Open Air Sites, Evolution of Hominin and Human Behaviour, and Later Stone Age archaeology
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Abstract Marine clastic rocks occurring in the Walash and Naopurdan Groups in the Hasanbag and Qalander areas, Kurdistan region, Iraqi Zagros Suture Zone, are lithic arenites with high proportions of volcanic rock fragments. Geochemical... more
Abstract Marine clastic rocks occurring in the Walash and Naopurdan Groups in the Hasanbag and Qalander areas, Kurdistan region, Iraqi Zagros Suture Zone, are lithic arenites with high proportions of volcanic rock fragments. Geochemical classification of the Eocene Walash and Oligocene Naopurdan clastic rocks indicates that they were mainly derived from associated sub-alkaline basalt and andesitic basalt in back-arc and island arc tectonic settings. Major and trace element geochemical data reveal that the Naopurdan samples are chemically less mature than the Walash samples and both were subjected to moderate weathering. The seaway in the southern Neotethys Ocean was shallow during both Eocene and Oligocene permitting mixing of sediment from the volcanic arcs with sediment derived from the Arabian continental margin. The Walash and Naopurdan clastic rocks enhance an earlier tectonic model of the Zagros Suture Zone with their deposition occurring during the Eocene Walash calc-alkaline back-arc magmatism and Early Oligocene Naopurdan island arc magmatism in the final stages of intra-oceanic subduction before the Miocene closure and obduction of the Neotethys basin.
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This study utilizes lithofacies characteristics, petrographic, XRD, and stable isotope data of Al-Mejarma beachrocks, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, to interpret its depositional setting, origin of cement, and coastal evolution. The beachrock is... more
This study utilizes lithofacies characteristics, petrographic, XRD, and stable isotope data of Al-Mejarma beachrocks, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, to interpret its depositional setting, origin of cement, and coastal evolution. The beachrock is 1.15 m thick, medium to very coarse-grained sandstone with scattered granules. It shows massive to graded bedding, horizontal, ripple, and shore parallel to slightly oblique planar cross-laminations, with a remarkable absence of bioturbation. It was deposited by shore-parallel longshore currents in a relatively high-energy beach environment. The framework comprises quartz, feldspars, and lithic fragments admixed with biogenic remains of algae, mollusca, foraminifera, corals, and echinoids. They are cemented by high magnesium calcite in the form of isopachous rims and pore-filling blades, and rarely, as a meniscus bridge. The mean values of δ18OVPDB and δ13CVPDB are 0.44‰ and 3.65‰, respectively, suggesting a seawater origin for the cement. The frame...
Research Interests: Geology and Quaternary
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... The purpose of the present paper is to present an ac-count of the chronology o,f near surface sediments in Lake Illawarra, together with ... by a microtidal environment with diurnal fluctuations on the order of 2-3~ of tides measured... more
... The purpose of the present paper is to present an ac-count of the chronology o,f near surface sediments in Lake Illawarra, together with ... by a microtidal environment with diurnal fluctuations on the order of 2-3~ of tides measured in the adjacent open ocean (Eliot and others 1976 ...
Research Interests: Civil Engineering, Geology, Environmental Geology, Trace Metals, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and 11 moreRadiocarbon Dating, Coastal lagoon, New South Wales, Sediment, Environmental Impact, Sedimentation, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Sedimentation Rate, Environmental, Management Policy, and Calendar year
... action. The lack of shell material Page 6. 260 BG JONES, RW YOUNG & IG ELIOT Qua ... 1965). Thus Zostera extends into brackish water estuaries and lagoons (eg Minna-murra River estuary, Tuggerah Lakes and Illawarra Lake). The ...
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Abstract In NE Iraq, the eastern edge of the Arabian plate is overlain by arc rock allochthons whose genesis and tectonic emplacement were related to the consumption and closure of the Neotethys Ocean. This paper demonstrates the... more
Abstract In NE Iraq, the eastern edge of the Arabian plate is overlain by arc rock allochthons whose genesis and tectonic emplacement were related to the consumption and closure of the Neotethys Ocean. This paper demonstrates the occurrence of unrelated Paleogene arc rocks in two adjacent allochthons. The Bulfat Igneous Complex at Wadi Rashid (NE Iraq) is an intrusion within the Upper Allochthon Albian–Cenomanian Gimo–Qandil sequence suprasubduction zone assemblage. A thrust separates this allochthon from the underlying Lower Allochthon of the Eocene-Oligocene Walash–Naopurdan volcanic-sedimentary arc rocks. The Bulfat Igneous Complex at Wadi Rashid consists of gabbro and granitic composite intrusions in which components mingle down to a small scale. Textural relationships in the Bulfat Igneous Complex rocks indicate emplacement at high crustal levels with rapid cooling, which is consistent with amphibole geobarometry indicating crystallisation pressures between ~ 250 and 300 Mpa. Ti-rich igneous pargasite and Ti-rich igneous Fe-biotite from gabbroic and granitic components yielded 40Ar/39Ar ages of 39.23 ± 0.21 and 38.87 ± 0.24 Ma respectively. These ages agree within analytical error and suggest coeval emplacement and rapid cooling of mafic and felsic magmas in the Eocene, in an event that was distinct and much younger than the host Albian–Cenomanian rocks. This igneous event was unrelated to formation of Cenozoic rocks in the underlying, tectonically separate, lower allochthon. The trace element signatures of the Wadi Rashi volcanic rocks show volcanic-arc characteristics for the granites and the gabbroic rocks resemble E type MORB. The presence of Eocene arc-related rocks in two allochthons suggests complexity in Paleogene subduction systems, with possibly two subduction zones operating at that time.
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Laboratory work was supported by the GeoQuEST Research Centre, University of Wollongong (UOW).
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ABSTRACT We use chrono-stratigraphic analysis and hydraulic modelling to examine benches.•Depositional processes are determined to be complex and multi-faceted.•Drape deposits are identified over multiple elevation surfaces.•Suggestions... more
ABSTRACT We use chrono-stratigraphic analysis and hydraulic modelling to examine benches.•Depositional processes are determined to be complex and multi-faceted.•Drape deposits are identified over multiple elevation surfaces.•Suggestions of bench formation by discrete recurrence intervals are not upheld.•Channel dimensions and hydraulics enable construction of multiple-elevation benches.
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Pollution of lagoonal systems is an inevitable consequence of urban, rural and industrial development in and adjacent to their catchments. Pollutant types and sources are diverse, and include phosphorus and nitrogen from rural and... more
Pollution of lagoonal systems is an inevitable consequence of urban, rural and industrial development in and adjacent to their catchments. Pollutant types and sources are diverse, and include phosphorus and nitrogen from rural and agricultural practices, trace metals derived from industrial sources including base metal refining and metallurgical processing (Wittman, 1981; Roy and Crawford, 1984; Batley, 1987; Chenhall et al., 1992) and sediment influx in excess of natural levels (Kilby and Batley, 1993).