DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ALAYMAN, Saniye

Taxonomic revision of the tapinocephalid dinocephalian subfamilies Moschopinae, Tapinocephalinae and Riebeeckosaurinae – The key to understanding Middle Permian tetrapod biodiversity. Project started in 2008, supervised by Prof. Rubidge and Dr. Abdala.

Gondwanan correlations of Upper Karoo vertebrate biozones using palynology. The project started in 2010 and is supervised by Prof. Bamford and Prof. Rubidge.

This inter-disciplinary PhD project is recording the pollen and spore taxa of the Karoo in order to set up a palynostratigraphic scheme from the Carboniferous to the Jurassic of South Africa. The rocks of the Karoo contain a rich fossil pollen record which can be utilised to understand changes in floral biodiversity, determine the effects of the Permo-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic extinction events on plant communities, and enhance geological Karoo basin development models.

BRANDT, Martin

Imaging the Africa Super plume using P and S velocity data recorded by AfricaArray.  Thesis passed subject to minor editorial changes being made, March 2012. Project supervised by Prof. R. Durrheim and Prof. S. Grand (Penn. State, USA) 

BUTLER, Michael J.

A new hydrological and hydrochemical management model for the Karoo aquifers at T lborsch, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Project commenced in 2004, and is supervised by Prof. Verhagen and Dr. Abiye.

BYBEE, Grant

Crustal Contamination and the Possible Source of Proterozoic Massif-Type Anorthosites. Project started in 2009, supervised by Prof. Ashwal.

CHIKUMBIRIKE, Joseph

Archaeological and palaeoecological implications of charcoal assemblages from the Holocene from Great Zimbabwe and the immediate environment. Project started in 2010, and is supervised by Dr. Bamford and Dr. Esterhuysen.

Michael Day

Middle Permian continental biodiversity changes as reflected in the Beaufort Group of South Africa: A bio and lithostratigraphic review of the Tapinocephalus and Pristerognathus assemblage zones. Supervised by Prof. Rubidge.

The Beaufort Group of South Africa holds a record of the continental realm from the Middle Permian to the early Triassic and contains a great wealth of fossil vertebrates that has allowed its subdivision into biozones. The Middle Permian part of the sequence has been relatively neglected but contains the thickest of the biozones, the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone. This time period also witnesses a significant turnover in faunal composition with the extinction of the Dinocephalia, which has been linked to a marine extinction event in the late Middle Permian of China. This project aims to review the bio- and lithostratigraphy of the Middle Permian Beaufort Group to better understand late Middle Permian vertebrate diversity change.

DE KLERK, Bonita

Size Variation and body proportions in an isolated Holocene-Aged Population of Hominids from Palau, Micronesia and its impact on our understanding of variation in extinct hominids. project started in 2006 (part-time) and is supervised by Prof. Berger and Dr. Carlson.

ENSLIN, Stephanie

3D Geophysical Modelling of the Karoo Basin. Project started in 2011, supervised by Dr. Webb.

EVANS, Mary

Depositional history of alluvial fan deposits in the foothills of the Drakensberg in the eastern Free State and their palaeoclimatological significance, South Africa. Project supervised by Prof. McCarthy (part-time).

GESS, Robert

New insights into Gondwana Famennian biodiversity patterns – taxonomy and biogeography of a high latitude, west Gondwana ecosystem of the Witpoort Formation of South Africa (Cape Supergroup, Witteberg Group). Project started in 2006, supervised by Prof. Rubidge and Dr. Coates.

KGANSWANE, Eldridge

Crustal and upper mantle structure in southern Africa from modeling receiver functions and surface wave dispersion. Project started in 2006 (part-time), supervised by Prof. Durrheim and Prof Nyblade (Penn State).

The earthquake seismology of the NW Cape.  The project started in 2010 and is supervised by Prof. Durrheim and Prof. Andreoli.

MANZI, Musa

Application of 3D seismic analysis techniques to an evaluation of ore resources on Kloof, South Deep and Driefontein gold mines, South Africa. The project is supervised by Prof. Durrheim and Prof. Ncube-Hein.

OLAYIWOLA, Moshood

OWEN-SMITH, Trishya

Petrogenesis and mode of emplacement of the Doros Complex, Namibia, with implications for Mesozoic continental reconstruction. The project started in 2009 and is supervised by Prof. Ashwal.

Room 216a Geosciences building.

PEREIRA, Lucille

Phytolith Analysis of the FwJj14 Site Complex, Lake Turkana Basin, Northern Kenya. The (part-time) project started in 2008 and is supervised by Prof. Bamford.

The geology, structure and metallogenesis of the Oudalan-Gorouol Greenstone Belt, Burkina Faso and Niger, West Africa. The project started in 2008 and is supervised by Prof. Ncube-Hein.

This research is focused on establishing the temporal and spatial relationship of regional scale first-order crustal scale structures and mineralization in the Oudalan-Gorouol Greenstone Belt (OGGB). The OGGB forms part of the Palaeoproterozoic domain of the West African Craton in NE Burkina Faso and Niger. The Oudalan-Gorouol Greenstone Belt hosts several gold deposits and deposit styles in NW-trending folds including gold mineralization at Essakane, Falagountou, Tin Zubratan and Kossa and NE-trending shear zones.