Michael Kinsela

PhD Candidate

Madsen Building (F09), Room 414
Phone: +61 2 9351 8093
Fax: +61 2 9036 6588
Email:

Supervisor
Dr Peter Cowell

Asociate Supervisor
Dr. Ana Vila-Concejo

Thesis title: Occurrence of late Quaternary coastal sand barrier deposits in southeastern Australia: The control of regressive and transgressive shoreface geometries on barrier deposition and preservation.

Coastal embayments of southeastern Australia are characterised by variable arrangements of Pleistocene- and Holocene-aged sand barrier deposits, which have mostly accumulated during sea-level highstand conditions associated with the last and current interglacial periods respectively. Although the deposition and preservation of both Pleistocene and Holocene coastal barriers appears to vary over a regional scale, considerable differences in the presence and arrangement of barrier deposits occur between adjacent embayments.

The primary objective of Michael's current research is to investigate the effects of differences in shoreface geometry (i.e. shape and depth) during marine regression and transgression on coastal and shelf deposition, and the ensuing consequences for highstand coastal barrier development and preservation. The research will combine existing seismic and dated drill-core data with computer modelling techniques to hindcast the late Pleistocene and Holocene evolution of the Forster-Tuncurry coastal and drowned regressive barrier systems. Specifically, the capabilities of a Geographical Information System (GIS) and the Shoreface Translation Model (STM) will be applied to simulate aggregated coastal evolution. An experimental modelling approach will be adopted to investigate the evolutionary outcomes of different shoreface geometries at Forster-Tuncurry. Once validated, the model may then be applied to other barrier systems of southeastern Australia. Successful completion of the research will build on existing conceptual models to develop a comprehensive model of late Quaternary coastal and shelf sedimentation in southeastern Australia.