reseracher placholder

Eric Roberts

Projects

5

Publications

37

Awards

0

Biography

My primary research focuses on reconstructing the geologic histories of continental basins. My research involves sedimentary facies and provenance analysis (heavy mineral geochronology), coupled with taphonomy, ichnology and geochronology. I maintain close links with industry on a varitety of projects ranging from diamond exploration, to petroleum geology, to helium exploration, to critical minerals research.

My primary research themes include:

1) geological characterisation, resource exploration and dating of vertebrate records, including dinosaurs and hominins, from rift deposits of the East African Rift System.

2) Geological and palaeontological investigation of Jurassic & Cretaceous basins throughout Gondwana (esp., Australia; Africa; Antarctica).

3) Stratigraphy, palaeontology & high-precision geochronology of Upper Cretaceous strata of Western Interior Basin, North America.

4) Industry-linked research collaboration in economic geology and exploration.

****I am moving back to the USA to take on a new role at Colorado School of Mines. Please email me if you are interested in new projects, collaboration, or Msc/PhD opportunities there (eric.roberts@jcu.edu.au).****

Go to my research group website for more information. http://www.gravelmonkeys.org

Research

Projects
The Wandering Falklands: Insights from New Geologic and Fossil Discoveries (Old ID 27745)
01 Jun 2022 - 30 Mar 2023
Helium prospectivity analysis of the north Rukwa Rift Basin. (Old ID 27645)
12 May 2022 - 01 Nov 2023
Understanding the Stratigraphy, age, and provenance of the diamondiferous Calonda Formation in North-Eastern Angola: Implications for regional magmatism and paleo fluvial drainage evolution (Old ID 25071)
01 Jun 2018 - 31 Dec 2019
Combined U-Pb zircon geochronology & Lu-Hf analysis of Jurassic-Cretaceous volcanics and sandstones from the Lord Howe Rise and Queensland Plateau, Australia (Old ID 22185)
01 Aug 2015 - 31 Dec 2016
Heritage Oil Rukwa (TZ) PhD Scholarship for Cassy Mtelela (Old ID 20298)
15 Jul 2012 - 14 Jan 2016

Teaching

Research Advisor Accreditation
Advisor Type

Mentor

Research Advisor Accreditation
Role

Chair; Independent Academic

Current JCU Research Students
Improving efficacy of Clastic Reservoir charaterisation by Quantitative Hierarchical analysis of Geochemical metrics
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Using experiments to constrain stable isotope fractionation in banded iron formations
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Vertebrate Palaeontology of the Early-Late Triassic Succession in Central Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Refining tephrostratigraphic approaches in deep time through glass melt inclusion and isotopic fingerprinting of heavy mineral separates of volcanic ash beds.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Tectono-sedimentary and Taphonomic investigation of the Triassic System, Northern Bowen Basin, Australia
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Establishing a Tectonic Framework for the Cretaceous break-up of Eastern Gondwana: Insights from Papua New Guinea and Offshore Geology of the Coral and Tasman Seas.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Understanding the Genesis and Patterns of Cave Fill across the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Spatial modelling of saucer scallop distributions within the southeast Queensland scallop fishery.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Investigating Global REE ion adsorption deposits to understand their genesis: Investigating trace element and REE stable isotope systematics.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Investigation and assessment of groundwater quality and conditions for sustainable management in dry tropical coastal plain aquifer(s): Townsville, Queensland Australia
Masters by Research - time-based
Provenance, Sedimentology and Geomorphology of Coastal Dune Fields in Queensland
Doctorate by Research - time-based
Understanding the geologic connection between Cape York and Zealandia: Insights from the Laura Basin
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)
Completed JCU Research Students
Shelf-edge Stratigraphy of the Central Great Barrier Reef
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2023
The sedimentary evolution of Permian to Cretaceous basins in Queensland, Australia: insights from lithostratigraphy, U-Pb zircon geochronology, sedimentary facies, and provenance analysis
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2020
Paleoclimate and paleoenvironment reconstruction of paleosols spanning the Lower to Upper Cretaceous from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2023
Bentonite geochronology and tephrostratigraphy for litho- and chronostratigraphic refinement of fossiliferous Campanian strata in western North America
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2022
Cave sedimentation processes in the Homo naledi-bearing Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2021
Mesozoic detrital zircon provenance of Central Africa: Implications for Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonics, paleogeography and landscape evolution.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2019
Geochemistry and origin of explosive alkaline volcanism in the early Rukwa Rift, southwestern Tanzania.
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2021
Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and tectonic reconstruction of the northern Great Australian Superbasin
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2022
Seismic Stratigraphy and Igneous Units of the Canning Basin, Northwest Shelf, Australia
Doctor of Philosophy (Natural and Physical Sciences)- 2022

Output

Iyuku raathi, a new iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Kirkwood Formation, South Africa
2023
Forster, Catherine A.; de Klerk, William J.; Poole, Karen E.; Chinsamy-Turan, Anusuya; Roberts, Eric...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Paleosol-derived paleoclimate and paleoenvironment reconstruction of the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania: implications for faunal dispersal in the Miocene–Pliocene
2023
Orr, Theresa J.; Roberts, Eric M.; Bird, Michael I.; Mtelela, Cassy; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Stevens, ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Reconciling the onshore/offshore stratigraphy of the Canning Basin and implications for petroleum prospectivity
2023
Yule, C.T.G.; Daniell, J.; Edwards, D.S.; Rollet, N.; Roberts, E.M. (2023) 'Reconciling the onshore/. Australian Journal of , 70 (5):691-715. [DO ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
New age constraints support a K/Pg boundary interval on Vega Island, Antarctica: Implications for latest Cretaceous vertebrates and paleoenvironments
2023
Roberts, Eric M.; O’Connor, Patrick M.; Clarke, Julia A.; Slotznick, Sarah P.; Placzek, Christa J.; ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Middle Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous stratigraphy of the northern Great Australian Superbasin: insights from maximum depositional age constraints from the U–Pb detrital zircon record
2022
Foley, E.K.; Roberts, E.M.; Henderson, R.A.; Todd, C.N.; Knutsen, E.M.; Spandler, C. (2022) 'Middle . Austr, 69 ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Early cretaceous tectonic setting of eastern Australia: Evidence from the subduction-related Morton Igneous Association of Southeast Queensland
2022
Henderson, Robert; Spandler, C.; Foley, E.K.; Kemp, A.I.S.; Roberts, E.M.; Fisher, C. (2022) 'Early . Lith, 41...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Macroscelideans (Myohyracinae and Rhynchocyoninae) from the late Oligocene Nsungwe formation of the Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania
2022
Stevens, Nancy J.; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Mtelela, Cassy; Roberts, Eric M. (2022) 'Macroscelideans (M. Historical Biolo, 34 (4):604-610...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Jurassic tectonics of northeastern Gondwana: evidence from the detrital zircon record of the Nambour Basin
2022
Henderson, Robert A.; Foley, Elliot K.; Roberts, Eric M. (2022) 'Jurassic tectonics of northeastern . Journal of the Geological Society, 179 (6). [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Calibrating the zenith of dinosaur diversity in the Campanian of the Western Interior Basin by CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb geochronology
2022
Ramezani, Jahandar; Beveridge, Tegan L.; Rogers, Raymond R.; Eberth, David A.; Roberts, Eric M. (202...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Deciphering Late Cretaceous palaeo-river catchments in eastern Australia: recognition of distinct northern and southern drainage basins
2022
Foley, Elliot K.; Roberts, Eric M.; Knutsen, Espen M. (2022) 'Deciphering Late Cretaceous palaeo-riv. Basin Research, 34 (2):590-617. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Refined geochronology and revised stratigraphic nomenclature of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Utah, U.S.A. and the age of early Campanian vertebrates from southern Laramidia
2022
Beveridge, Tegan L.; Roberts, Eric M.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Titus, Alan L.; Eaton, Jeffrey G.; Irmis,...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Age, depositional history, and paleoclimatic setting of Early Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages from the Sao Khua Formation (Khorat Group), Thailand
2022
Tucker, Ryan T.; Hyland, Ethan G.; Gates, Terry A.; King, M. Ryan; Roberts, Eric M.; Foley, Elliot K...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
A revised Permian-Triassic stratigraphic framework for the north-eastern Galilee Basin, Queensland, Australia, and definition of a new Middle-Upper Triassic sedimentary unit
2022
Todd, Christopher; Roberts, Eric; Charles, Adam (2022) 'A revised Permian-Triassic stratigraphic fra. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 69 (1):113-134. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Paleoatmospheric CO2 oscillations through a cool middle/Late Cretaceous recorded from pedogenic carbonates in Africa
2022
Orr, Theresa J.; Wurster, Christopher M.; Roberts, Eric M.; Singleton, Russell E.; Stevens, Nancy J....
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Radiogenic isotope record of magma genesis and lithospheric geodynamics of the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, from mid Mesozoic to present
2022
Lawrence, L.; Spandler, C.; Hilbert-Wolf, H.L.; Mtelela, C.; Stevens, N.J.; O'connor, P.M.; Roberts,...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Geology and taphonomy of a unique tyrannosaurid bonebed from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah: implications for tyrannosaurid gregariousness
2021
Titus, Alan L.; Knoll, Katja; Sertich, Joseph; Yamamura, Daigo; Suarez, Celina A.; Glasspool, Ian J....
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Mineralogy and origin of the alkaline Nsungwe Formation tuffs of the Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania
2021
Lawrence, L.; Spandler, C.; Roberts, E.M.; Hilbert-Wolf, H.L. (2021) 'Mineralogy and origin of the a. Lithos, 380-381 . [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Cryptic Middle to Late Jurassic marine incursions into northeastern Gondwana: an integrated sedimentological, ichnological and geochronological approach
2021
Foley, Elliot K.; Roberts, Eric M.; Knutsen, Espen M.; Hannaford, Carey (2021) 'Cryptic Middle to La. Palaeogeography, P, 569 . [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Jurassic Arc: reconstructing the lost world of eastern Gondwana
2021
Foley, Elliot K.; Henderson, R.A.; Roberts, E.M.; Kemp, A.I.S.; Todd, C.N.; Knutsen, E.M.; Fisher, C...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Paleoclimate and paleoenvironment reconstruction of paleosols spanning the Lower to Upper Cretaceous from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania
2021
Orr, Theresa J.; Roberts, Eric M.; Wurster, Chris M.; Mtelela, Cassy; Stevens, Nancy J.; O'connor, P...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Expanded explorations of the Dinaledi Subsystem, Rising Star Cave System, South Africa
2021
Elliott, Marina C.; Makhubela, Tebogo V.; Brophy, Juliet K.; Churchill, Steven E.; Peixotto, Becca; ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
A new assemblage of Cenozoic lungfishes (Dipnoi: Lepidosirenidae) from the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation, Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania
2021
Claeson, Kerin M.; Ngasala, Sifa; Gottfried, Michael D.; Roberts, Eric M.; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Ste...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
The oldest lamprophiid (Serpentes, Caenophidia) from the late Oligocene Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania and the origins of African snake diversity
2021
McCartney, Jacob A.; Bouchard, Sierra N.; Reinhardt, Josephine A.; Roberts, Eric M.; O'connor, Patri...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Providing context to the Homo naledi fossils: Constraints on the age of sediment deposits in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa
2021
Robbins, Jessie L.; Dirks, Paul H.G.M.; Roberts, Eric M.; Kramers, Jan D.; Makhubela, Tebogo V.; Hil...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
New evidence of a Campanian age for the Cretaceous fossil-bearing strata of Cape Marsh, Robertson Island, Antarctica
2020
Tobin, Thomas S.; Roberts, Eric M.; Slotznick, Sarah P.; Biasi, Joseph A.; Clarke, Julia A.; O'conno...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
A new plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) specimen from the Upper Cretaceous of West Antarctica, with comments on the ontogeny and morphological diversity of the elasmosaurid pelvic girdle
2020
Miller, Case; O'Gorman, José P.; Salisbury, Steven W.; Coria, Rodolfo A.; Roberts, Eric M.; O'conno...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Formation of mud clast breccias and the process of sedimentary autobrecciation in the hominin-bearing (Homo naledi) Rising Star Cave system, South Africa
2020
Wiersma, Jelle P.; Roberts, Eric M.; Dirks, Paul H. G. M. (2020) 'Formation of mud clast breccias an. Sedimentology, 67 (2):897-919. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Volcaniclastic member of the richly fossiliferous Kaiparowits Formation reveals new insights for regional correlation and tectonics in southern Utah during the latest Campanian
2020
Beveridge, Tegan L.; Roberts, Eric M.; Titus, Alan L. (2020) 'Volcaniclastic member of the richly fo. Cretaceous Research, 114 . [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Jurassic - Early Cretaceous paleogeography and paleoenvironments of the north-eastern margin of Gondwana: insights from the Carpentaria Basin, Australia
2020
Foley, Elliot; Baty, Mason; Knutsen, Espen M.; Lignum, John S.; Roberts, Eric M. (2020) 'Jurassic - . Gondwana , 88 :126...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Refined age and geological context of two of Australia’s most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland
2019
Todd, Christopher N.; Roberts, Eric M.; Knutsen, Espen M.; Rozefelds, Andrew C.; Huang, Hui-Qing; Sp...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
A new mammal from the Turonian-Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania
2019
O'Connor, Patrick M.; Krause, David W.; Stevens, Nancy J.; Groenke, Joseph R.; Macphee, Ross D. E.; ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
U-Pb detrital zircon constraints on the depositional age and provenance of the dinosaur-bearing Upper Cretaceous Wadi Milk formation of Sudan
2019
Owusu Agyemang, Prince C.; Roberts, Eric M.; Bussert, Robert; Evans, David; Müller, Johannes (2019) ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Sedimentary provenance and maximum depositional age analysis of the Cretaceous? Lapur and Muruanachok sandstones (Turkana Grits), Turkana Basin, Kenya
2019
Owusu Agyemang, Prince C.; Roberts, Eric M.; Downie, Bob; Sertich, Joseph J. W. (2019) 'Sedimentary . Geological, 156 (8):...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
The earliest fossil of the African clawed frog (Genus Xenopus) from Sub-Saharan Africa
2019
Blackburn, David C.; Paluh, Daniel J.; Krone, Isaac; Roberts, Eric M.; Stanley, Edward L.; Stevens, ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Stratigraphy and paleobiology of the Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleogene sediments from the Trans-Saharan Seaway in Mali
2019
O'leary, Maureen A.; Bouaré, Mohamed L.; Claeson, Kerin M.; Heilbronn, Kelly; Hill, Robert V.; McCa...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica: description of new material, updated synthesis, biostratigraphy, and paleobiogeography
2019
Lamanna, Matthew; Case, Judd A.; Roberts, Eric; Arbour, Victoria M.; Ely, Ricardo C.; Salisbury, Ste...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Reply to Discussion of Yule, C. T. G., Daniell, J., Edwards, D. S., Rollet, N., & Roberts, E. M. (2023). Reconciling the onshore/offshore stratigraphy of the Canning Basin and implications for petroleum prospectivity. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 70(5), 691–715
2023
Yule, C.T.G.; Daniell, J.; Edwards, D.S.; Rollet, N.; Roberts, E.M. (2023) 'Reply to Discussion of Y Australian Journal of E, 70 (8) :1189-1190. [ ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU