Reconstructing Holocene environmental history for Noosa estuarine lakes from sediments and microfossils

Theme: Earth science and resources, Geography, Marine biology and ocean science 

Description: The Noosa estuarine lake system is a series of coastal lagoons in the wave-dominated estuary behind the Cooloola sand mass and Noosa Headland in SE Queensland. Identifying the past and modern sedimentary patterns in estuaries is essential for developing effective catchment and coastal management strategies. However, the evolution and depositional history of the Noosa lakes are largely unstudied. Sediment cores collected from two lakes will be analysed in this project to examine how sediment composition including diatom assemblages changed through time, which serve as indicators of palaeoenvironments of the lakes in the past >7000 years.

Additional Information: Suitable for a student with an interest in microfossil analyses (expect to spend time doing labwork and species identification using a microscope), and fluvial/coastal geomorphology.

Contact: Dr Annie Lau