Mr Christopher Kemp
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
PhD Candidate
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Arts
I am currently working on my PhD through the University of Adelaide, under Associate Professor John Tibby, with the help of Associate Professor Lee Arnold and Dr Cameron Barr. My research includes work detailing the palaeoclimate of Australia, focusing on past interglacial periods, but also the MIS 3 period of human arrival in Australia and megafauna extinction. I am currently working on a wetland record from North Stradbroke Island in subtropical eastern Australia, which extends to ~205 ka. I am running a multi-proxy study including scanning micro-XRF, WD-XRF, pollen, both macro- and micro-charcoal as well as alkanes, GDGTs and biomarkers. The first paper on this record is planned to be published in February 2019. I am seeking a post-doc or further research work following graduation.
Marine isotope stage 5 and stage 7 (MIS5 and MIS7) are the last periods in Earth’s history when sea level was high and the global climate was generally warm and wet, like today. However, the climate conditions in Australia during these two periods are little understood due to lack of data. Understanding what climate changes occurred in Australia during these periods and how Australian flora reacted to those changes both helps the understanding of large-scale climate drivers and may guide projections of future climate change.
To investigate past climate change during MIS5 and MIS7, a new set of cores from Fern Gully Lagoon wetland on North Stradbroke Island were recovered in 2015 and dated to ~205,000 in age. These cores are being studied using micro-XRF ITRAX systems, charcoal flux and pollen analysis detailing past island fire events and plant varieties. Comparison of local dust flux (from ITRAX, LOI, and magnetic susceptibility), charcoal flux (both micro and macro charcoal) and vegetation show broad coherence.
Planned publications will focus on MIS5 and MIS7 comparisons with changes in local dust flux and its drivers, a multi-proxy study of late MIS7/early MIS6 and a comparison between the MIS1, MIS5 and MIS7 interglacials.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2015 PhD Candidate University of Adelaide -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2014 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science with Honors 1st Class
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Journals
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2017 Bockmann, K., Hand, M., Morrissey, L., Kelsey, D., Williams, M., Hatch, K., & Kemp, C. (2017). Th-U redistribution during fluid-absent partial melting of the crust. In S. Martens (Ed.), 19th EGU General Assembly, EGU2017, proceedings from the conference held 23-28 April, 2017 in Vienna, Austria., p.622 Vol. 19 (pp. 622). Vienna, Austria: Elsevier Procedia.
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