Nora Nieminski

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

My research entails small-scale process sedimentology and detrital geochronology of deep-water sediments in the Miocene thin-bedded turbidites of the East Coast Basin, New Zealand and the Upper Proterozoic Zerrissene Turbidite System, in the Damara Orogen, Namibia.

Chapter 1: Source terranes and tectonic setting of the Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group, Namibia.
This chapter is dedicated to investigating the context of the basin that incorporated the Zerrissene turbidites at the time of the break-up of Rodinia. Research questions are addressed with a combination of detrital zircon provenance analysis and geochemical, petrologic, and field studies. Association of these sediments to at least one of the major “Snowball Earth” glaciations will also be investigated.

Chapter 2: Stratigraphic architecture and facies distribution of the Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Turbidite System, Namibia.
Research questions driving this study concern the spatial variability and overall morphology of turbidite systems and their lithofacies. Bed-scale process sedimentology and systematic measurement of sandstone bed thicknesses in repeated (folded) strata across the field area are used to quantify and characterize lateral extent of the system. This work aims to contribute an understanding of architectures recorded in these deep-water deposits, which provide telling information about turbidity current processes and the distribution of energy resources.

Chapter 3: Provenance and paleogeography of the Miocene-Pliocene Raukumara Region, New Zealand.
Detrital zircon provenance analysis of the Neogene East Coast Basin sediments is used to identify basement terrane(s) that may have sourced the forearc basin throughout the Neogene. Distinguishing between source terranes and marking potential evolution of sediment contribution will be used to infer sediment transport fairways and investigate the paleobasin configuration.

Chapter 4: Stratigraphic architecture of thin-bedded Miocene turbidite sequences in the Raukumara Region, New Zealand.
This study is focused on addressing the overall architecture of Miocene thin-bedded deposits in the East Coast Basin, ultimately contributing to an understanding of thin-bedded deep-water deposits that have proven to be important hydrocarbon reservoirs if laterally continuous and vertically stacked. Lateral and vertical variations of thin beds will be recorded in an attempt to identify and quantify potential cyclicity in these sequences. Characterization of bed thickness and connectivity will be presented in a manner that can be useful for reservoir predication and production modeling.