Colin V. MURRAY-WALLACE   Position:   Professor Room:   41.272 Phone No:   +61 2 4221 4419 Email:   cwallace@uow.edu.au

Research Interests

• Long-term coastal evolution in response to Pleistocene sea-level changes
• Neotectonism
• Temperate carbonate sedimentology
• Quaternary geochronology

Representative Publications

Stephens, M. & Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2009). Amino-acid racemization analysis of shells from the Harrisson Archive: Preliminary results. In, Barker, G., Gilbertson, D., Reynolds, T. (Eds). The Archaeology and Environmental History of the Niah Caves, Sarawak: Excavations 1954-2004. Volume 2, McDonald Research Institute, University of Cambridge.

Fletcher, C.H., Bochicchio, C., Conger, C.L., Engels, M.S., Feirstein, E.J., Frazer, N., Glenn, C., Grigg, R.W., Grossman, E.E., Harney, J.N., Isoun, E., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Rooney, J.J., Rubin, K.H., Sherman, C.E., Vitousek, S. (2009), Chapter 11. Geology of Hawaii Reefs. In, Riegel, B.M. & Dodge, R.E. (Eds.), Coral Reefs of the USA, pp. 435-488, Springer. 

Roberts, D.L., Bateman, M.D., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Carr, A.S., & Holmes, P.J. (2009). West Coast Dune Plumes: Climate driven contrasts in dune field morphogenesis along the Western and Southern South African Coasts. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 271, 24-38.

Hill, P.J., De Deckker, P., Von der Borch, C. & Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2009). The ancestral Murray River on the Lacepede Shelf, southern Australia: Late Quaternary migrations of a major river outlet and strandline development. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 56, 131-153.

Bateman, M.D., Carr, A.S., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Roberts, D.L. & Holmes, P.J. (2008). A dating intercomparison study on Late Stone age coastal midden deposits, South Africa. Geoarchaeology: An international journal, 23, 715-741.

Stephens, M., Mattey, D., Gilbertson, D. & Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2008). Shell-gathering from mangroves and the seasonality of the Southeast Asian Monsoon using high-resolution stable isotope analysis of the tropical estuarine bivalve (Geloina erosa) from the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak: methods and reconnaissance of molluscs of early Holocene and modern times. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35, 2686-2697.

Roberts, D.L., Bateman, M.D., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Carr, A.S., & Holmes, P.J. (2008). Last Interglacial fossil elephant trackways dated by OSL/AAR in coastal aeolianites, Still Bay, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,  Palaeoecology, 257, 261-279.

Sloss, C.R., Murray-Wallace, C.V. & Jones, B.G. (2007). Holocene sea-level change on the southeast coast of Australia: a review.The Holocene, 17 (7), 999-1014.

Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2007). Eustatic sea-level changes, Glacial - Interglacial Cycles. In, Elias, S. (Ed). Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, Elsevier, Vol. 4, pp. 3024-3034.

Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2007). Eustatic sea-level changes since the Last Glaciation. In, Elias, S. (Ed). Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, Elsevier, Vol. 4, pp. 3034-3043.

Clarke, S.J., Miller, G.H., Murray-Wallace, C.V., David, B. & Pasveer, J.M. (2007). The geochronological potential of isoleucine epimerisation in cassowary and megapode eggshells from archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science., 34, 1051-1063.

Murray-Wallace, C.V. & Cann, J.H. (2007). Quaternary History of the Coorong Coastal Plain, South Australia, Excursion Guide (A6), XVII INQUA Congress, Cairns, Australia, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, 72 pp [ISBN978-1-74128-134-7].

Clarke, S.J., & Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2006). Mathematical expressions used in amino acid racemization geochronology – A review. Quaternary Geochronology. 1, 261-278.

Clarke, S.J., Miller, G.H., Fogel, M.L., Chivas, A.R., Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2006). The amino acid and stable isotope biogeochemistry of elephant bird (Aepyornis) eggshells from southern Madagascar. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25, 2343-2356.

Cann, J.H., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Riggs, N.J. & Belperio, A.P. (2006). Successive foraminiferal faunas and inferred palaeoenvironments associated with the postglacial (Holocene) marine transgression, Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia. The Holocene, 16, 224-234.

Sloss, C.R., Murray-Wallace, C.V. & Jones, B.G. (2006). Aminostratigrpahy of two Holocene wave-dominated barrier estuaries in southeastern Australia. Journal of Coastal Research, 22, 113-136.

James, N.P., Bone, Y., Carter, R.M. & Murray-Wallace, C.V. (2006). Origin of the Late Neogene Roe Plains and their calcarenite veneer: Implications for sedimentology and tectonics in the Great Australian Bight. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 53, 407-419.

Searchable Publication List

Current Students

Matthew Hales – Quaternary aminostratigraphy and aeolianite formation, Coorong Coastal Plain, South Australia

Terry Lachlan – Aminostratigraphy of Quaternary aeolianites, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Tony Nicholas – Amino acid racemisation dating and foraminiferal taphonomy 

Suggested Topics for Future Students

Uplift and Neotectonics of southeast Australian highlands
(supervisors Chris Fergusson +/- Colin Murray-Wallace)

Several projects based on the uplift of southeast Australian highlands and associated neotectonics are proposed. Work by Mike Sandiford (University of Melbourne) has done much to indicate that the old school of geologists who spoke of and wrote about a young Kosciusko Uplift were actually partly correct in spite of views to the contrary over the last 30 years or so. Several projects are devised to explore the implications of this for the type region and other parts of the southeast Australia highlands.

(1) Physiography and tectonics of the Main Range, Snowy Mountains – Kosciusko Uplift. Recent papers by Sharp (2004, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 51, 67–83) and Krohn et al. (1999, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 46, 181–198) have provided new evidence for Neogene tectonics reviving interest in the much maligned Kosciusko Uplift. This project involves a close examination of topography of the Main Range using a digital elevation model (DEM) in addition to other databases (geology, gravity, magnetics, earthquakes) to examine the landform history with emphasis on reactivation of Palaeozoic structures. Fieldwork will be required and will involve detailed mapping and analysis of specific sites.

(2) Physiography and tectonics of the Southern Highlands – fault scarps in the Southern Highlands such as at Lake George and along the Mulwaree Fault have long been considered possible evidence for recent fault activity (neotectonics). This project shall require an analysis of topography (DEM) of the region to identify any potential neotectonic affects on landforms. Fieldwork will involve detailed mapping and analysis of several sites. The project will involve analysis of geological and geophysical databases (geology, magnetics, gravity, earthquakes).

(3) Analysis of neotectonics in relation to the regional structures of the Sydney Basin. Structures in the Sydney Basin developed in the Hunter-Bowen Orogeny with significant younger deformation. This project aims to determine if specific structures can be recognised as related to neotectonic activity associated with the late Neogene plate coupling recorded by the Pacific-Australian plate in New Zealand. Earthquake activity will be used to identify potentially active structures followed by analysis of topography (DEM) and field investigation of critical sites.

(4) Central highlands of Queensland – use of topography (DEM) to examine the landforms in relation to uplift history and neotectonics of the region. In contrast to the southeast Australian highlands the highlands of central Queensland are much more subdued and are more clearly delineated in terms of their uplift history. Controls provided by the history of the Great Artesian Basin and the development of mid Tertiary graben provide an excellent baseline for examination of neotectonics.

Abbreviated CV

Colin Murray-Wallace’s nascent interests in geomorphology and the Earth Sciences began in the 1960s as part of regular family trips through Snowdonia, camping in West Sussex and exploring the mountainous hinterland of San Feliu de Guíxols in Spain. These varied landscapes were to leave an indelible impression of the complexity of landform processes. Colin completed a PhD in geology (conferred 1988) through the Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide and the former CSIRO Division of Soils (now Land and Water). Before joining the University of Wollongong in 1993, he held posts in the N.W.G. Macintosh Centre for Quaternary Dating, University of Sydney and the Department of Geology, University of Newcastle.

Colin has been actively undertaking Quaternary coastal research for the past 25 years and has received research grants from the Australian Research Council and other funding bodies. He was Head of the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, from December 2002 to February 2007. He was awarded the A.H. Voisey Medal by the Geological Society of Australia in 1995 for contributions to the study of the geology of New South Wales. He served as Secretary of the Australasian Quaternary Association from 1989 to 1997 and Co-ordinator of the Quaternary Environments Research Centre, University of Wollongong, from 1998 to 2000 (now GeoQuEST Research Centre). Colin was President of the INQUA Commission on Coastal and Marine Processes (2003-2007), Secretary General of the XVII INQUA Congress (Cairns, 2007), Project Leader of the highly successful, UNESCO and IUGS-funded IGCP Project 437, Coastal Environmental Change During Sea-Level Highstands (1999-2003) in which he collaboratively edited five special issues of international journals as part of the project. He has been on the editorial advisory boards of Quaternary Science Reviews and Archaeology in Oceania, served as Regional Editor (Australasia and East Asia) and as a member of the Editorial Team for Quaternary Science Reviews (2003-2007) and in 2008 became Editor-in-Chief of Quaternary Science Reviews. He also served as Assistant Editor of Archaeology in Oceania (1988-1990). He currently directs the operations of the only amino acid racemization dating laboratory in Australia and has published over 100 papers on aspects of amino acid racemization dating, Quaternary sea-level changes and coastal evolution. Whilst maintaining a vigorous research program, Colin has also been very active in undergraduate teaching and the supervision of postgraduate research students, many of whom, have gone on to assume influential positions in industry and academia.