Nancy Chow

Professor, Sedimentology

e-mail: n_chow@umanitoba.ca

 

Research Interests: Carbonate sedimentology and petroleum geology; facies modeling and diagenesis of Paleozoic carbonates.

Current Research:  Sedimentology of Devonian Carbonate Platforms, Western Canada and Northwestern Australia.  My research interests are in the field of carbonate sedimentology focusing on ancient reef complexes.  Current projects deal with reconstruction of Devonian reef complexes in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in Alberta and Manitoba and in the Canning Basin of northwestern Australia.  The primary objective is to reconstruct the history of Devonian reef evolution and alteration by doing an integrated study of the shallow-water reef-platform rocks.  This objective is achieved via (1) detailed examination of platform deposits and patterns of sedimentation; (2) determination of the depositional ages of the platforms using fossil and chemical indicators; (3) study of ancient soil horizons and other features formed on the reefs during low sea level; (4) examination of organic-rich rocks, which will provide information about nutrient levels; and (5) documentation of post-depositional alteration features in the platform rocks.  Observations and rock samples are collected from selected outcrop exposures and drill-cores in western Canada and northwestern Australia, and integrated with geophysical and microscopy data and chemical analyses.  This integrated approach allows us to decipher the complex interplay of sea-level fluctuations, movements of the earth's crust, sedimentation processes and post-depositional alteration that control the architecture and evolution of the Devonian reefs.  This research ultimately has important implications for understanding the nature of reefs through time and the characteristics of reef rocks as petroleum reservoirs and host-rocks for base-metal deposits.

Student Research Programs Available:

Courses Currently Taught: