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My research interests encompass the sedimentology and stratigraphy of continental, coastal and shallow marine clastic depositional systems. I am particularly interested in applications to exploration for mineral resources, principally hydrocarbons and coal. I have had a long-term interest in the development of genetic models for coal deposits in different tectonic and depositional settings, and in the prognostic and diagnostic applications of sedimentology to oil and gas exploration. Much of my current research is aimed towards improving stratigraphic models for successions accumulated under low-accommodation conditions. I maintain active field-based research programs in eastern Australia, Atlantic Canada, Midwest (Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota) and Western USA (Utah).
Recently completed research projects include:
- Process sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Holocene Burdekin River Delta in NE Australia (with co-worker Dr Jan Alexander of the University of East Anglia, UK, and students),
- Re-evaluation of the stratigraphic record of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in eastern Australia (with co-worker Dr Tracy Frank of UNL, and students),
- Applications of ichnology to exploration and reservoir description in the Permian of eastern Australia (with co-workers Dr Kerrie Bann of Ichnofacies Pty Ltd, Calgary and Dr James MacEachern of Simon Fraser University), and
- Seismic stratigraphy of the Cenozoic record in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (with co-workers Dr Stuart Henrys of GNS, New Zealand and Dr Terry Wilson of Ohio State University).
Current research endeavors include
- Studies of Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy in the Henry Mountains of south-central Utah
- The Pennsylvanian of mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island
- The Pennsylvanian and Cretaceous of western Nebraska and environs
- The Cenozoic stratigraphy of southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (via the ANDRILL project).
Selected Publications
Montanez, I.P., Tabor, N.J., Niemeier, D., DiMichele, W.A., Frank, T.D., Fielding, C.R., Isbell, J.L., Birgenheier, L.P. Rygel, M.C., 2007, CO2-forced climate and vegetation instability during late Paleozoic deglaciation, Science, 315, 87-91.
Alexander, J. and Fielding, C.R., 2006, Coarse-grained floodplain deposits in the seasonal tropics: towards a better facies model, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 76, 539-556.
Fielding, C.R., 2006, Upper flow regime sheets, lenses and scour fills: extending the range of architectural elements for fluvial sediment bodies, Sedimentary Geology, 190, 227-240.
Fielding, C.R., Bann, K.L., MacEachern, J.A., Tye, S.C. and Jones, B.G., 2006, Cyclicity in the nearshore marine to coastal, Lower Permian, Pebbley Beach Formation, southern Sydney Basin, Australia: a record of relative sea-level fluctuations at the close of the Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan Ice Age, Sedimentology, 53, 435-463.
Fielding, C.R., Henrys, S.A. and Wilson, T.J., 2006, Rift history of the western Victoria Land Basin: a new perspective based on integration of cores with seismic reflection data, in Antarctica: Contributions to Global Earth Sciences (edited by Futterer, D.K., Damaske, D., Kleinschmidt, G., Miller, H. and Tessensohn, F., (eds.)), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 309-318.
Fielding, C.R., Trueman, J.D. and Alexander, J., 2006, Holocene depositional history of the Burdekin River Delta of northeastern Australia: a model for a low-accommodation, highstand delta, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 76, 411-428.
Jones, A.T., Frank, T.D. and Fielding, C.R., 2006, Cold climate in the eastern Australian mid to late Permian may reflect cold upwelling waters, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 237, 370-377.