Martin.Gibling @ Dal.Ca

Department of Earth Sciences
Dalhousie University
1459 Oxford Street
PO BOX 15000
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada
B3H 4R2

Life Sciences Centre
3rd floor, Ocean Wing [plan]
Rm. 3054

902 494-2355

902 494-6889 (fax)

Effects of vegetation on ancient alluvial plains.

Geometry of alluvial channel deposits and valley fills in the rock record.

Quaternary history and landscape evolution of modern river plains and coastal areas (India, Australia, Canada).

Ancient alluvial stratigraphy, including sequence stratigraphy; links to tectonism, eustasy and climate.

Geology of Atlantic Canada.

Vegetation and Rivers
Post-doctoral fellow Neil Davies and I are exploring the effects of vegetation on river systems during the Paleozoic "greening" of the continents. The rise of terrestrial vegetation was among the most significant evolutionary developments in Earth history. Based on literature compilation and fieldwork across Europe and North America, our research has shown that Cambrian and Ordovician rivers were broad, shallow channels with little floodplain mud, prior to the evolution of terrestrial vegetation. As plants began to cover the land surface during the Siluro-Devonian, upland weathering intensified and generated more mud, which accumulated on alluvial plains where soils began to diversify. Meandering rivers became prominent for the first time on Earth, as rooted vegetation stabilized river banks and confined flow to narrower single channels. As floodplains and vegetation increased in abundance, terrestrial animals appear to have diversified.

Alderney Sandstone: sheet-like Cambrian sandstones on Alderney, Channel Islands, UK, prior to the evolution of terrestrial vegetation

Early plant fossils (Sawdonia) in the Devonian Campbellton Formation, New Brunswick

Reconstruction of early amniotes in the Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, New Brunswick. Copyright of James Robins, 2010, included in Falcon-Lang et al. (2010).

Fluvial Geometry
The external and internal geometry of channel deposits has been one of my long-term interests, culminating in a 2006 compilation in Journal of Sedimentary Research. Many of our ongoing vegetational studies involve geometric reconstructions of channel bodies and valley fills, enabling us to chart the evolution of fluvial geometry and style as landscapes evolved. We have drawn on our Quaternary studies in dryland river plains of India and Australia to assess current models for terrestrial sequence stratigraphy.

The Quaternary Fluvial Record
I continue to be involved with studies of the Quaternary deposits of the Ganga Plains in northern India, in cooperation with Dr. S.K. Tandon (University of Delhi), Dr. R. Sinha (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur), and Dr. Mayank Jain (Risoe National Laboratory, Denmark). Since 2000, we have worked together on the description and OSL dating of cliff exposures that exceed 100 ka in age, providing an excellent record of alluvium through the last glacial and interglacial cycle. Our interests have focused on cliffs more than 30 m high that border many rivers in the Himalayan Foreland Basin, with a drilling programme to obtain records down to 50 m below the surface across the plains.

Over the past decade, we have published numerous papers on the results, which indicate that strong variations in the strength of the monsoon have controlled the sequence architecture in this region. We have also documented a paleoclimatic record of fluvial and eolian strata at the Belan River archeological sites - a key site associated with the beginnings of agriculture.

In Atlantic Canada, M.Sc. student Tanya Forde is using ground-penetrating radar to investigate the subsurface architecture of tidal channels, windblown dunes, and beach ridges. She will relate these deposits to short- and long-term influences, including climatic events and post-glacial sea-level rise.

Sabarmati River, Gujarat, India: topmost strata have been dated to 12,000 years ago, and sand bars in the valley have been dated to 4,500 years ago (Srivastava et al., 2001); this implies that the 40 m of valley incision took place between the two dates.

Taj Mahal on the Yamuna River, Agra, India

Ancient Alluvial Stratigraphy
Research continues at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs in Nova Scotia, which was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2008, and at other sites in Atlantic Canada. I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for this wonderful site. These projects include the documentation of VISS (vegetation-induced sedimentary structures, first described in detail by Ph.D. student Mike Rygel in 2004), and a new domal stromatolite occurrence associated with microbial mat textures and standing trees (B.Sc. student Fiona Gallacher).

Joggins Fossil Cliffs: the spectacular cliffs at Joggins, Nova Scotia, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Pennsylvanian strata

(2004-2011); HQP authors in italics (not including HQP with whom I have worked but who were formally supervised by others)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. The co-evolution of fixed-channel alluvial plains and Carboniferous vegetation: Nature Geoscience, Nature Geoscience, DOI:10/1083/NGEO1237.

Roy, N.G., Sinha, R. & Gibling, M.R. Aggradation, incision and interfluve flooding in the Ganga Valley over the past 100,000 years: Testing the influence of monsoonal precipitation: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, revisions accepted 15 August 2011.

Kennedy, K. & Gibling, M.R., 2011. The Campbellton Formation, New Brunswick, Canada: paleoenvironments in an important Early Devonian terrestrial locality: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, revisions accepted, 19 August 2011.

Davies, N.S., Rygel, M.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. Marine influence in the Juniata Formation (Upper Ordovician, Potters Mills, Pennsylvania): Implications for the history of life on land: Reply (to Discussion by G.Retallack): Palaios, in press.

Poursoltani, M.R. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. Composition, porosity, and reservoir potential of the Middle Jurassic Kashafrud Formation, northeast Iran: Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 28, p. 1094-1110. doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.11.004

Davies, N.S., Gibling, M.R. & Rygel, M.C. 2011. Alluvial facies evolution during the Palaeozoic greening of the continents: Case studies, conceptual models and modern analogues: Sedimentology, v. 58, p. 220-258.

Allen, J.P., Fielding, C.R., Gibling, M.R. & Rygel, M.C. 2011. Fluvial response to paleo-equatorial climate fluctuations during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age: Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online 11 Feb 2011, doi 10.1130/B30314.1

Quann, S.L., Young, A.B., Laroque, C.P., Falcon-Lang, H.J. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Dendrochronological dating of coal mine workings at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, Canada: Atlantic Geology, v. 46, p. 185-194.

Sinha, R., Tandon, S.K., & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Shallow sub-surface stratigraphy of the Ganga basin, Himalayan Foreland: Present status and future perspectives: Quaternary International, v. 227, p. 81-86.

Dolby, G., Falcon-Lang, H.J. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. A conifer-dominated palynological assemblage from Pennsylvanian (late Moscovian) alluvial drylands in Atlantic Canada: implications for the vegetation of tropical lowlands during glacial phases: Journal of the Geological Society, v. 168, p. 571-584. doi: 10.1144/0016-76492010-061

Bashforth, A.R., Drábková, J., Opluštil, S., Gibling, M.R., & Falcon-Lang, H.J. 2010. Landscape gradients and patchiness in riparian vegetation on a Middle Pennsylvanian braided river-plain prone to flood disturbance (Nýrany Member, Central and Western Bohemian Basin, Czech Republic): Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, v. 163, p. 153-189.

Falcon-Lang, H.J., Gibling, M.R., Miller, R.F., Benton, M.J., & Bashforth, A.R. 2010. Diverse tetrapod trackways in the Early Pennsylvanian Tynemouth Creek Formation, southern New Brunswick, Canada: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 296, p. 1-13.

Davies, N.S., Rygel, M.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Marine influence in the Juniata Formation (Upper Ordovician, Potters Mills, Pennsylvania): Implications for the history of life on land: Palaios, v. 25, p. 527-539.

Bashforth, A.R., Falcon-Lang, H.J. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Vegetation heterogeneity on a Late Pennsylvanian braided-river plain draining the Variscan Mountains, La Magdalena Coalfield, northwestern Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 292, p. 367-390.

Gibling, M.R., Bashforth, A.R., Falcon-Lang, H.J., Allen, J.P. & Fielding, C.R. 2010. Log jams and flood-sediment buildup caused channel abandonment and avulsion in the Pennsylvanian of Atlantic Canada: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 80, p. 268-287.

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Paleozoic vegetation and the Siluro-Devonian rise of fluvial lateral accretion sets: Geology, v. 38, p. 51-54.

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Cambrian to Devonian evolution of alluvial systems: The sedimentological impact of the earliest land plants: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 98, p. 171-200.

Catuneanu, O. Abreu, V., Bhattacharya, J.P., Blum, M.D., Dalrymple, R.W., Eriksson, P.G., Fielding, C.R., Fisher, W.L., Galloway, W.E., Gibling, M.R., Giles, K.A., Holbrook, J.M., Jordan, R., Kendall, C.G.St.C., Macurda, B., Martinsen, O.J., Miall, A.D., Neal, J.E., Nummedal, D., Pomar, L., Posamentier, H.W., Pratt, B.R., Sarg, J.F., Shanley, K.W., Steel, R.J., Strasser, A., Tucker, M.E., & Winker, C. 2009. Reply to the comments of W.Helland-Hansen on "Towards the Standardization of Sequence Stratigraphy: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 94, p. 98-100.

Fielding, C.R., Allen, J.P., Alexander, J., & Gibling, M.R. 2009, Facies models for fluvial systems in the seasonal tropics and subtropics: Geology, v. 37, p. 623-626.

Sinha, R., Kettanah, Y., Gibling, M.R., Tandon, S.K., Jain, M., Bhattacharjee, P., Dasgupta, A. & Ghazanfari, P. 2009, Craton-derived alluvium as a major sediment source in the Himalayan Foreland Basin of India. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 121, p. 1596-1610.

Catuneanu, O. Abreu, V., Bhattacharya, J.P., Blum, M.D., Dalrymple, R.W., Eriksson, P.G., Fielding, C.R., Fisher, W.L., Galloway, W.E., Gibling, M.R., Giles, K.A., Holbrook, J.M., Jordan, R., Kendall, C.G.St.C., Macurda, B., Martinsen, O.J., Miall, A.D., Neal, J.E., Nummedal, D., Pomar, L., Posamentier, H.W., Pratt, B.R., Sarg, J.F., Shanley, K.W., Steel, R.J., Strasser, A., Tucker, M.E., & Winker, C. 2009. Towards the Standardization of Sequence Stratigraphy: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 92, p. 1-33.

Gibling, M.R., Sinha, R., Roy, N.G., Tandon, S.K., & Jain, M. 2008. Quaternary fluvial and eolian deposits on the Belan River, India: paleoclimatic setting of Paleolithic to Neolithic archeological sites over the past 85,000 years: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 27, p. 391-410.

Sinha, R., Kumar, R., Sinha, S., Tandon, S.K., & Gibling, M.R. 2007. Late Cenozoic fluvial successions in northern and western India: an overview and synthesis: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 26, p. 2801-2822.

Sinha, R., Bhattacharjee, P.S., Sangode, S.J., Gibling, M.R., Tandon, S.K., Jain, M., & Godfrey-Smith, D.I.. 2007. Valley and interfluve sediments in the southern Ganga Plains, India: Exploring facies and magnetic signatures: Sedimentary Geology, v. 201, p. 386-411.

Poursoltani, M.R., Moussavi-Harami, R., & Gibling, M.R. 2007. Jurassic deep-water fans in the Neo-Tethys Ocean: the Kashafrud Formation of the Kopet-Dagh Basin, Iran. Sedimentary Geology, v. 198, p. 53-74.

Falcon-Lang, H.J., Fensome, R.A., Gibling, M.R., Malcolm, J., Fletcher, K.R., & Holleman, M. 2007. Karst-related outliers of the Cretaceous Chaswood Formation of Maritime Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 44, p. 619-642.

Sinha, R., Tandon, S.K., Sanyal, P., Gibling, M.R., Stuben, D., Berner, Z. & Ghazanfari, P. 2006. Calcretes from a Late Quaternary interfluve in the Ganga Plains, India: Carbonate types and isotopic systems in a monsoonal setting. Palaeogeography, Palaeoceanography, Palaeoecology, v. 242, p. 214-239.

Rygel, M.C., & Gibling, M.R. 2006. Natural geomorphic variability recorded in a high-accommodation setting: fluvial drainage networks in the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation of Atlantic Canada: Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 76, p. 1230-1251.

Gibling, M.R. 2006. Width and thickness of fluvial channel bodies and valley fills in the geological record: a literature compilation and classification. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 76, p. 731-770.

Jain, M., Břtter-Jensen, L., Murray, A.S., Denby, P.M., Tsukamoto, S. & Gibling, M.R. 2005. Revisiting TL: Dose measurement beyond the OSL range using SAR. Ancient TL, v. 23, p. 9-24.

Davies, S.J., Gibling, M.R., Rygel, M.C., Calder, J.H. & Skilliter, D.M. 2005. The Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation of Nova Scotia: sedimentological log and stratigraphic framework of the historic fossil cliffs. Atlantic Geology, v. 41, p. 115-142.

Gibling, M.R., Tandon, S.K., Sinha, R. & Jain, M. 2005. Discontinuity-bounded alluvial sequences of the southern Gangetic Plains, India: Aggradation and degradation in response to monsoonal strength. Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 75, p. 369-385.

Sinha, R., Gibling, M.R., Tandon, S.K., Jain, V., & Dasgupta, A.S., 2005, Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Kotra section on the Betwa River, Southern Gangetic Plains, Uttar Pradesh: Journal of the Geological Society of India, v. 65, p. 441-450.

Sinha, R., Tandon, S.K., Gibling, M.R., Bhattacharjee, P.S., & Dasgupta, A.S. 2005. Late Quaternary geology and alluvial stratigraphy of the Ganga basin: Himalayan Geology, v. 26, p. 223-240.

Rygel, M.C., Gibling, M.R., & Calder, J.H. 2004. Vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from fossil forests in the Pennsylvanian Joggins Formation, Nova Scotia. Sedimentology, v. 51, p. 531-552.

Falcon-Lang, H.J., Rygel, M.C., Gibling, M.R., & Calder, J.H. 2004. An early Pennsylvanian waterhole deposit and its fossil biota in a dryland alluvial plain setting, Joggins, Nova Scotia. Journal of the Geological Society of London, v. 161, p. 209-222.

Other Peer-Reviewed Articles

Gibling, M.R., Fielding, C.R. & Sinha, R., Alluvial valleys and alluvial sequences: Towards a geomorphic assessment: In From River to Rock Record: The Preservation Of Fluvial Sediments And Their Subsequent Interpretation, edited S.Davidson, S.Leleu, and C.North, SEPM Special Publication 97, p. 423-447.

Fielding, C.R., Allen, J.P., Alexander, J., Gibling, M.R., Rygel, M.C., and Calder, J.H. Fluvial systems and their deposits in the seasonal tropics and subtropics: modern and ancient examples. In From River to Rock Record: The Preservation Of Fluvial Sediments And Their Subsequent Interpretation, edited S.Davidson, S.Leleu, and C.North, SEPM Special Publication 97, p. 89-111.

Tandon, S.K., Sinha, R., Gibling, M.R., Dasgupta, A.S., & Ghazanfari, P. 2008. Late Quaternary evolution of the Ganga Plains: Myths and misconceptions, recent developments and future directions: In Gupta, H. & Fareeduddin (Eds.), Recent Advances in Earth System Science, Golden Jubilee Memoir of the Geological Society of India, No. 66, p. 259-299.

Gibling, M.R. & Rygel, M.C. 2008. Late Paleozoic cyclic strata of Euramerica: Recognition of Gondwanan glacial signatures during periods of thermal subsidence. In Fielding, C.R., Frank, T.D. and Isbell, J.L. (Eds), Resolving the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Time and Space, Geological Society of America Special Publication 441, p. 219-233.

Gibling, M.R., Culshaw, N., Rygel, M.C., & Pascucci, V. 2008. The Maritimes Basin of Atlantic Canada: Basin Creation and Destruction in the Collisional Zone of Pangea. In A.D.Miall (Editor) "The Sedimentary Basins of the United States and Canada" , Elsevier, p. 211-244.

Tandon, S.K., Gibling, M.R., Sinha, R., Singh, V., Ghazanfari, P., Dasgupta, A., Jain, M. & Jain, V. 2006. Alluvial valleys of the Gangetic Plains, India: Timing and causes of incision. In Incised Valleys in Time and Space, SEPM Special Publication 85, Dalrymple, R.D., Leckie, D.A. and Tillman, R., eds., p. 15-35.

Pascucci, V., Gibling, M.R. & Sandrelli, F. 2006. Valley formation and filling in response to Neogene magmatic doming of Elba Island, Tuscany, Italy. In Incised Valleys in Time and Space, SEPM Special Publication 85, Dalrymple, R.D., Leckie, D.A. and Tillman, R., eds., p. 327-343.

Rygel, M.C., Calder, J.H., Gibling, M.R., Gingras, M. & Melrose, C.S.A. 2006. Forested Tournaisian swamps in the Horton Group of Atlantic Canada. In Wetlands Through Time, Greb, S.F. & DiMichele, W.A., eds, Geological Society of America Special Paper 399, p. 103-126.

Calder, J.H., Gibling, M.R., Scott, A.C., Davies, S.J. & Hebert, B.L. 2006. A fossil lycopsid forest succession in the classic Joggins section of Nova Scotia: paleoecology of a disturbance-prone Pennsylvanian wetland: In Wetlands Through Time, Greb, S.F. & DiMichele, W.A., eds, Geological Society of America Special Paper 399, p. 169-195.

Sinha, R., Gibling, M.R., Jain, V., & Tandon, S.K., 2005, Sedimentology and avulsion patterns of the anabranching Baghmati River in the Himalayan foreland basin, India, in Blum, M., and Marriott, S., eds., Fluvial Sedimentology VII: International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication 35, p. 181-196.

Gibling, M.R., Saunders, K.I., Tibert, N.E. & White, J.A. 2004. Sequence sets, high-accommodation events and the coal window in the Carboniferous Sydney Coalfield, Atlantic Canada. In: Sequence Stratigraphy, Paleoclimate, and Tectonics of Coal-bearing Strata, Pashin, J.C. & Gastaldo, R.A., eds., AAPG Studies in Geology 51, p. 169-197.

Other

Falcon-Lang, H.J., Gibling, M.R., & Grey, M. 2010. Classic localities explained: Joggins, Nova Scotia. Geology Today, 26: 108-114.

Calder, J.H., Gibling, & Rygel, M.C. (with contributions from S. J. Davies and H.J. Falcon-Lang), 2005, The Joggins Section, Nova Scotia: Charles Lyell's Galapagos. Excursion B2, GAC/MAC Joint Annual Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2005, 44 p.

Falcon-Lang, H.J., Gibling, M.R., Rygel, M.C., Calder, J.H., & Davies, S.J., 2004. A dance to the music of time. Geoscientist, v. 14, p. 4-9.

Nanson, G.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2004. Rivers and Alluvial Fans. Major article for "Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks", ed. G.Middleton, Kluwer, p. 568-583.

Nanson, G.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2004. Anabranching Rivers. Minor article for "Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks", ed. G. Middleton, Kluwer, p. 9-11.

Nanson, G.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2004. Anabranching Rivers. Minor article for "Encyclopedia of Geomorphology", ed. A. Goudie, p. 21-25.

Published Abstracts (2009-2011)

Gibling, M.R., Sinha, R. & Roy, N.G. 2011. Response of the Ganges River of India to monsoonal changes since the Last Glacial Maximum. American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, Dec. 2011 (Invited Presentation).

Gibling, M.R. & Davies, N.S. 2011. The Paleozoic rise of avulsive fluvial systems as terrestrial vegetation evolved. Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Oct. 2011.

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. Pennsylvanian emergence of anabranching fluvial deposits: the parallel rise of arborescent vegetation and fixed-channel deposits. European Geophysical Union (EGU), Vienna, April 2011.

Kennedy, K. & Gibling, M.R. 2011. Paleoenvironments of Early Devonian plants and fish in the Campbellton Formation, New Brunswick, Canada: invasion of the land at a classic locality. European Geophysical Union (EGU), Vienna, April 2011.

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Alluvial facies evolution during the Paleozoic greening of the continents. Joint Meeting of AASP (The Palynological Society), Geological Association of Canada Paleontology Division, and Canadian Association of Palynologists, Dartmouth, NS, Oct. 2010.

Quann, S.L., Young, A.B., Laroque, C.P., Falcon-Lang, H.J. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Dendroarchaeological investigations of coal mine workings at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, Canada: 22nd Annual Meeting, Atlantic Division of Canadian Association of Geographers, Oct. 1-3, St. John's, Newfoundland. Program and Abstracts, p. 12-13.

Gibling, M.R., Bashforth, A.R., Falcon-Lang, H.J., Allen, J.P. & Fielding, C.R. 2010. Log jams in Pennsylvanian braided-river deposits of Atlantic Canada, and the timing of the world's earliest log jams: 8th European Palaeobotany - Palynology Conference, Budapest, Hungary, 6-10 July 2010.

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. How the earliest land plants transformed river landscapes: 8th European Palaeobotany - Palynology Conference, Budapest, Hungary, 6-10 July 2010.

Bashforth, A.R., Drábková, J., Opluštil, S., Gibling, M.R., & Falcon-Lang, H.J. 2010. Patchiness in riparian vegetation on a disturbance-prone braided-river plains: insight from the Middle Pennsylvanian Nyrany Member, Czech Republic: 8th European Palaeobotany - Palynology Conference, Budapest, Hungary, 6-10 July 2010.

Kennedy, K. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Sedimentology and paleobiological importance of the Campbellton Formation, New Brunswick: Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Meeting, Wolfville, Feb. 2010.

Davies, N.S., Rygel, M.C. & Gibling, M.R. 2010. Not the oldest evidence for complex life on land: the Juniata Formation (Upper Ordovician, Pennsylvania): Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Meeting, Wolfville, Feb. 2010.

Gibling, M.R. & Davies, N.S. 2010. Rooted vegetation and the Siluro-Devonian expansion of meandering rivers: Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Meeting, Wolfville, Feb. 2010.

Gibling, M.R. & Davies, N.S. 2009. Rivers and Plants: Evolving fluvial systems through the Paleozoic: International Association of Sedimentologists Meeting, Alghero, Italy, Sept. 2009 (Keynote Address).

Gibling, M.R., Davies, N.S., Bashforth, A.R. & Allen, J.P. 2009. Invasion of the plants: the evolving terrestrial landscape of the Late Palaeozoic: Lyell Meeting 2009, "Late Palaeozoic terrestrial habitats and biotas: The effect of changing climates", Burlington House, London, May 21, 2009 (Keynote Address).

Gibling, M.R., Sinha, R., Tandon, S.K. & Jain, M. 2009. Monsoon-generated fluvial sequences: Climatic control in the Ganga Plains of India over the past 130,000 years. CANQUA-CGRG Biennial Meeting, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, 3-8 May, 2009

Davies, N.S. & Gibling, M.R. 2009. Lower Palaeozoic Alluvial Systems: The Sedimentological Impact of Evolving Vegetation in Terrestrial Environments. EGU Annual Meeting, Vienna, April 2009.

Gibling, M.R., Bashforth, A.R. & Falcon-Lang, H.J. 2009. Log jams caused braided-channel abandonment and avulsion in the Pennsylvanian South Bar Formation, Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia. Atlantic Geoscience Society Annual Meeting, Moncton, Feb. 2009.

Gibling, M.R. 2009. Estimating width and thickness of fluvial channel bodies: a pragmatic approach from the rock record. Keynote presentation, "From Rivers to Rock Record", Aberdeen, UK, Jan. 2009.

Gibling, M.R., Sinha, R., Tandon, S.K. & Jain, M. 2009. Monsoon-generated fluvial sequences: Climatic control on alluvial architecture in the Himalayan Foreland Basin of India during the late Quaternary. "From Rivers to Rock Record", Aberdeen, UK, Jan. 2009.

Tanya Forde (M.Sc. Candidate)
Ground penetrating radar study of coastal areas of Atlantic Canada (Co-supervised with Mladen Nedimovic)

Chinemerem Dennar, (BSc Honours Candidate)
Title:Trees on the margins of fluvial channels, Joggins Formation, NS

Derrick Midwinter, (BSc Honours Candidate)
Title:Sedimentology of the Triassic Bjorne Formation, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

Research Associates

Neil Davies, 2009-2011, Changes in fluvial style from Cambrian to Carboniferous, as terrestrial vegetation evolved; funded from NSERC Discovery Grant

Yawooz Kettanah, 2008, Petrographic signatures of alluvium at the cratonic margin of the Himalayan Foreland Basin; funded from NSERC Discovery Grant

Post Doctoral Fellows

Neil Davies (Post-doctoral Fellow, 2007 - 2009)
Fluvial style and the evolution of vegetation in the Paleozoic

Howard Falcon-Lang (Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, 2000-2002) Research: Paleobotany of the Joggins Formation, Carboniferous of Nova Scotia.

Vincenzo Pascucci (Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, 1998-1999) Research: Seismic stratigraphy of the Sydney Basin and Burin Platform, offshore Atlantic Canada.

Ph.D.

Arden Bashforth (Ph.D., 2010) (B.Sc., Brandon University, Canada)
The paleoecology of vegetation on Pennsylvanian basin margins. Co-supervised by Dr. H. Falcon-Lang.

Mehdi Reza Poursoltani (Ph.D., 2008, Iran; one year of study at Dalhousie)
The Jurassic Kashafrud Formation of northeastern Iran

Michael Rygel (Ph. D., 2006) (B.Sc., University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, USA )
Title: Sedimentology of the Joggins Formation, Carboniferous of Nova Scotia.

John Brown (Ph. D., 1998)
Deformation and Sedimentation Adjacent to Carboniferous Diapiric Salt Structures, Western Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Trent A. Rehill (Ph. D., 1996)
Late Carboniferous Nonmarine Sequence Stratigraphy and Petroleum Geology of the Central Maritimes Basin, Eastern Canada

M. Sc.

Kirsten Kennedy (M.Sc., 2011)
Title: Sedimentology and plant habitats of the Campbellton Formation, Devonian, NB; funded from NSERC Graduate Fellowship; GSA Student Award, 2010

Heidi McDonald (M. Sc., 2005 )
Title: Sequence stratigraphy of the Morien Group Coal Measures, eastern Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia

Tammy Allen (M.Sc., 1998); ( B. Sc. Honours, Dalhousie, 1995 )
Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and hydrocarbon source-rock potential of the upper Port Hood Formation, Western Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Co-Supervised by: Dr. P.Gilles

Paul Batson (M. Sc., 1997)
Channel Bodies of the Lower Sydney Mines Formation (Carboniferous), Sydney Coalfield, Atlantic Canada

Ken I. Saunders (M. Sc., 1995)
Sedimentology and Depositional Environments of the Pennsylvanian Hub Cyclothem, Sydney Mines Formation, Cape Breton, Canada

B.Sc. Honours

Saif Al-Silwadi (BSc Honours, 2011)
Title:Log jams in the Boss Point Formation, Joggins Fossil Cliffs, NS

Fiona Gallacher (B.Sc. Honours 2010)
Title: Stromatolites in the Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia

Dan Haider (B.Sc. Honours 2008)
Title: Lithofacies Assemblages, Depositional Environments and Hydrocarbon Potential of a Potential Reservoir within Banff Formation in Northeastern British Columbia

Scott Doyle (B.Sc. Honours, 2006)
Title: Porosity / permeability analysis of the Bluesky Formation, Alberta.

Liam Fitzgerald (B.Sc. Honours, 2005)
Title: The Debert - Kemptown Coalfield, northern Nova Scotia
Co-supervised by R. Naylor (NSDNR)

Jordana Gardiner (B.Sc. Honours, 2005)
Title: Pedogenic mud aggregates in Pennsylvanian strata near Joggins, Nova Scotia

Keri Fletcher (B.Sc. Honours, 2004)
Title: Cretaceous deposits of the Windsor area, Nova Scotia: another glimpse of the Chaswood Formation.

Camilla Melrose (B. Sc. Honours, 2003)
Title: Fossil forests of the Lower Carboniferous Horton Bluff Formation, Nova Scotia.

Aaron T. Dondale (B. Sc. Honours, 2001)
THICKNESS AND FACIES VARIATION OF THE CARBONIFEROUS SYDNEY MINES FORMATION IN THE MORIEN SYNCLINE, CAPE BRETON ISLAND

Natalie O'Toole (B. Sc. Honours, 2000)
Paleoenvironment of Triassic Dinosaurs and Other Tetrapods at Carrs Brook, Nova Scotia.

Tanya Costain (B. Sc. Honours, 2000)
Stratigraphic Analysis and Possible Tidal Influence in the Thorburn Member and Coal Brook Member, Stellarton Formation, Nova Scotia.

Melanie Oakes (B. Sc. Honours, 1999)
Alluvial Fan Deposits of the Carboniferous Grantmire Formation in Drill Hole PE 83-1, Sydney Basin, Nova Scotia. .

R. Scott Parker (B. Sc. Honours Co-op, 1999
Ancient Submarine Canyons and Fans of the Carson Basin, Grand Banks, Offshore Newfoundland, Canada
Co-Supervised by: John Shimeld

Natalie M. Boudreau (B. Sc. Honours Co-op, 1998
Experimental Investigation of Cation Exchange between Formation Waters and Sandstones and Shales, Phalen Colliery, Cape Breton
Co-Supervised by: John Shimeld

Paul J. Teniere (B. Sc. Honours, 1998)
Sedimentology, Facies Successions and Cyclicity of a Section of the Joggins Formation, Joggins, Nova Scotia

Jeremy Tonelli (B. Sc. Honours, 1998)
The Joggins and Springhill Mines Formation, Interpretation and a Model for the Paleo- environment

Kevin Doyle (B. Sc. Advanced Major, 1997
Determination of bulk permeability within the Morien Group using the forcing of ocean tides in the Sydney Basin in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Co-Supervised by: K. Moran / T. Martel

Angela Kennedy (B. Sc. Honours, 1997)
Compartmentalization of formation waters, Prince Colliery, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Jennifer Vandergaag (B. Sc. Honours, 1997)
Characterization of outburst channel sandstones in the Phalen Colliery, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Summer students

Zabrina Prescott, 2011, Microbial mats through time: a literature survey, and a study of microbial mats in a fluvial channel, Joggins World Heritage site; funded by Shell Experiential Learning Fund, Dalhousie

2009 Co-convener (with Ellen Wohl) of Fluvial Session, IAS International Meeting, Alghero, Italy
2009- Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Joggins UNESCO World Heritage Site
2006- Member of FLAG (Fluvial Archive Group)
2006- Member IGCP Research Group 449, Paleobotany
2006- Contributor to book "The Geology of Canada"
2006 Member of Sequence Stratigraphy Commission, Stratigraphic Code
2005 Co-Convenor (with Rob Rainbird) of Special Session on Big Rivers, GAC Annual Meeting, Halifax, May 2005.
2004 Convenor of Special Session on Sequence Stratigraphy, International Geological Congress, Florence, Italy.
2003- Chair, Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University.
2003 Member, Technical Program Committee, Northeast Geological Society of America meeting, Halifax, March 2003
2002- Member, International Geological Correlation Program 449, Fluvial Strata
2001 Convenor of Special Session on Accommodation in Alluvial Strata, 7th International Conference on Fluvial Sedimentology, Lincoln, Nebraska.
1997 Convenor of Special Session "Anabranching Rivers: Geomorphology and Sedimentology", 6th International Conference on Fluvial Sedimentology, Cape Town, South Africa
1997-2000 Contributing author for book "The Last Billion Years", produced by Atlantic Geoscience Society (book won Association of Geoscience Editors award, 2002)
1998-9 Chair, NSERC Grant Selection Committee 08, Solid Earth Sciences, Chair in 3rd year.

2004-2007 Associate Editor, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
2000- Associate Editor, Journal of Sedimentary Research. (Nominating Committee for Best Paper Award 2001)
1995-8 Associate Editor of Sedimentology and Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology
1993- Associate Editor, Atlantic Geology

2011 Earth Sciences Professor of the Year, Dalhousie Univ.
2010 Earth-Science Reviews lists Cataneanu et al. (2009) as 3rd and Davies & Gibling (2010) as 14th in their most accessed papers from all publication years, for Oct 2009 to Sept 2010 academic year. Palaios features Davies et al. (2010) on their BioOne site for September 2010, with open access content.
2010 Earth-Science Reviews lists Davies & Gibling (2010) as 2nd in a list of their 25 hottest papers for Jan to March 2010, and Cataneanu et al. (2009) as 7th.
2007 Rygel et al. (2004) listed as 6th most cited paper published in Sedimentology in 2004 (with 6 citations), out of 63 papers published in the journal that year.
2006 Davies & Gibling (2003) listed in top 20 in Sedimentology citation list, including papers from 1979 onwards (Sedimentology website)
2004 Killam Professor, Dalhousie Faculty of Science (5 year award)
2002 Gesner Medal, Awarded by Atlantic Geoscience Society for Contributions to the geology of Atlantic Canada
2000 Earth Sciences Professor of the Year, Dalhousie Univ.

Media Links
"Ancient reptile tracks found in N.B.", reported in numerous media outlets July 30, 2010, including Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Winnipeg Free Press, and Global News

:If not for plants, could rivers bend?" American Scientist, v. 98 (3), p. 200, May/June 2010 .

"How plants transformed rivers", Frontiers in Ecology", Feb 2020, p. 62

"An evolutionary curveball", Dal News, v. 4, no. 5, 7/02/2010

Neil Davies interviewed on German radio about the rise of plants and rivers, 18/01/2010

"Rise of deep-rooted plants threw curve at ancient rivers", Leader Post, Regina, 11/01/2010

"Canadian scientists unlock ancient mystery of river flows", Vancouver Sun, 11/01/2010

Nature India features study of craton sands, with interview with R.Sinha (published in GSA Bulletin 2009), 29/12/2009

Appeared on CBC TV movie on coal strip-mining in Cape Breton, 2006