Sedimentary Systems

Situated on the banks of the Mississippi River Delta and the margin of the Gulf of Mexico, LSU provides a natural home for the study of the geology of sedimentary systems. Our investigations range from local (Mississippi Delta and coastal/continental shelf systems) to much farther afield, including Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and the Pacific Islands. Our faculty are internationally recognized, diverse in interests, and dedicated to studying global processes. In particular, we investigate sedimentary formations and records using lithologic, geophysical, geochemical, and palynological methods to interpret the record preserved in sedimentary basins and on continental margins. We reconstruct sediment transport processes and attempt to understand the primary controls over sediment generation in source areas and its transport to terminal depositional sinks, including on Mars. As these processes are time transgressive, our expertise and focus spans between millennial-scale changes to recent anthropogenic modifications and impacts.

Faculty members:
Achim Herrmann
Guangsheng Zhuang
Peter Clift
Carol Wilson
Sam Bentley
Adam Forte
Suniti Karunatillake