Staff profile

2023 – present: Research Fellow, Durham University

2019 – 2022: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of KwaZulu-Natal

2014 - 2018: PhD (MSc upgraded) – Marine Geology, University of KwaZulu-Natal

2010 - 2013: BSc (Hons) – Geological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Research Overview

I am a Newton International Royal Society research fellow in the Geography department. My research focuses on using microfossils to reconstruct Late-Holocene relative sea-level change from saltmarsh and mangroves along the east coast of South Africa. Through these reconstructions, I hope to learn more about the drivers of sea-level rise in far field locations and provide new datasets from this understudied region. This knowledge will also help to assess how present-day coastlines may respond to rising sea level and better equip policy makers to protect vulnerable coastal communities in South Africa. My work relies on microfossil (foraminifera and diatoms), sedimentological and geochemical analyses to produce multiproxy datasets. I build Bayesian transfer functions using microorganism assemblage data and apply these to microfossil data to produce relative sea-level reconstructions. My research aims to combine a larger systems approach with field observations and quantitative relative sea-level data to reconstruct not only sea level history, but also to build a better understanding of the coastal processes that have shaped coastlines in the recent past.

Publications

Journal article:

Kirsten, K.L., Pretorius, L., Meadows, M.E., Weij, R., Aquino-López, M., Antonopoulos, H.G., Dubazana, Y., Qadeer, A., Finch, J. and Bao, K., 2023. The depositional history of the Knysna estuary since European colonization in the context of sea level and human impacts. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, p.1120460.

Pretorius, L., Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A. (currently under review). Outer- to inner-shelf response to stepped sea-level rise: Insights from incised valleys and submerged shorelines. Marine Geology.

Pretorius, L., Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A., 2017. Submerged beachrock preservation in the context of wave ravinement. Geo-Marine Letters, pp.1-14.

Pretorius, L., Green, A. and Cooper, A., 2016. Submerged shoreline preservation and ravinement during rapid postglacial sea-level rise and subsequent “slowstand”. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 128(7-8), pp.1059-1069.

Smith, A.M., Green, A.N., Cooper, J.A.G., Dixon, S., Pretorius, L., Wiles, E. and Guastella, L.A., 2014. Cliff-top storm deposits (55-63m amsl) from Morgan Bay, South Africa. Journal of Coastal Research, 70(sp1), pp.349-353.

• Holocene sea-level reconstruction
• Micropalaeontology (diatoms and foraminifera)
• Intertidal environments (salt marsh and mangrove)
• Coastal and estuarine geomorphology