Christopher Todd - PhD Candidate
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Far North Queensland is a spectacular place to grow up, with a backyard full of beautiful landscapes. As an inquisitive child growing up I had always shown a keen interest in rocks and how the world works, much to the annoyance of my parents. I have often been told stories where I have asked "Where do mountains come from?" or "What type of rock is this?". Often unsatisfied with their replies, it followed, then, that I chose a career in Geology.
In 2014 I completed a Bachelors Degree with Class I Honours (so I now have a pretty good idea about where mountains come from and a long list of rocks that I know). My research included three formations within Porcupine Gorge, central North Queensland. My primary focus was the Blantyre Sandstone, and I was able to determine the sedimentary history of this unit. Luckily, the rocks in my field area were very forthcoming with their stories, leading to success in my research, encouraging me to pursue human/rock relations as a hobby. I now continue my academic pursuits through a PhD, relying on a mutual understanding with the rocks.
The crux of my PhD research is to understand the sedimentology of the Hughenden region in central North Queensland, and to determine the provenance of Mesozoic sedimentary formations from within the Great Artesian Basin in eastern Australia in an attempt to reconstruct and date the tectonic events that have shaped the region. This has led me to some of the most beautiful landscapes in Australia, including a return to Porcupine Gorge, as well as visiting Carnarvon Gorge and the Gregory Range in Queensland. I have also explored Jurassic rocks in Geraldton, Western Australia, on the hunt for dinosaur or marine reptile fossils.
A side enterprise involves the discovery and description of the oldest known fossil evidence of fungus farming amongst insects. This spectacular fossil was found as part of the East African Rift Project in Tanzania and has been a well received ichnological discovery, published in Plos One and the Australasian Science magazine (see publications below or in the publications page on this website).
A view of the famous Pyramid Rock in Porcupine Gorge.
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Carnarvon Gorge from Boolimba Bluff.
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Published Works
2020. Cheng, Y., Todd, C.N., Henderson, R.A., Danisik, M., Sahlstrom, F., Change, Z., Corral, I. Jurassic uplift and erosion of the northeast Queensland continental margin: evidence from (U-Th)/He thermochronology combined with U-Pb detrital zircon age spectra. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 67, pp. 591-604.
2019. Todd, C.N., Roberts, E.M., Knutsen. E.M., Rozefelds, A.C., Huang, H., Spandler, C. Refined age and geological context of two of Australia's most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland. Gondwana Research 76, pp. 19-25.
2017. Roberts, E., Todd, C. Were termites the world's first farmers? Australasian Science, March/April, pp.22-24. [Not peer reviewed]
2016. Roberts, E.M., Todd, C.N., et al. Oligocene termite nests with in situ fungus gardens from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, support a Paleogene African origin for insect agriculture. PlosONE, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156847.
Unpublished Theses/Conference Presentations
2019. Christopher N. Todd, Eric M. Roberts, Espen M. Knutsen, Andrew C. Rozefelds, Hui-Qing Huang, Carl Spandler. Refined age and geological context of two of Australia's most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Surat Basin, QLD. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2019 , Brisbane Accepted abstract - poster).
2018. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Mesozoic tectonic evolution of eastern Australia: insights from the sedimentary record of central North Queensland. International Sedimentological Congress 2018, Quebec CIty (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd. A discussion on the stratigraphy and tectonic history of Porcupine Gorge, Queensland. Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium (GESSS-QLD), Brisbane (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Detrital zircon geochronology of late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic sandstones from northern Queensland: implications for the evolution of eastern Australian basins. Future Understanding of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, Environment & Sustainability (FUTORES II), Townsville (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Resolution of Permian & Triassic problems in Porcupine Gorge, Queensland. Future Understanding of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, Environment & Sustainability (FUTORES II), Townsville (Accepted abstract - poster).
2016. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts, Carl Spandler. Reconstructing the tectonic history and palaeodrainage evolution of Mesozoic NE Australia. Australian Earth Sciences Convention, Adelaide (Accepted abstract - talk).
2014. Todd, C.N.. The stratigraphy and sedimentological history of the Jurassic Blantyre Sandstone of the NE Eromanga Basin and surrounding strata, Central Queensland. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
2020. Cheng, Y., Todd, C.N., Henderson, R.A., Danisik, M., Sahlstrom, F., Change, Z., Corral, I. Jurassic uplift and erosion of the northeast Queensland continental margin: evidence from (U-Th)/He thermochronology combined with U-Pb detrital zircon age spectra. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 67, pp. 591-604.
2019. Todd, C.N., Roberts, E.M., Knutsen. E.M., Rozefelds, A.C., Huang, H., Spandler, C. Refined age and geological context of two of Australia's most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland. Gondwana Research 76, pp. 19-25.
2017. Roberts, E., Todd, C. Were termites the world's first farmers? Australasian Science, March/April, pp.22-24. [Not peer reviewed]
2016. Roberts, E.M., Todd, C.N., et al. Oligocene termite nests with in situ fungus gardens from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, support a Paleogene African origin for insect agriculture. PlosONE, DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156847.
Unpublished Theses/Conference Presentations
2019. Christopher N. Todd, Eric M. Roberts, Espen M. Knutsen, Andrew C. Rozefelds, Hui-Qing Huang, Carl Spandler. Refined age and geological context of two of Australia's most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Surat Basin, QLD. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2019 , Brisbane Accepted abstract - poster).
2018. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Mesozoic tectonic evolution of eastern Australia: insights from the sedimentary record of central North Queensland. International Sedimentological Congress 2018, Quebec CIty (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd. A discussion on the stratigraphy and tectonic history of Porcupine Gorge, Queensland. Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium (GESSS-QLD), Brisbane (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Detrital zircon geochronology of late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic sandstones from northern Queensland: implications for the evolution of eastern Australian basins. Future Understanding of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, Environment & Sustainability (FUTORES II), Townsville (Accepted abstract - talk).
2017. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts. Resolution of Permian & Triassic problems in Porcupine Gorge, Queensland. Future Understanding of Tectonics, Ores, Resources, Environment & Sustainability (FUTORES II), Townsville (Accepted abstract - poster).
2016. Christopher Todd, Eric Roberts, Carl Spandler. Reconstructing the tectonic history and palaeodrainage evolution of Mesozoic NE Australia. Australian Earth Sciences Convention, Adelaide (Accepted abstract - talk).
2014. Todd, C.N.. The stratigraphy and sedimentological history of the Jurassic Blantyre Sandstone of the NE Eromanga Basin and surrounding strata, Central Queensland. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Contact Me
For any questions about my research, or just to say hello, you can reach me via Email, LinkedIn or Twitter using the icons below:
For any questions about my research, or just to say hello, you can reach me via Email, LinkedIn or Twitter using the icons below:
