Rufus began his Ph.D. in 1999 for the Turbidite Research Group at the University of Leeds supervised by Bill McCaffrey, Ben Kneller, Rob Butler and Sanjeev Gupta. The Ph.D. entitled ‘Vertical transitions in turbidite facies and sedimentary architecture: insights from the Grès du Champsaur, SE France, and from laboratory experiments’ used remote sensing and field based methods to investigate turbidite channel initiation events in the initially highly confined Champsaur sub-basin of the Alpine foreland basin. Rufus has worked with the Stratigraphy Group since 2005 on the well-received Slope 2, 3 and 4 projects conducted in the Permian aged Karoo Basin of South Africa.  Rufus’ continued research within the Karoo Basin is concerned with basin scale characterisation of the entire slope succession from terrestrial deposits to deep-water terminal lobes.

Outcrop work drives my research interests. I am interested in using traditional field investigation techniques coupled with remote observation and model building to better understand the processes of sediment transport and deposition. Upscaling of outcrop scale detail provides a mechanism to understand the dynamics of larger scale sedimentary systems.  

Summary of research interests:

• Study of sedimentary systems through field and digital surveying techniques
• Use of GIS as a tool for investigating and compiling basin scale field datasets
• Analysis of basin formation and infilling mechanisms
• Sedimentary and sequence stratigraphy
• Clastic sediment transport and depositional systems from fluvial, through to shallow marine systems and specialising in deep-water environments
• Use of field and experimental analogue studies to predict reservoir quality and connectivity in subsurface hydrocarbon systems

• Stratigraphy Group (Strat Group)
• Basin Studies and Petroleum Geoscience