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Michiel de Kock

Prof Michiel de Kock

Associate Professor
Name: Michiel de Kock
Location: C1 Lab 419 Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
Department of Geology Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: +27 (0)11 559 4707

Email: mdekock@uj.ac.za

About Prof Michiel de Kock

Research interests

I am a paleomagnetist, sedimentologist and stratigrapher. I am particularly interested in the interplay between global tectonics, the biosphere and surface processes through time. I lead the UJ paleomagnetic laboratory equipped with various demagnetization apparatus for thermal and alternating field demagnetization, instruments to characterize rock magnetic properties, a spinner magnetometer (JR6-A) as well as a cryogenic rock magnetometer (755-4K SRM system by APS, formerly known as 2G Enterprises). The paleomagnetic method and rock magnetic techniques offer a perspective on a changing Earth surface environment and climate conditions not just through Earth’s distant past, but also during the recent past with the promise of being able to make predictions of future short- and long-term change in the Anthropocene. It is particularly suited to contributing towards multidisciplinary studies in paleoclimatology, mineral/energy resource exploration, palaeontology/biostratigraphy as well as palaeoanthropology/archaeology. Much of the efforts by my research group are aimed at characterization of the southern African Precambrian large igneous province record. This has the potential to provide a data-dense record of precise geochronology, geochemical characterization, spatial and geometrical information as well as primary paleomagnetic records that can be used in combination to resolve past continental configurations between now distant continental blocks. A developing research focus is the combination of paleogeographic constraints and the reconstruction of the Earth’s past surface environment. I am an NRF C-rated scientist, with more than 55 peer-reviewed papers. I have successfully (co)supervised twelve MSc and seven PhD students, and I am an Associate Editor of Precambrian Research.

Teaching
  • Structural Geology and Plate Tectonics
  • Geology 2 Field Techniques
  • Sedimentology and Stratigraphy
  • Sedimentary Basin Analysis
  • Honours research project. Recent research projects supervised by me include: Paleomagnetism of the Kliprivierberg Group south of Johannesburg. Paleomagnetism of an E-W trending dolerite dyke in the Johannesburg Dome. Rock magnetic study of the CIMERA-KARIN borehole KZF-01. Paleomagnetic dating of the Albert Silver Mine poly-metallic prospect. Petrography and geochemistry of mafic intrusions in the Griqualand West region.
Selected recent publications
  • Heubeck, C., Beukes, N., De Kock, M.O., Homann, M., Javaux, E., Kakegawa, T., Lalonde, S., Mason, P., Mashele, P., Paprika, D., Rippon, C., Tice, M., Tucker, R., Tucker, R., Ndazamo, V., Christianson, A., Kunkel, C. (2024): BASE – Drilling Paleoarchean coastal strata of the Barberton Greenstone Belt. Scientific Drilling, 33, 129-172. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-129-2024
  • Luskin, C., De Kock, M.O., Wabo, H., Evans, D.A.D., Sadava, D., Nhleko, N. (2024): New palaeomagnetic results from the Mesoarchaean Nsuze flood basalts, South Africa. South African Journal of Geology, 127, 195-218. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.127.0022
  • Ngobeli, R., Wabo, H., Vorster, C., De Kock, M.O. (2024): New baddeleyite U-Pb ages, geochemical and palaeomagnetic results from Ghaap Plateau dykes of the Griqualand West basin, South Africa. South African Journal of Geology, 127, 493-520. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.127.0024
  • Anderson, T., Elburg, M.A., Kristoffersen, M., De Kock, M.O. (2024): Retrieving meaningful information from detrital zircon in Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary rocks: Provenance, timing of deposition, metamorphism and alteration of zircon in sandstones of the Pretoria Group in the Transvaal Basin, South Africa. South African Journal of Geology, 127, 473-492. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.127.0012
  • De Kock, M.O., Malatji, I., Wabo, H., Mukhopadhyay, J., Banerjee, A., Maré, L.P. (2024): High-latitude platform carbonate deposition constitutes a climate conundrum at the terminal Mesoproterozoic. Nature Communications, 15, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46390-w
  • Djeutchou, C, De Kock, M.O., Ernst, R.E., Ossa Ossa, F., Bekker, A. (2024): A review of the intraplate mafic magmatic record of the greater Congo craton. Earth-Science Reviews, 249, 104649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104649
  • Gumsley, A.P., De Kock, M.O., Ernst, R., Hanson, R., Kamo, S., Knoper, M., Lewandowski, M., Luks, B., Mamuse, A., Sałacińska, U. Söderlund (2024). The Mutare and Fingeren dyke swarms and the enigma of the Kalahari Craton’s exit from supercontinent Rodinia. Geological Society of London, Special Publications, 537. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP537-2022-206
  • Wadley, L., Biemond, W., Laue, G., Sievers, C., Thorp, C., De Kock, M.O. (2023): Woodstock Rocks: From Acheulean to Iron Age in the Waterberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Southern African Field Archaeology, 18, 2788. https://doi.org/10.36615/safa.18.2788.2023
  • De Kock. M.O., Malatji, I., Wabo, H., Maré, L.P. (2022): A positive syn-fold test from the Neoarchaean Klipriviersberg Group of South Africa: Quo vadis Vaalbara? South African Journal of Geology. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.125.0017
  • De Kock, M.O., Abubakre, A.O. (2022): Permian magnetostratigraphy and end of the Kiaman Reverse Polarity Superchron from the southeast Karoo Basin, South Africa. Journal of Geophysical Research, e2022JB024384. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JB024384