First black SA woman earns PhD in marine geology from UKZN
A RECENT graduate has paved the way for local black women in geological sciences after she became the first black woman in South Africa to receive a PhD in Marine Geology.
Dr Nonkululeko Dladla made history with her PhD, said the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Her Honours, Master’s and PhD supervisor Professor Andrew Green was elated at her success.
“I am especially proud of Nku! The quality of her PhD was outstanding. She is an absolute role model for our students who need mentors they can identify with,” said Green.
The university said Dladla, who is also a developmental lecturer in geological sciences at UKZN, focused her studies on the stratigraphy and geological evolution of three coastal water bodies along the north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal coastline to gain an understanding of how coastlines responded to a rise in sea levels in the past and better understand the potential consequences of future changes.
“Concentrating on Lake St Lucia, the Richards Bay Harbour and the Kosi Bay system, Dladla looked beneath the ocean’s surface at the complex network of ancient river valleys that underlie these systems, which were flooded during the Holocene epoch as sea levels rose due to melting glaciers,” UKZN said.
The university added that despite each of these water bodies being in a similar climatic, geomorphological, oceanographic and sea-level framework, Dladla pointed out that each differed in terms of its palaeo-sediment supply and underlying geological framework.
In her studies, Dladla set out to understand how much these factors influenced the stratigraphic evolution of incised valleys as they evolved from rivers to estuaries with rising sea levels, and what role they could play in the final geomorphological form.
“Reconstructing the geological signatures of these kinds of coastal systems can greatly improve our understanding of how coastlines respond to climate change and sea-level rise and improve prediction of the consequences of future changes.”
Dladla has published several articles emanating from her studies in the foremost international, peer-reviewed journals and her PhD was awarded with no corrections to her thesis.
UKZN is the only institution in Africa specialising in marine geology.