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Dr Cassy Mtelela

Dr Cassy Mtelela Kisanga

Senior Lecturer

School of Mines and Geosciences

Geosciences

Biography

I am a senior lecturer of sedimentary geology at the Department of Geosciences. I completed my undergraduate degree program at this University (University of Dar es Salaam) in 2007, and was subsequently recruited as an academic member in the then Department of Geology in 2008, as a Tutorial Assistant. I pursued my Master of Science degree between 2008 and 2010 at the University of Dar es Salaam, and PhD (Geology) at the James Cook University in Australia from 2012 to 2016. My PhD research focused on Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Petroleum Geology (https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/48569) on the Late Cenozoic strata in the Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania. My PhD and subsequent research involve geologic mapping, sedimentary facies analysis, sedimentary petrology, lithostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy in reconstructing: depositional environments; sedimentary provenance; basin evolution, and prospecting for mineral, water, and hydrocarbons. Currently, I also collaborate with paleontologists and paleoanthropologists to provide geologic context to the flora and fauna preserved within sedimentary basins in Tanzania. As a result of these researches, I have published several articles in reputable Journals as a solo or co-author  (Researcher IDs: orcid.org/0000-0002-4573-7909, Scopus Author ID: 57190027018).

Research Interest

  • I am a geologist and sedimentary geologist by undergraduate and postgraduate training, respectively, with special interest in basin analysis and petroleum geology.
  • My research involves geologic mapping, sedimentary facies analysis, sedimentary petrology, lithostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy in reconstructing: depositional environments; sedimentary provenance; basin evolution, and prospecting for mineral, water and hydrocarbons across the Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary basins in Tanzania.
  • I also work in collaboration with paleontologists and paleoanthropologists in providing geologic context to the flora and fauna preserved within sedimentary basins.

Contacts

Email:

Projects

Collaborative Research Projects:

The Rukwa Rift Basin Project: evolution of faunas and ecosystems in deep time―implications for Gondwana biogeography: 2021—To date

 

 

 

 

Geology and Archeologic Investigation of the mid-Pleistocene Isimila Stone-Age Site, Tanzania: 2020 —To date

Rift Dynamics and primate evolution at the close of the Paleogene: A view from the Rukwa Rift Basin: 2012—2020

Consultancy Project:

Karoo and Cretaceous rocks mapping in Rukwa Basin (UDSM-UCB/SoMG/22086): April, 2022—April, 2023

Publications

2024. Felister Christopher Nyaki, Emily Barnabas Kiswaka, Olugbenga A. Boboye, Stephen Peter Magohe, Elisante E. Mshiu and Cassy Mtelela. Depositional and post-depositional architectural elements of the Dar es Salaam Platform, central coastal Tanzania: distribution of petroleum system elements and their implications for petroleum prospectivity. Journal of Sedimentary Environments.  SN: 2447-9462.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s43217-024-00175-9

 

2023. Masota M Magigita, Elisante Mshiu, and Cassy Mtelela.  Application of Remote Sensing and Spectroradiometry in Geological Mapping: a case study of Handeni (QDS 148) Block, Eastern Mozambique Belt, Tanzania. Tanzania Journal of Science 49(5), 1079-1096.

https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjs.v49i5.12

 

2023. Theresa J. Orr, Eric M. Roberts, Michael I. Bird, Cassy Mtelela, Patrick M. O'Connor, Nancy J. Stevens. Paleosol-derived paleoclimate and paleoenvironment reconstruction of the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania: implications for faunal dispersal in the Miocene–Pliocene. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 93 (5): 309–326. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2022.015

 

2022. Sabuni, R., Mtelela, C. & Kagya, M. Geologic review of hydrocarbon potential of the Rufiji Basin, Tanzania. J. Sediment. Environ. 7, 337–349,

 https://doi.org/10.1007/s43217-022-00102-w

 

2022. Lawrence, L., Spandler, C., Hilbert-Wolf, H.L., Mtelela, C., Stevens, N.J., O'Connor, P.M., and Roberts, E.M. Radiogenic isotope record of magma genesis and lithospheric geodynamics of the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, from mid-Mesozoic to present. Chemical Geology, 608. 121040,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121040

 

2021. Jacob A. McCartney, Sierra N. Bouchard, Josephine A. Reinhardt, Eric M. Roberts, Patrick M. O'Connor, Cassy Mtelela, Nancy J. Stevens. The oldest lamprophiid (Serpentes, Caenophidia) fossil from the late Oligocene Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania and the origins of African snake diversity,

Geobios, 66-67,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2020.07.005

 

2021. Theresa J. Orr, Eric M. Roberts, Christopher M. Wurster, Cassy Mtelela, Nancy J. Stevens, and Patrick M. O’Connor. Paleoclimate and paleoenvironment reconstruction of paleosols spanning the Lower to Upper Cretaceous from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 577, 110539, ISSN 0031-0182,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110539 

 

2020. Vittorio Maselli, Davide Oppo, Andrew L. Moore, Aditya Riadi Gusman, Cassy Mtelela, David Iacopini, Marco Taviani, Elinaza Mjema, Ernest Mulaya, Melody Che, Ai Lena Tomioka, Elisante Mshiu and Joseph D. Ortiz. Forum Reply - A 1000-yr-old tsunami in the Indian Ocean points to greater risk for East Africa. Geology 49(1): e516-e516.

 https://doi.org/10.1130/G48585Y.1

 

2020. Vittorio Maselli, Davide Oppo, Andrew L. Moore, Aditya Riadi Gusman, Cassy Mtelela, David Iacopini, Marco Taviani, Elinaza Mjema, Ernest Mulaya, Melody Che, Ai Lena Tomioka, Elisante Mshiu and Joseph D. Ortiz. A 1000-yr-old tsunami in the Indian Ocean points to greater risk for East Africa. Geology v. 48 (8), p. 808–813

https://doi.org/10.1130/G47257.1

 

2018. Mtelela, C., Preliminary sedimentology and stratigraphy of the enigmatic middle Lake Beds succession (Pleistocene?) in the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania. Tanzania Journal of Science 44(1), p. 75-96. eISSN: 2507-7961, print ISSN: 0856-1761

https://journals.udsm.ac.tz/index.php/tjs/article/view/2805, https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjs/article/view/171311

 

2017. Mtelela, C., Roberts, E.M., Hilbert-Wolf, H.L., Downie, R., Hendrix, M.S., O’Connor, P.M. and Stevens, N.J., Sedimentology and paleoenvironments of a new fossiliferous late Miocene-Pliocene sedimentary succession in the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania. Journal of African Earth Sciences 129, p. 260-281. ISSN 1464-343X,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.01.010.

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1464343X17300110)

 

2017. Hannah Hilbert-Wolf, Eric Roberts, Bob Downie, Cassy Mtelela, Nancy Stevens and Patrick O’Connor. Application of U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology to drill cuttings for age control in hydrocarbon exploration wells: a case study from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania. AAPG Bulleti 101 (2), p. 143-159. AAPG Bulletin 101 (2), 143–159. 

 https://doi.org/10.1306/06281616003

2017. Quaid Khan Jadoon, Eric Roberts, Bob Henderson, Thomas Blenkinsop, Raphael AJ Wüst, and Cassy Mtelela. Lithological and facies analysis of the Roseneath and Murteree shales, Cooper Basin, Australia. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 37, p. 138-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2016.10.047

 

2016. Mtelela, C., Roberts, E.M., Downie, R., and Hendrix, M.S. Interplay of structural, climatic and volcanic controls on late Quaternary lacustrine-deltaic sedimentation patterns in the Western Branch of the East African Rift System, Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania. Journal of Sedimentary Research 86 (10), p. 1179-1207. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2016.73