Dr. Pauline Cornard

I am interested in deep-marine sedimentary processes, especially sediment-gravity flow processes, shaping the seafloor. My research aims to better understand the importance of processes in sediment-gravity flows from observation of ancient (outcrop data – Middle Eocene Ainsa and Jaca basin, Spain; Oligocene Annot Formation, France) and modern (geophysical and core data of the Kumano forearc, Mariana forearc, Bengal Fan) deep-water systems to improve the understanding of submarine fan morphodynamics. I am also interested in testing hypothesis to decipher the relation between the triggering mechanisms of sediment-gravity flows and the characteristics of their deposits. My approach includes a combination of methods such as detailed outcrop description and logging, core logging, XRF analysis, grain-size analysis and medical CT scanning with a special focus on utilizing µ-CT to characterize micro facies in flow-process deposits.

Additionally, I am interested in sediment provenance studies to better constrain deep-marine sediment dynamics over varying timescales, from millennia (e.g., zircon age dating) to centuries (e.g., carbonate analysis).

Currently, I am working on the core and geophysical dataset collected during the SO304 Bengal Shelf Expedition in April 2024. My aim is to deepen our understanding of how mechanisms such as cyclones, storm and tides influence the sediment dynamics and transfers from the canyon head of the Swatch of No Grounds (SoNG) to the Bengal deep-marine channel and lobes.

Cornard, P.H., Schleicher, A., Regalla, C., Hamahashi, M., Kitamura, M., Fukuchi, R., Pickering, K. T., Kitajima, H., Wiersberg, T. (2025). Recent advances in the use of drill cuttings for determining subduction zone structure, stratigraphy, and stress state. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 26, e2024GC012094. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GC012094

Cornard, P.H., Pickering, K. T., & Strasser, M. (2024) Supercritical-flow deposits: a new quantitative tool to characterize deep-marine depositional environments (Oligocene Annot Sandstones, SE France)? Terra Nova. https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12746

Cornard, P. H., Dawson, H. L., & Pickering, K. T. (2024). Sediment provenance along the Middle Miocene‐Pleistocene Nankai subduction zone from sediment transport to accretion: Implications for stratigraphy in the accretionary prism. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25(8), e2023GC011393. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011393

Cornard, P. H., Degenhart, G., Tropper, P., Moernaut, J., & Strasser, M. (2023). Application of micro‐CT to resolve textural properties and assess primary sedimentary structures of deep‐marine sandstones. The Depositional Record. https://doi.org/10.1002/dep2.261

Maerten, F., Maerten, L., Plateaux, R., & Cornard, P. H. (2022). Joint inversion of tectonic stress and magma pressures using dyke trajectories. Geological Magazine, 159(11-12), 2379-2394. https://doi.org/10.1017/S001675682200067X

Cornard, P. H., Moernaut, J., Moore, G. F., Kioka, A., Kopf, A., dos Santos Ferreira, C., Strasser, M. (2022). Sequence stratigraphic evolution of the Kumano forearc basin during the last deglaciation: influence of eustasy and tectonically-controlled shelf morphology on deep-marine sediment dynamics, Sedimentary Geology, v. 430, 106100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2022.106100

Cornard, P. H., and Pickering, K. T. (2020). Submarine topographic control on distribution of supercritical-flow deposits in lobe-and-related environments, Middle Eocene, Jaca Basin, Spanish Pyrenees, Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 90 (9), p. 1222–1243. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2020.59

Cornard, P. H., and Pickering, K.T. (2019). Supercritical-flow deposits and their distribution in a submarine channel system, Middle Eocene, Ainsa Basin, Spanish Pyrenees, Journal of Sedimentary Research, v. 89 (6), p. 576–597. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2019.34