Welcome to the Southeast Asia Research Group

The SE Asia Research Group carries out field and laboratory based studies aimed at understanding the tectonic development and geological history of this exciting, active, and beautiful region.

Our research activities range from MSc, MRes, and PhD studies to major thematic programmes, all of which involve collaborations between UK and SE Asian universities, government institutions, and professional organisations.

Our current research projects include understanding the timing and style of basin formation in Eastern Sumatra and its implications for the subsurface, using basement and sedimentary provenance studies to understand basin evolution in the South China Sea, and reconstructing the tectonic evolution of Eastern Indonesia and New Guinea.

You can read more about our research activities and future vision in our SEARG Prospectus

The SE Asia Research Group is funded by industrial companies in three-year consortia.

If you are interested in joining the SE Asia Research Group consortium contact Max.Webb@rhul.ac.uk

Visiting Borneo soon? Download our guide to the geology of Mount Kinabalu!

Recent Papers –

Max Webb et al., 2023. Mesozoic Magmatism of Natuna Island, Indonesia: Implications for the subduction history of eastern Indonesia. Gondwana Research

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2023.02.022

Breitfeld et al., 2022. Provenance of Oligocene-Miocene sedimentary rocks in the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son basins, Vietnam, and the early history of the Mekong River. International Journal of Earth Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-022-02214-0

Nugraha et al., 2023. Plio-Pleistocene sedimentation and palaeogeographic reconstruction in the Poso Depression, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia: from a sea channel to a land bridge. Journal of Palaeogeography.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jop.2023.05.003

Recent News –

Amy Gough, Max Webb, and PhD Student Sam Holmes have recently returned from field seasons in SE Asia. All of them spent some time collecting river sediments on the Citarum River to look at how hydroelectric dams change heavy mineral assemblages. Max then headed off to Papua to look at how uplift of the Cyclops Mountains led to isolation of endemic species.

We’re on the move! Amy Gough has been offered a position at Heriot-Watt University as an Assistant Professor in Geoscience. Heriot-Watt has excellent ties with SE Asia, including a linked campus in Malaysia.

Amy Gough and Max Webb presented their current SEARG research at the SEAPEX Golden Jubilee in Singapore