Prof. Nils Lenhardt
University of Pretoria
Department of Geology
email: nils.lenhardt@up.ac.za 

Research keywords: Sedimentology, Physical Volcanology

Nils Lenhardt is an Associate Professor at the Department of Geology at the University of Pretoria. He holds an MSc (2004) and PhD (2009) from the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany.

As a sedimentologist and physical volcanologist, Nils’ research is traditionally field-based and combines field, mapping and laboratory methods to decipher the formation of volcano-sedimentary sequences in Earth’s history from the Archaean to the Holocene. His research focuses on the influence of volcanic activity on sedimentation in volcano-sedimentary basins and the complex interplay between volcanic and sedimentary processes. Past as well as on-going projects centred or still centre around African intra-plate volcanism in South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Cameroon. Due to various international scientific collaborations, similar projects are also carried out in India and China. As a member of CIMERA, Nils is dedicated to advancing our understanding of critical mantle processes through his research on the Cullinan kimberlite pipe, formerly known as the Premier kimberlite.

Nils has been rated as a C2 scientist by the National Research Foundation in 2020. He presented a large number of talks at international conferences and authored/ co-authored >50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

Recent Publications

2025

  1. Altermanm, W., Lenhardt, N., Long, D.G.F., Mazumder, R. (2025) Chapter 6.3. Archean alluvial, fluvial, lacustrine, and glacial deposits: An overview. In: Homann, M., Lyons, T.W., Ernst, R.E., Heubeck, C., Stüeken, E.E., Webb, A.A.G., Papineau, D., Mason, P.R.D., Mazumder, R., Altermann, W. (Eds.) The Archean Earth (Second Edition), Elsevier, 779-798. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95547-8.00047-1.
  2. Bilal, A., Yang, R., Chen, S., Lenhardt, N., Mughal, M.S., Kontakiotis, G. (2025) Seismically induced soft-sediment deformation in alluvial fans: mechanisms and implications for geological evolution of the Ordos Basin (China). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 294, 106821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2025.106821.
  3. Djamilatou, D.H., Gountié Dedzo, M., Lenhardt, N., Tsozué, D., Asobo Nkengmatia, E.A., Klamadji Ngarena, M. (2025) Crystallisation and petrogenesis of Cenozoic alkaline basaltic lavas on the Kapsiki Plateau (Moukoulvi, Far-North Cameroon): Unveiling the mantle’s heterogeneity and HIMU signature. Solid Earth Science, 10, 100231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sesci.2025.100231.
  4. Geng, J., Yang, R., Fan, A., Lenhardt, N., Dong, L., Li, Y. (2025) Sedimentary Characteristics and Fault-Controlled Depositional Models of Gravity Flows in the Eocene Shahejie Formation, Bohai Bay Basin, China: Insights for Hydrocarbon Exploration in Rifted Lacustrine Basins. Marine and Petroleum Geology. 182, 107601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2025.107601.
  5. Heubeck, C., Altermann, W., Homann, M., Lenhardt, N., Mazumder, R. (2025) Chapter 6.1. Introduction – Transport mechanisms and dispersal dynamics of Archean sedimentary systems between weathering and diagenesis. In: Homann, M., Lyons, T.W., Ernst, R.E., Heubeck, C., Stüeken, E.E., Webb, A.A.G., Papineau, D., Mason, P.R.D., Mazumder, R., Altermann, W. (Eds.) The Archean Earth (Second Edition), Elsevier, 747-748. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95547-8.00045-8.
  6. Lenhardt, N., Omietimi, E.J., Edegbai, J.A., Schwark, L., Catuneanu, O., Fairhead, J.D., Götz, A.E. (2025) Traversing the rift: A review of the evolution of the West and Central African Rift System and its economic potential. Earth-Science Reviews, 261, 104999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104999.
  7. Omietimi, E.J., Lenhardt, N., Yang, R., Götz, A.E., Edegbai, J.A., Bumby, A.J. (2025) Multi-parameter Investigation of Cretaceous to Palaeocene Sedimentary Sequences in the Anambra and Niger Delta Basins, Nigeria: Organic Matter Characterisation, Palynofacies, and Implications for Palaeoclimate and Sea-level changes. Geological Journal, 60, 196-222. https://doi.org/10.1002/gj.5084

2024

  1. Biakan à Nyotok, P.C., Gountié Dedzo, M., Djamilatou, D.H., Lenhardt, N., Klamadji, M.N., Fosso Tchunte, P.M., Kamgang, P. (2024) The Subduction-Related Metavolcanic Rocks of Maroua, Northern Cameroon: New Insights into a Neoproterozoic Continental Arc Along the Northern Margin of the Central African Fold Belt. Geosciences, 14, 298. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14110298
  2. Johnson, T.D., Oluwajana, O.A., Omietimi, E.J., Ayo-Bali, A.E., Odondiri, O.D., Igili, C.O., Lenhardt, N. (2024) Elemental geochemistry of Cretaceous deposits in the Dahomey Basin (Nigeria): Implications for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 216, 105311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105311
  3. Omietimi, E.J., Lenhardt, N., Yang, R., Götz, A.E., Bumby, A.J., Edegbai, J.A. (2024) Geochemistry of the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene sedimentary deposits of the SW Anambra Basin (Nigeria): Implications for provenance, tectonic conditions, and hydrothermal influence. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 219, 105399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105399

2021

  1. Omietimi, E.J., Chouhan, A.K., Lenhardt, N., Yang, R. and Bumby, A.J. (2021) Structural interpretation of the south-western flank of the Anambra Basin (Nigeria) using satellite-derived WGM 2012 gravity data. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 182, 104290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2021.104290
  2. Li, Y., Fan, A., Yang, R., Sun, Y. and Lenhardt, N. (2021) Sedimentary facies control on sandstone reservoir properties: a case study from the Permian Shanxi Formation in the southern Ordos Basin, central China. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 129, 105083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105083

2020

  1. Jolayemi, O.O., Robb, L., Lenhardt, N. and Hughes, H. (2020) Different melt source regions for the volcanics of the Bushveld large igneous province: New observations from MELTS modeling of the Palaeoproterozoic Rooiberg Group (South Africa). Journal of African Earth Sciences, 172, 103999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2020.103999
  2. Lenhardt, N., Altermann, W., Humbert, F. and de Kock, M. (2020) Lithostratigraphy of the Palaeoproterozoic Hekpoort Formation (Pretoria Group, Transvaal Supergroup), South Africa. South African Journal of Geology, 123(4), 655-668. https://doi.org/10.25131/sajg.123.0043
  3. Lenhardt, N., Bleeker, W., Ngwa, C.N. and Aucamp, T. (2020) Shallow marine basaltic volcanism of the Machadodorp Member (Silverton Formation, Pretoria Group), Transvaal Basin, South Africa — An example of Paleoproterozoic explosive intraplate volcanic activity in an epeiric embayment. Precambrian Research, 338, 105580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105580