Staff profile

2013 – present — Associate Professor in Sedimentology, Durham University

2000 – 2013 — Lecturer in Sedimentology, Durham University

2004 – present — Visiting Professor in Clastic Sedimentology, University of Payme Noor, Iran

1998 – 2000 — Royal Society Teaching Fellow, School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton

1996 – 1998 — Senior Sedimentologist, Baker Atlas Geosciences, International INC.

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Career Research Highlights

Stuart Jones is a clastic sedimentologist that specialises in continental sedimentology, diagenesis and reservoir quality prediction. Stuart's research has focused on fluvial sedimentology and evolution within a variety of tectonic basin settings and under the influence of a variety of climatic regimes. This is undertaken through the joint application of subsurface and outcrop sedimentological data for improved model development and reducing subsurface risk and uncertainty. Recent research on how geopressure and early diagenetic cements can maintain high porosities in reservoir sandstones is guiding better reservoir predictions for High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) systems. Stuart is leader of the GeoPOP research consortium, a multi-disciplinary research group investigating overpressure in sedimentary basins and funded by the hydrocarbon industry (www.geopop.org.uk).

Stuart has widely published on non-marine and applied sedimentology in peer-reviewed journals and has edited several books. He has recently c o-written with Maurice Tucker the 4th Edition of Sedimentary Petrology -  a seminal text book used by sedimentologists globally. A new 2nd edition of the extremely popular Introducing Sedimentology is due to be published early in summer 2023. Since 2001, he has obtained research funding in excess of £3.2 Million.

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Committee and Society Service

2008 – present — Member of Geological Society of London, Awards Committee

2002 – 2005 – Secretary of the British Sedimentological Research Group, Geological Society of London

2002 – 2005 – Representative for British Sedimentological Research Group on the Science panel for Geological Society of London

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Conferences and Workshops

2011 — Syntectonic fluvial and alluvial systems in a Permo-Triassic rift basin, central Spain. Oil company field workshop - EnQuest

2011 — ESTA Annual Conference, Durham University. Convenor

2010 Syntectonic fluvial and alluvial systems in a Permo-Triassic rift basin, central Spain. Oil company field workshop - Talisman Energy, OMV & DONG

2010 — Syntectonic fluvial and alluvial systems in a Permo-Triassic rift basin, central Spain. Oil company field workshop - ConocoPhillips, BG & ENI

2009 — Syntectonic fluvial and alluvial systems in a Permo-Triassic rift basin, central Spain. Oil company field workshop - RWE Dea

2008 Syntectonic fluvial and alluvial systems in a Permo-Triassic rift basin, central Spain. Oil company field workshop - Talisman Energy

2008 — Alluvial systems and controls on reservoir quality. Oil company field workshop - BG

2007 — Alluvial systems and controls on reservoir quality. Oil company field workshop - ConocoPhillips

2007 — Alluvial Fans 2007, Bamff, Canada. Co-convenor

2005 Climatic and tectonic controls on piggyback basin sediments: Spanish Pyrenees. Oil company workshop

2005 — British Sedimentological Annual General Meeting, Durham University. Convenor

2004 — William Smith meeting, Geological Society London. Earth’s Dynamic Surface: catastrophe and continuity in landscape evolution. Co-convenor

2004 — Controls on rift sedimentation: Permo-Triassic central Spain. Oil company workshop

2002 — 11th Workshop of the ILP task force, Europrobe: Tectonic basins and sedimentary dynamics. Oliana Spain. Co-convenor

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Editorial Roles

2015 - present — Editorial Board of the Journal Petroleum Science

2012 - 2020 — Editorial Board of the Journal of the Geological Society as a Subject Editor in Sedimentology

2005 - present — Editorial Board, Journal of Iberian Geology, Spain

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Invited Keynotes

2005 — "Response times in landscape evolution". EGU General Assembly, Vienna

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Prizes & Awards

2004: Excellence in Teaching Award, Durham University

2004: PhD Student, Thomas Sinclair awarded academia and industry prize by the Geological Society of London

2006: Chartered Geologist status, Geological Society of London

2006: PhD Student, Thomas Sinclair awarded academia and industry prize by the Geological Society of London

2006: SETPOINT NORTH EAST Science Ambassador of the Year

2006: Excellence in Teaching Award, Durham University

2018: Excellence in Doctoral Supervision, Durham University

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• Characterisation of sediments and sedimentary rocks
• Geopressure of sedimentary basins
• Non-marine clastic sedimentology
• quantitative fluvial sedimentology
• sediment supply to basins and clastic depositional environments of rift, strike-slip and foreland basins

• 2018: Excellence in Doctoral Supervision - Durham University:
• 2008: Member Geological Society of London Awards Committee: Member Geological Society of London Awards Committee
• 2007: Bringing Science to Life. Meeting with PM Tony Blair: Invited meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing street, to discuss engagement of the next generation of scientists
• 2006: Science and Engineering Ambassador of the Year. Awarded by SETPOINT NE:

Authored book

• Tucker, M. E., & Jones, S. J. (2023). Sedimentary Petrology. (4th Edition). Wiley
• Jones, S. (2015). Introducing Sedimentology. Dunedin Academic Press

Chapter in book

• Jones, S. J., & Saville, C. (in press). Earth Science. In C. Harrison, K. Aston, A. Childs, & V. Kind (Eds.), Teaching Secondary Chemistry. (3rd ed.). Hodder Education
• Arzani, N., & Jones, S. Upstream controls on evolution of dryland alluvial megafans: Quaternary examples from the Kohrud Mountain Range, central Iran. In D. Ventra, & L. Clarke (Eds.), Geology and Geomorphology of Alluvial and Fluvial Fans: Terrestrial and Planetary Perspectives. Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp440.2
• Gluyas, J., Tang, L., & Jones, S. (2018). Argyll Field: the first oil field to be developed on the UK Continental Shelf. In J. Craig, F. Gerali, F. Macaulay, & R. Sorkhabi (Eds.), History of the European oil and gas industry (77-93). The Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp465.3
• Jones, S., & Frostick, L. (2002). Transverse Rivers Draining the Spanish Pyrenees: Large Scale Patterns of Sediment Erosion and Deposition. In S. Jones, & L. Frostrick (Eds.), Sediment flux to basins : causes, controls and consequences (171-186). The Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2002.191.01.12
• Frostick, L., & Jones, S. (2002). Impact of periodicity on sediment flux in alluvial systems; grain to basin scale. In S. Jones, & L. Frostick (Eds.), . The Geological Society. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2002.191.01.06

Conference Paper

• Calderon Medina, E. E., Obradors-Prats, J., Aplin, A. C., Jones, S. J., Rouainia, M., & Crook, A. J. (2023, May). 1D Hydro-geomechanical Modelling of Pore Pressure on an Active Convergent Margin: East Coast Basin, New Zealand. Presented at Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas

Edited book

• Gallagher, K., Jones, S., & Wainwright, J. (Eds.). (2008). Landscape Evolution: Denudation, Climate and Tectonics over Different Time and Space Scales. Geological Society London, Special Publications 296
• Jones, S., & Frostick, L. (Eds.). (2002). Sediment Flux to Basins: Causes, Controls and Consequences. Geological Society London, Special Publications 191

Journal Article

• Jones, S. (online). Oligo-Miocene long-lived palaeovalleys: temporal and spatial controls on the alluvial architecture and. Basin Research,
• Li, H., Hu, Q., Jones, S., Gluyas, J., Ansah, E. O., Menacherry, S., Wang, Q., & Ye, T. (2025). A review and discussion on the influences of grain-coating clay minerals on water-rock interactions in sandstones. Earth-Science Reviews, 263, Article 105073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105073
• Obradors-Prats, J., Calderon Medina, E., Jones, S., Rouainia, M., Aplin, A., & Crook, A. (2023). Integrating petrophysical, geological and geomechanical modelling to assess stress states, overpressure development and compartmentalisation adjacent to a salt wall, gulf of Mexico. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 155, Article 106352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2023.106352
• Charlaftis, D., Jones, S. J., Grimm, L., & Kappler, A. (2023). Interdependence between bacterial EPS and early grain coat development. Terra Nova, 35(4), 241-249. https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12648
• Harrison, D., Ross, N., Russell, A. J., & Jones, S. J. (2023). Geophysical reconstruction of the late Holocene proximal proglacial landsystem at Skeiðarársandur, southeast Iceland. Journal of Quaternary Science, 38(6), 947-969. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3518
• O'Neill, S. R., Jones, S. J., & Kamp, P. J. (2023). Tectonostratigraphic controls on pore fluid pressure distribution across the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. Basin Research, 35(3), 1128-1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12749
• Aro, O. E., Jones, S. J., Meadows, N. S., Gluyas, J., & Charlaftis, D. (2023). The importance of facies, grain size and clay content in controlling fluvial reservoir quality – an example from the Triassic Skagerrak Formation, Central North Sea, UK. Petroleum Geoscience, 29(2), Article petgeo2022-043. https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2022-043
• Harrison, D., Ross, N., Russell, A. J., & Jones, S. J. (2022). Ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) investigations of a large‐scale buried ice‐marginal landsystem, Skeiðarársandur, SE Iceland. Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research, 51(4), 824-846. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12587
• Bello, A. M., Charlaftis, D., Jones, S. J., Gluyas, J., Acikalin, S., Cartigny, M., & Al-Ramadan, K. (2022). Experimental diagenesis using present-day submarine turbidite sands. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.952690
• Qian, W., Sun, Q., Jones, S. J., Yin, T., Zhang, C., Xu, G., Hou, G., & Zhang, B. (2022). Diagenesis and controlling factors of Oligocene Huagang Formation tight sandstone reservoir in the south of Xihu sag, the East China Sea Shelf Basin. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 215, Article 110579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2022.110579
• Marsh, J., Jones, S., Meadows, N., & Gluyas, J. (2022). Petrographic and diagenetic investigation of the distal Triassic ‘Budleighensis’ fluvial system in the Solway and Carlisle Basins for potential CO2 storage. Petroleum Geoscience, 28(3), 2021- 2065. https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2021-065
• Charlaftis, D., Dobson, K. J., Jones, S. J., Lakshtanov, D., Crouch, J., & Cook, J. (2022). Experimental Simulation of Burial Diagenesis and Subsequent 2D-3D Characterization of Sandstone Reservoir Quality. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, Article 766145. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.766145
• Bello, A., Jones, S., J *Gluyas, J., & G Al-Ramadan, K. (2022). Impact of Grain-Coating Clays on Porosity Preservation in Paleocene Turbidite Channel Sandstones: Nelson Oil Field, UK Central North Sea. Minerals, 12(5), Article 555. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12050555
• Bello, A. M., Jones, S. J., Gluyas, J. G., Acikalin, S., & Cartigny, M. (2021). Role played by clay content in controlling reservoir quality of submarine fan system, Forties Sandstone Member, Central Graben, North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 128, Article 105058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2021.105058
• Donovan, S. K., Jones, S. J., King, A. R., & Harper, D. A. (2021). Pliocene trace fossils from oyster substrates in the Nijar Basin, Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 132(3), 358-368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2021.02.004
• Franzel, M., Jones, S. J., Meadows, N., Allen, M. B., McCaffrey, K., & Morgan, T. (2021). Basin-scale fluvial correlation and response to the Tethyan marine transgression: an example from the Triassic of central Spain. Basin Research, 33(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12451
• Charlaftis, D., Jones, S., Dobson, K., Crouch, J., & Acikalin, S. (2021). Experimental study of chlorite authigenesis and influence on porosity maintenance in sandstones. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 91(2), 197-212. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2020.122
• Ramdhan, A. M., Goulty, N. R., Jones, S. J., & Hutasoit, L. M. (2020). Density Normal Compaction Trend in the Peciko Field, Lower Kutai Basin, Indonesia. Indonesian journal on geoscience, 7(3), 253-265. https://doi.org/10.17014/ijog.7.3.253-265
• Qian, W., Zheng, F., Huijia, T., Jones, S., & Taiju, Y. (2020). Mid-Deep and Deeply Buried Clastic Reservoirs Porosity Evolution Simulation with Using the Process-Based Method. Geotectonics, 54, 844-861. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0016852120060096
• Tang, L., Gluyas, J. G., Jones, S., & Besly, B. (2020). The Alma (formerly Argyll/Ardmore) Field, Blocks 30/24 and 30/25a, UK North Sea. Memoirs, 52(1), 360-370. https://doi.org/10.1144/m52-2017-34
• Groves, K., Saville, C., Hurst, M. D., Jones, S. J., Song, S., & Allen, M. B. (2020). Geomorphic expressions of collisional tectonics in the Qilian Shan, north eastern Tibetan Plateau. Tectonophysics, 788, Article 228503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2020.228503
• O'Neill, S. R., Jones, S. J., & Kamp, P. J. (2020). Diagenesis and burial history modeling of heterogeneous marginal marine to shoreface Paleocene glauconitic sandstones, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 90(6), 651-668. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2020.34
• Oye, O. J., Aplin, A. C., Jones, S. J., Gluyas, J. G., Bowen, L., Harwood, J., Orland, I. J., & Valley, J. W. (2020). Vertical effective stress and temperature as controls of quartz cementation in sandstones: Evidence from North Sea fulmar and Gulf of Mexico Wilcox sandstones. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 115, Article 104289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104289
• Wang, X., He, S., Jones, S. J., Yang, R., Wei, A., Liu, C., Liu, Q., Cheng, C., & Liu, W. (2019). Overpressure and its positive effect in deep sandstone reservoir quality of Bozhong Depression, offshore Bohai Bay Basin, China. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 182, Article 106362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.106362
• Pan, L., Jones, S., Wang, X., Guan, W., & Li, L. (2019). Re-evaluation of the porosity measurements under different confining pressures: a better appraisal of reservoir porosity. AAPG Bulletin, 103(3), 515-526. https://doi.org/10.1306/09181817131
• Oye, O. J., Aplin, A. C., Jones, S. J., Gluyas, J. G., Bowen, L., Orland, I. J., & Valley, J. W. (2018). Vertical effective stress as a control on quartz cementation in sandstones. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 98, 640-652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.09.017
• O'Neill, S. R., Jones, S. J., Kamp, P. J., Swarbrick, R. E., & Gluyas, J. G. (2018). Pore pressure and reservoir quality evolution in the deep Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 98, 815-835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2018.08.038
• Tang, L.-X., Gluyas, J., Jones, S., & Bowen, L. (2018). Diagenetic and geochemical studies of the Buchan Formation (Upper Devonian) in the Central North Sea. Petroleum Science, 15(2), 211-229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-018-0232-3
• Tang, L., Gluyas, J., & Jones, S. (2018). Porosity preservation due to grain coating illite/smectite: Evidence from Buchan Formation (Upper Devonian) of the Ardmore Field, UK North Sea. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 129(2), 202-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2018.03.001
• Stricker, S., Jones, S. J., Meadows, N., & Bowen, L. (2018). Reservoir quality of fluvial sandstone reservoirs in salt-walled mini-basins: an example from the Seagull field, Central Graben, North Sea, UK. Petroleum Science, 15(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12182-017-0206-x
• Jones, S. (2017). Goo, glue, and grain binding: Importance of biofilms for diagenesis in sandstones. Geology, 45(10), 959-960. https://doi.org/10.1130/focus102017.1
• Tang, L., Jones, S., & Gluyas, J. (2017). Facies Architecture of the Fluvial-Aeolian Buchan Formation (Upper Devonian) and Its Implications on Field Exploration: A Case Study from Ardmore Field, Central North Sea, UK. International Journal of Geosciences, 8(7), 902-924. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2017.87052
• Cui, Y., Jones, S. J., Saville, C., Stricker, S., Wang, G., Tang, L., Fan, X., & Chen, J. (2017). The role played by carbonate cementation in controlling reservoir quality of the Triassic Skagerrak Formation, Norway. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 85, 316-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.05.020
• Cu, Y., Wang, G., Jones, S., Zhou, Z., Ran, Y., Lai, J., Li, R., & Deng, L. (2017). Prediction of diagenetic facies using well logs – A case study from the upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 81, 50-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.01.001
• Stricker, S., Jones, S., & Sathar, S. (2017). Overpressure preventing quartz cementation? - A reply. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 79, 337-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.10.024
• Stricker, S., Jones, S., & Grant, N. (2016). Importance of vertical effective stress for reservoir quality in the Skagerrak Formation, Central Graben, North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 78, 895-909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.03.001
• Zahida, M., Chunmeia, D., Lina, C., Gluyas, J., Jones, S., Zhang, X., Munawara, M., & Maa, C. (2016). Sequence Stratigraphy, sedimentary facies and reservoir quality of Es4s, southern slope of Dongying Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, East China. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 77, 448-470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.06.026
• Stricker, S., Jones, S., Sathar, S., Bowen, L., & Oxtoby, N. (2016). Exceptional reservoir quality in HPHT reservoir settings: examples from the Skagerrak Formation of the Heron Cluster, UK, North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 77, 198-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.02.003
• Sathar, S., & Jones, S. (2016). Fluid overpressure as a control on sandstone reservoir quality in a mechanical compaction dominated setting: Magnolia Field, Gulf of Mexico. Terra Nova, 28(3), 155-162. https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12203
• Stricker, S., & Jones, S. (2016). Enhanced porosity preservation by pore fluid overpressure and chlorite grain coatings in the Triassic Skagerrak, Central Graben, North Sea, UK. Geological Society Special Publications, 435, 321-341. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp435.4
• Jones, S., Arzani, N., & Allen, M. (2014). Tectonic and climatic controls on fan systems: The Kohrud mountain belt, Central Iran. Sedimentary Geology, 302, 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2013.12.008
• Nguyen, B., Jones, S., Goulty, N., Middleton, A., Grant, N., Ferguson, A., & Bowen, L. (2013). The role of fluid pressure and diagenetic cements for porosoity preservation in Triassic fluvial reservoirs of the Central Graben, North Sea. AAPG Bulletin, 97(8), 1273-1302. https://doi.org/10.1306/01151311163
• Goulty, N., Ramdhan, A., & Jones, S. (2012). Chemical compaction of mudrocks in the presence of overpressure. Petroleum Geoscience, 18(4), 471-479. https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2012-018
• Allen, M., Kheirkhah, M., Emami, M., & Jones, S. (2011). Right-lateral shear across Iran and kinematic change in the Arabia–Eurasia collision zone. Geophysical Journal International, 184(2), 555-574. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246x.2010.04874.x
• Waters, J. V., Jones, S. J., & Armstrong, H. A. (2010). Climatic controls on late Pleistocene alluvial fans, Cyprus. Geomorphology, 115(3-4), 228-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.09.002
• Jones, S., & Frostick, L. (2008). Inferring bedload transport from stratigraphic successions: examples from Cenozoic and Pleistocene rivers, south central Pyrenees, Spain. Geological Society Special Publications, 296(1), 129-145. https://doi.org/10.1144/sp296.9
• Jones, S. (2004). Tectonic controls on drainage evolution and development of terminal alluvial fans, southern Pyrenees, Spain. Terra Nova, 16(3), 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2004.00539.x
• Jones, S., Frostick, L., & Astin, T. (2001). Braided stream and flood plain architecture: the Rio Vero Formation, Spanish Pyrenees. Sedimentary Geology, 139(3-4), 229-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0037-0738%2800%2900165-2
• Jones, S., Frostick, L., & Astin, T. (1999). Climatic and tectonic controls on fluvial incision and aggradation in the. Journal of the Geological Society, 156, 761-769