At Cape Gantheaume, Kangaroo Island (South Australia), adult male, lactating female and juvenile New Zealand (NZ) and Australian fur seals regularly return to the same colony, creating the potential for intra- and inter-specific foraging competition in nearby waters. I hypothesised that these demographic groups would exhibit distinct foraging strategies, which reduce competition and facilitate their coexistence. I analysed the diet of adult male, adult female and juvenile NZ fur seals and adult male Australian fur seals and studied the diving behaviour of adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals and the at-sea movements of juvenile, adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals. Female diet reflected that of a generalist predator, influenced by prey availability and their dependant pups� fasting abilities. In contrast, adult male NZ and Australian fur seals used larger and more energy-rich prey, most likely because they could more efficiently access and handle such prey. Juvenile fur seals primarily utilised small lantern fish, which occur south of the shelf break, in pelagic waters. Juveniles undertook the longest foraging trips and adult males conducted more lengthy trips than lactating females, which perform relatively brief trips in order to regularly nurse their pups. Unlike lactating females, some adult males appeared to rest underwater by performing dives that were characterised by a period of passive drifting through the water column. The large body sizes of adult males and lactating females facilitated the use of both benthic and pelagic habitats, but adult males dived deeper and for longer than lactating females, facilitating vertical separation of their foraging habitats. Spatial overlap in foraging habitats among the age/sex groups was minimal, because lactating females typically utilised continental shelf waters and males used deeper water over the shelf break, beyond female foraging grounds. Furthermore, juveniles used pelagic waters, up to 1000 km south of the regions used by lactating females and adult males. The age and sex groups in this study employed dramatically different strategies to maximise their survival and reproductive success. Their prey and foraging habitats are likely to be shaped by body size differences, which determine their different physiological constraints and metabolic requirements. I suggest that these physiological constraints and the lactation constraints on females are the primary factors that reduce competition, thereby facilitating niche partitioning.

At Cape Gantheaume, Kangaroo Island (South Australia), adult male, lactating female and juvenile New Zealand (NZ) and Australian fur seals regularly return to the same colony, creating the potential for intra- and inter-specific foraging competition in nearby waters. I hypothesised that these demographic groups would exhibit distinct foraging strategies, which reduce competition and facilitate their coexistence. I analysed the diet of adult male, adult female and juvenile NZ fur seals and adult male Australian fur seals and studied the diving behaviour of adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals and the at-sea movements of juvenile, adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals. Female diet reflected that of a generalist predator, influenced by prey availability and their dependant pups� fasting abilities. In contrast, adult male NZ and Australian fur seals used larger and more energy-rich prey, most likely because they could more efficiently access and handle such prey. Juvenile fur seals primarily utilised small lantern fish, which occur south of the shelf break, in pelagic waters. Juveniles undertook the longest foraging trips and adult males conducted more lengthy trips than lactating females, which perform relatively brief trips in order to regularly nurse their pups. Unlike lactating females, some adult males appeared to rest underwater by performing dives that were characterised by a period of passive drifting through the water column. The large body sizes of adult males and lactating females facilitated the use of both benthic and pelagic habitats, but adult males dived deeper and for longer than lactating females, facilitating vertical separation of their foraging habitats. Spatial overlap in foraging habitats among the age/sex groups was minimal, because lactating females typically utilised continental shelf waters and males used deeper water over the shelf break, beyond female foraging grounds. Furthermore, juveniles used pelagic waters, up to 1000 km south of the regions used by lactating females and adult males. The age and sex groups in this study employed dramatically different strategies to maximise their survival and reproductive success. Their prey and foraging habitats are likely to be shaped by body size differences, which determine their different physiological constraints and metabolic requirements. I suggest that these physiological constraints and the lactation constraints on females are the primary factors that reduce competition, thereby facilitating niche partitioning.

A young marine island called Heard Island is located in the southern Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean, a large igneous province created by the Kerguelen mantle plume. The two major geographic regions on Heard Island have two principal volcano-magmatic suites. Basanites, alkali basalts, and trachybasalts make up one group, the Big Ben Series (BBS), while basanitic to trachytic rocks make up the Laurens Peninsula Series (LPS). The most recent eruption at Big Ben volcano occurred in October 2022. To better understand magma evolution in the underlying plumbing system, clinopyroxene, feldspar, and olivine, mineral chemistry, clinopyroxene thermobarometry, and olivine thermometry were used.      The main phenocrysts from Heard Island are olivine, clinopyroxene, and feldspar. All phenocrysts share the characteristics of sieve textures and fractures. The mineral chemistry of clinopyroxene, zonation, and variation of core and rim of Mg#, Al2O3, TiO2, and Cr2O3, provides insight into the magmatic evolution of magma. Results from clinopyroxene-liquid thermobarometry suggest that clinopyroxene crystallization occurs at depths of 1 to 39 km for the cores and 1 to 47 km for the rims, with corresponding temperatures of 1098 to 1208°C and 1099 to 1254°C respectively. Comparison with olivine thermometry shows concordance in temperature estimates. The Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho, which marks the boundary between the Earth's crust and mantle, is believed to lie between 18 and 26 km deep at Heard Island. This study suggests that magma pockets can be found below the Moho between 51 and 18 km, and in the upper and lower crust between 18 and 2 km. Additionally, the density difference between various crustal layers determines where magma storage is located. The evidence from petrology and geochemistry points to common processes of magma mixing, recharge, and fractional crystallization during magma evolution.

Heard Island is a remote Australian territory which lies in the South-middle sector of the Indian Ocean.The island lies in the central province of the Kerguelen Plateau. On the north-western face of the islandlies the Laurens Peninsula, where modern volcanism has been periodic since approximately 10 ka, butno eruption has been recorded. The main volcanic feature of the peninsula is Mt Dixon of which noactivity has been observed but it is thought to have erupted within the past few hundred years. This thesis applied the crystal size distribution method to three thin sections from the LaurensPeninsula. The samples were collected from a phonolite from Jacka valley, a teprhiphonolite from thebase of the Red Island cone, and a tephrite east of Cape Cartwright. Crystal dimensions were calculatedusing ImageJ Fiji, these dimensions were corrected for 3D dimensions using CSDslice, and the datawas plotted using CSDcorrections. Microcrysts were traced using backscattered electron (BSE) images,and high resolutions scans of the thin section were used to trace phenocrysts. The results of the crystalsize distributions show concave-up shapes in all plots with steep slopes for smaller crystals, followedby shallow slopes for larger crystals. This suggests binary magma mixing by replenishment occurred inthe magmas associated with all three samples. The different slopes suggest two separate crystallisationconditions: Phenocrysts crystalized slowly in the chamber and microcrysts crystallized relativelyquickly during or after eruption. Textural differences in the three samples suggest that the tephrite hadthe longest residence time and underwent the most replenishment events, followed by thetephriphonolite and lastly the phonolite. Finally, since replenishment is the mechanism of mixingbeneath the Laurens Peninsula, then volcanism might still be active, and the chambers could currentlybe replenishing, which could trigger an eruption. / Heard Island är ett avlägset australiensiskt territorium som ligger i den södra delen av den Indiskaoceanen. Ön ligger i den centrala provinsen på Kerguelenplatån. På den nordvästra sidan av ön liggerLaurens-halvön, där modern vulkanism daterar sig till cirka 10 ka. Den främsta vulkaniska strukturenpå halvön är Mt Dixon där ingen aktivitet har registrerats, men som tros ha haft ett utbrott under desenaste hundra åren. Denna avhandling tillämpade metoden för kristallstorleksfördelning på tre tunnslipar frånLaurenshalvön. Proverna samlades in från en fonolit från Jacka valley, en tefrifonolit från basen av RedIsland cone och en tefrit öster om Cape Cartwright. Kristalldimensioner beräknades med ImageJ Fiji,dessa dimensioner korrigerades för 3D-dimensioner med CSDslice, och datat plottades medCSDcorrections. Mikrokristaller spårades med hjälp av backscattered electron images (BSE) ochhögupplösta skanningar av tunnslipen användes för att spåra fenokryster. Resultaten avkristallstorleksfördelningarna föreslog binär magmablandning via påfyllning i alla tre proverna. Dessavisade konkava former i alla plotter med branta sluttningar för mindre kristaller, följt av plattaresluttningar för större kristaller. De olika lutningarna på kurvorna föreslog två separatakristallisationsförhållanden: fenokryster kristalliserade långsamt i kammaren, och mikrokristallerkristalliserade relativt snabbt under eller efter utbrottet. Texturella skillnader i de tre proverna antyddeatt tefriten hade den längsta residenstiden och genomgick flest påfyllningshändelser, följt avtefrifonoliten och slutligen fonoliten. Slutligen, om påfyllning var mekanismen för att blandas underLaurenshalvön, så kan vulkanismen fortfarande vara aktiv, men för närvarande i ettpåfyllningsuppehåll.