My research primarily focuses on reconstructing sea-level change in order to understand ice-sheet histories and changes to ocean circulation patterns and how these can inform future predictions of environmental change. I combine different types of analysis including fieldwork, laboratory, numerical modelling and spatial analysis in his research and teaching. I have worked at various sites in the UK, as well as places such as the Falkland Islands, Swiss Alps and Antarctica.
Current and past research projects
RISeR
Global sea-level rise is one of our greatest environmental challenges and is predicted to continue for hundreds of years, even if global greenhouse-gas emissions are stopped immediately. However, the range, rates and responses to sea-level rise beyond 2100 are poorly understood.
Sea-level change will not be the same around the world; due to gravitational effects Europe is at far greater risk of sea-level rise should Antarctica melt, than Greenland. RISeR will tackle this critical question - what is the long-term sea-level rise hazard in Europe due to ice-sheet melt?
To understand the hazards of long-term ice sheet melt, the RISeR project, is focusing on the Last Interglacial (c. 125,000 years ago) when polar temperatures were 3-5 C warmer (a pattern similar to that predicted in the coming centuries), and global sea level 6-9 m higher.
By collecting Last Interglacial sediments preserved offshore in the North Sea, we will reconstruct the rates of sea-level change experienced in the region during this climatically warm period. Using this new dataset RISeR will then provide high-end projections of sea-level rise beyond 2100 for northwest Europe, based upon the reconstructed magnitudes and rates of regional Last Interglacial sea-level change.
Read more about the project here
Rapid sea-level rise and climate change: lesons from the early Holocene.
The 8.2 ka climate event is the most significant North Atlantic cooling event during the Holocene. Freshwater pulses from the melting Laurentide Ice Sheet draining into the North Atlantic Ocean are commonly thought to be its cause by perturbing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The timing, magnitude and number of freshwater pulses, however, remain uncertain. This is problematic for predicting future climate scenarios because it prevents rigorous testing of coupled ocean–atmosphere climate models against an otherwise excellent test case of climate effects of meltwater inputs into the North Atlantic. To address this gap the project uses sea-level reconstructions to constrain the magnitude and source of the meltwater.
The AMOC has been shown to be currently slowing down and, although still debated, some forecasts indicate it could shutdown altogether. The knowledge gained by looking at past events through this project helps inform what causes these changes and the likelihood of a similar scenario occurring in the future.
Holocene sea-level changes in the South Atlantic
Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data from the Falkland Islands provide important constraints on meltwater contributions from polar ice sheets, both on millennial and centennial timescales, and the processes of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). In this project, we aim to reconstruct sea-level change during the last 9,000 years for the Falkland Islands based on analyses of fossil salt-marsh sediments and associated microfossils.