National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF)
Lead Research Organisation:
British Geological Survey
Department Name: NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory
Abstract
Determining the isotopic composition of a breadth of environmental materials underpins our ability to constrain, track and understand a wide range of environmental science processes. Isotopes are used to determine the age of materials, constrain rates of change, integrate disparate environmental records, and assess cause/effects hypothesis. Isotopes are also used to track a range of natural and anthropogenic processes operating across the planet, from the hydrosphere to the biosphere. Isotope science requires infrastructure at the leading edge; not only physical infrastructure such as state of the art equipment and well established laboratories, but as important are the experienced facility personnel who provide the expertise, drive development, explore new areas of application, and develop systems to ensure data are accessible, interoperable and reusable. The requirements for isotopes in environmental sciences necessitates national delivery of fundamental capabilities for the following reasons: (1) A compelling community need for fundamental and complex isotope analyses; (2) Continued investment in instruments and skilled people is required to remain at forefront of world isotope science; and (3) High demand and delivery required by the UK research portfolio. Where these requirements exist, national facilities are a demonstrably cost-effective mechanism to deliver and underpin environmental science research and innovation, now and into the future.
The National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF) is an evolution of facilities that builds upon a strong track record of NERC facilities for environmental isotope analyses. This single nationally distributed facility comprises a range of analytical capabilities and staff expertise for isotope analyses that underpins an array of multidisciplinary, cross themed, environmental science areas. NEIF capabilities are subdivided into two categories: Chronology and Environmental and Life Science Tracers. Combined, these support research in the areas of biogeochemistry, archaeology, palaeoclimatology and climate change, solid Earth processes (inc. natural hazards), human-landscape evolution and interactions (inc. the Anthropocene), evolution of life, ecology, pollution, the hydrological cycle, applied minerals and energy research.
NEIF will underpin the UKs environmental research community in areas where isotope analyses are required, facilitating, supporting and encouraging the best research, technology and new ideas. The unified capabilities and expertise delivered by the NEIF are technically unique within the UK and are delivered to the highest standard and quality. NEIF will deliver against a number of key objectives: to facilitate environmental research to support the provision of training for early career researchers, to deliver innovation, and to promote awareness of NEIF capabilities, their role in environmental sciences, related NERC activities, and public outreach.
The benefits of a single national facility are that it will be ''greater than the sum of its parts''. The combined strategic nature of NEIF, with clear community input via the Strategy Group, acts as a catalyst for the areas of environmental science covered by NEIF. In addition to the direct support of projects and provision of training, the sustained support of NERC facilities has enabled their evolution to best fit the user community needs enable facility staff to deliver a longer-term perspective, identify challenges and opportunities, in order to best service the environmental science community. The NEIF represents a major evolution in the provision of isotopes capabilities and expertise for the UK research community. It will provide increased community innovation and greater scope for flexibility, whilst retaining the core purpose of underpinning UK science, in addition to hosting internationally competitive state-of-the-art capabilities critically underpinned by a vastly experienced, unique staff assemblage.
The National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF) is an evolution of facilities that builds upon a strong track record of NERC facilities for environmental isotope analyses. This single nationally distributed facility comprises a range of analytical capabilities and staff expertise for isotope analyses that underpins an array of multidisciplinary, cross themed, environmental science areas. NEIF capabilities are subdivided into two categories: Chronology and Environmental and Life Science Tracers. Combined, these support research in the areas of biogeochemistry, archaeology, palaeoclimatology and climate change, solid Earth processes (inc. natural hazards), human-landscape evolution and interactions (inc. the Anthropocene), evolution of life, ecology, pollution, the hydrological cycle, applied minerals and energy research.
NEIF will underpin the UKs environmental research community in areas where isotope analyses are required, facilitating, supporting and encouraging the best research, technology and new ideas. The unified capabilities and expertise delivered by the NEIF are technically unique within the UK and are delivered to the highest standard and quality. NEIF will deliver against a number of key objectives: to facilitate environmental research to support the provision of training for early career researchers, to deliver innovation, and to promote awareness of NEIF capabilities, their role in environmental sciences, related NERC activities, and public outreach.
The benefits of a single national facility are that it will be ''greater than the sum of its parts''. The combined strategic nature of NEIF, with clear community input via the Strategy Group, acts as a catalyst for the areas of environmental science covered by NEIF. In addition to the direct support of projects and provision of training, the sustained support of NERC facilities has enabled their evolution to best fit the user community needs enable facility staff to deliver a longer-term perspective, identify challenges and opportunities, in order to best service the environmental science community. The NEIF represents a major evolution in the provision of isotopes capabilities and expertise for the UK research community. It will provide increased community innovation and greater scope for flexibility, whilst retaining the core purpose of underpinning UK science, in addition to hosting internationally competitive state-of-the-art capabilities critically underpinned by a vastly experienced, unique staff assemblage.
Organisations
Publications
De Graaff S
(2019)
Evidence for a Moist to Wet Source Transition Throughout the Oman-UAE Ophiolite, and Implications for the Geodynamic History
in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
De Souza D
(2019)
Controls on the erosion of the continental margin of southeast Brazil from cosmogenic 10Be in river sediments
in Geomorphology
Dickens WA
(2019)
Enhanced glacial discharge from the eastern Antarctic Peninsula since the 1700s associated with a positive Southern Annular Mode.
in Scientific reports
Dodd T
(2019)
Paleozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary bedrock geology and lithostratigraphy of Singapore
in Journal of Asian Earth Sciences
Doherty S
(2021)
Measuring the impact of parchment production on skin collagen stable isotope (d 13 C and d 15 N) values
in STAR: Science & Technology of Archaeological Research
Doherty SP
(2023)
Tracking the British agricultural revolution through the isotopic analysis of dated parchment.
in Scientific reports
Doherty SP
(2022)
A modern baseline for the paired isotopic analysis of skin and bone in terrestrial mammals.
in Royal Society open science
Dunne J
(2022)
Wild Food: Plants, Fish and Small Animals on the Menu for Early Holocene Populations at al-Khiday, Central Sudan
in African Archaeological Review
Dunne J
(2022)
Making the invisible visible: tracing the origins of plants in West African cuisine through archaeobotanical and organic residue analysis
in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Eickmann B
(2021)
Shallow-marine serpentinization-derived fluid seepage in the Upper Cretaceous Qahlah Formation, United Arab Emirates
in Geological Magazine
Elliott H
(2019)
Diatremes Act as Fluid Conduits for Zn-Pb Mineralization in the SW Irish Ore Field
in Economic Geology
Ellis B
(2022)
Geochemistry of the Pepom tephra deposits: The most recent intracaldera volcanism of Sete Cidades volcano, São Miguel, Azores
in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Emmings J
(2019)
Controls on amorphous organic matter type and sulphurization in a Mississippian black shale
in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology
Emmings J
(2020)
A Mississippian black shale record of redox oscillation in the Craven Basin, UK
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Engbers Y
(2022)
Low Paleointensities and Ar/Ar Ages From Saint Helena Provide Evidence for Recurring Magnetic Field Weaknesses in the South Atlantic
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Espinasse B
(2022)
Temporal dynamics in zooplankton d13C and d15N isoscapes for the North Atlantic Ocean: Decadal cycles, seasonality, and implications for predator ecology
in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Evans D
(2019)
A chronology for North Sea Lobe advance and recession on the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts during MIS 2 and 6
in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
Evans D
(2021)
Retreat dynamics of the eastern sector of the British-Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation
in Journal of Quaternary Science
Evans D
(2021)
How the composition of sandstone matrices affects rates of soil formation
in Geoderma
Evans J
(2019)
Strontium and oxygen isotope evidence for the origin and movement of cattle at Late Neolithic Durrington Walls, UK
in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Evans M
(2022)
Carbon Loss Pathways in Degraded Peatlands: New Insights From Radiocarbon Measurements of Peatland Waters
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Evershed RP
(2022)
Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe.
in Nature
Farrant A
(2018)
Gone with the wind: dune provenance and sediment recycling in the northern Rub' al-Khali, United Arab Emirates
in Journal of the Geological Society
Faust J
(2022)
New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments
in Environmental Research Letters
Faust J
(2021)
Millennial scale persistence of organic carbon bound to iron in Arctic marine sediments
in Nature Communications
Feldpausch T
(2022)
Forest Fire History in Amazonia Inferred From Intensive Soil Charcoal Sampling and Radiocarbon Dating
in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change
Fitzpatrick A
(2020)
A FACE FROM THE BRITISH IRON AGE: A DECORATED IRON AGE WEAVING COMB FROM HARWELL, OXFORDSHIRE
in Oxford Journal of Archaeology
Flower L
(2021)
Nature of the beast? Complex drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in Pleistocene wolves (Canis lupus L., 1754)
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Francke A
(2019)
Sediment residence time reveals Holocene shift from climatic to vegetation control on catchment erosion in the Balkans
in Global and Planetary Change
Francke A
(2019)
Sediment residence time reveals Holocene shift from climatic to vegetation control on catchment erosion in the Balkans
in Global and Planetary Change
Francke A
(2020)
Geochemical methods to infer landscape response to Quaternary climate change and land use in depositional archives: A review
in Earth-Science Reviews
Frederikse T
(2021)
Constraining 20th-Century Sea-Level Rise in the South Atlantic Ocean
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Freeman S
(2023)
Another 6 years of radiocarbon secondary-standard AMS with two spectrometers
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Friggens N
(2022)
Whole-crown 13C-pulse labelling in a sub-arctic woodland to target canopy-specific carbon fluxes
in Trees
Galeotti S
(2019)
Astrochronology and radio-isotopic dating of the Alano di Piave section (NE Italy), candidate GSSP for the Priabonian Stage (late Eocene)
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Galeotti S
(2019)
Astrochronology and radio-isotopic dating of the Alano di Piave section (NE Italy), candidate GSSP for the Priabonian Stage (late Eocene)
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Garcin Y
(2022)
Publisher Correction: Hydroclimatic vulnerability of peat carbon in the central Congo Basin.
in Nature
García-Vázquez A
(2022)
Isotopic signature in isolated south-western populations of European brown bear (Ursus arctos)
in Mammal Research
Garnett M
(2021)
A HIGHLY PORTABLE AND INEXPENSIVE FIELD SAMPLING KIT FOR RADIOCARBON ANALYSIS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
in Radiocarbon
Gaydarska B
(2019)
Trypillia Megasites in Context: Independent Urban Development in Chalcolithic Eastern Europe
in Cambridge Archaeological Journal
Geddes Da Filicaia E
(2023)
Review of recent advances on the use of mass spectrometry techniques for the study of organic materials in painted artworks.
in Analytica chimica acta
Description | A SelFrag facility to underpin UK geoscience |
Amount | £300,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/T00925X/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 03/2021 |
Description | A Selective Fragmentation (SELFRAG) device for liberating minerals, microfossils from rocks: more efficient, effective and safer for the UK community. |
Amount | £293,443 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/T009233/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2019 |
End | 03/2020 |
Title | A database of NERC radiocarbon measurements determined by accelerator mass spectrometry. |
Description | The database contains radiocarbon (14C) measurements performed using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) by the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory. Contextual information including sample type and sampling location, and associated publications are also provided |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Compilations of radiocarbon measurements performed by the NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory using radiometric methods have previously been made publicly available in research papers or databases. The new database is the first collection of radiocarbon measurements performed using accelerator mass spectrometry by the laboratory. The database provides a resource for researchers to access over 2000 radiocarbon measurements. |
Description | 50 minute presentation on the Weymouth discovery of a Viking Age burial site and how isotopes were able to look at the origins of the men found there. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This talk was given to the Harrington Discussion Society. I was invited back having given a talk in 2018. This is group of local who gather regularly for such discussions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | A 50 minute talk about the discovery and analysis of Richard III's skeleton |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A presentation to the University of the Third Age group in Keyworth. Very interesting and diverse expertise within the audience resulting in 30 - 40 minutes of questions after the talk. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | A 50 minute talk about the discovery and analysis of Richard III's skeleton |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A talk about Richard III with a geological slant. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | BGS open day presentation to the general public on Richard III |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This was a talk targeted at the younger audience members aimed at showing the links between science and history |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Blog post |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Blogpost on BGS website describing the SelFrag instrument, its capabilities and future potential. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/exploding-rocks-the-uks-first-selfrag-machine/ |
Description | Blogs |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Frequent blog posts on the BGS Geoblogy site, updating on the aims of the project and the progress made with the analysis of the samples. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
Description | Cosmo2022 Scotland. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Cosmo 2022 - Scotland workshop is a continuation of the previous four events known as the Nordic Workshop on Cosmogenic Nuclides. The three-day workshop and the oneday field excursion was jointly hosted by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) and the University of Edinburgh, and held in Edinburgh, 7-9 June 2022. The workshop Comprised of a scientific programme of oral and poster contributions by members of the international cosmogenic nuclide community, discussions, short practical workshops, and an optional field excursion the last day. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_845736_smxx.pdf |
Description | Diatom isotopes demonstration as part of the British Geological Survey Open Day October 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | An exhibit was presented at the BGS Open Day on diatoms, single-celled algae with silica (glass) shells, and how they are used in climate and environmental change research. Visitors were able to view fossil diatoms through a microscope and see their structure from 3D-printed models. Poster boards provided information on what diatoms are, their composition, their importance to us and the planet, how we utilise them in scientific research, and gave an example project (DeepCHALLA) where diatom isotopes are pivitol for providing a better understanding of past climate and its influence on patterns on human migration out of Africa. The stand engaged younger children by helping them create diatom art and plasticine models of diatoms from example images. Feedback was very positive |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Facebook Live discussion for paper in Science Advances "Multi-isotope analysis reveals that feasts in the Stonehenge environs and across Wessex drew people and animals from throughout Britain" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This was a four way moderated discussion, live on Facebook, organized by The VancePak Team Office of Public Programs (OPP) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/ScienceAdvances/videos/793199927719821/. |
Description | Geochronology activity and demonstration as part of the British Geological Survey Open Day October 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 70 members of the public participated in a combined activity and demonstration around the theme of geochronology and geological time, as part of the annual British Geological Surveys public open day. The demonstration included a talk and discussion about geological time combined with the 'Corridor of Time' activity which comprised a 46 metre scaled timeline (1cm equals 1 million years) of Earth history, from human history back to the formation of the Earth and Solar System. This demonstrated the tempo of evolution and the vastness of geological time compared to human histories. This was combined with a 'Speed dating' activity where members of the public came into the mass spectrometry laboratory and we explained how we obtain absolute dates on rocks and minerals, and then they were given a chance to select a mineral for analyses then and there - the sample was a real research target that contains detrital grains with a range of ages, from ~400 to 2700 million years. Throughout the day as more minerals were dated we kept a leader board and a prize was given to the person who picked the oldest grain. The capacity of 70 participants was set by the size of the laboratory and the nature of the activity. Feedback from the participants was wholly positive. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |