National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF)
Lead Research Organisation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
Department Name: SUERC
Abstract
Radiocarbon is an immensely powerful tool to probe Earth's human and environmental history over the past 50,000 years Radiocarbon science requires infrastructure in order to be at the leading edge, both physical infrastructure such as equipment and laboratories, but as important are the people who provide the expertise, drive method development and new areas of application, and develop systems to ensure data are accessible, interoperable and reusable. The requirements for radiocarbon in environmental sciences necessitate delivery of fundamental capabilities at a national level for the following reasons: (1) breadth of community need for fundamental radiocarbon analyses; (2) the substantial continued investment, both instruments and people, required to be at the leading edge; and (3) the capacity of delivery demanded 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 in the future.
The Facility will operate to underpin the UKs environmental research community in areas where radiocarbon analyses are required, facilitating, supporting and encouraging the best research, technology and new ideas. The capabilities and expertise delivered by the Facility are either technically unique within the UK and/or are delivered at a high-standard and capacity and cannot be effectively delivered without national support, and crucially represent long-term value.
The benefits of a national facility are that it will be greater than the sum of its parts. In addition to the direct support of projects and provision of training, sustained support best fit the needs of the project leaders and provide facility staff with a longer-term perspective and understanding of where the major challenges and opportunities are in order to best service the environmental science community. The Facility represents a major forward-looking evolution in the provision of radiocarbon capabilities and expertise for the UK research community in the 21st century, providing increased community innovation and flexibility, whilst retaining the core purpose of underpinning UK science with internationally competitive, state-of-the-art capabilities and expertise.
The Facility will operate to underpin the UKs environmental research community in areas where radiocarbon analyses are required, facilitating, supporting and encouraging the best research, technology and new ideas. The capabilities and expertise delivered by the Facility are either technically unique within the UK and/or are delivered at a high-standard and capacity and cannot be effectively delivered without national support, and crucially represent long-term value.
The benefits of a national facility are that it will be greater than the sum of its parts. In addition to the direct support of projects and provision of training, sustained support best fit the needs of the project leaders and provide facility staff with a longer-term perspective and understanding of where the major challenges and opportunities are in order to best service the environmental science community. The Facility represents a major forward-looking evolution in the provision of radiocarbon capabilities and expertise for the UK research community in the 21st century, providing increased community innovation and flexibility, whilst retaining the core purpose of underpinning UK science with internationally competitive, state-of-the-art capabilities and expertise.
Publications
Ó Cofaigh C
(2019)
Early deglaciation of the British-Irish Ice Sheet on the Atlantic shelf northwest of Ireland driven by glacioisostatic depression and high relative sea level
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Wedage O
(2020)
Late Pleistocene to early-Holocene rainforest foraging in Sri Lanka: Multidisciplinary analysis at Kitulgala Beli-lena
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Wedage O
(2019)
Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens ~45,000 years ago.
in Nature communications
Wedage O
(2019)
Microliths in the South Asian rainforest ~45-4 ka: New insights from Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka.
in PloS one
Wang J
(2020)
Long-term patterns of hillslope erosion by earthquake-induced landslides shape mountain landscapes.
in Science advances
Waldron S
(2019)
C mobilisation in disturbed tropical peat swamps: old DOC can fuel the fluvial efflux of old carbon dioxide, but site recovery can occur.
in Scientific reports
Vlok M
(2020)
Two Probable Cases of Infection with Treponema pallidum during the Neolithic Period in Northern Vietnam (ca. 2000-1500 B.C.)
in Bioarchaeology International
Verity R
(2020)
Estimates of the severity of COVID-19 disease
Tipping E
(2022)
Relationships between riverine and terrestrial dissolved organic carbon: Concentration, radiocarbon signature, specific UV absorbance.
in The Science of the total environment
Tipping E
(2019)
Modelling the physical states, element stoichiometries and residence times of topsoil organic matter
in European Journal of Soil Science
Tarlati S
(2020)
Final deglaciation of the Malin Sea through meltwater release and calving events
in Scottish Journal of Geology
Street L
(2020)
Plant carbon allocation drives turnover of old soil organic matter in permafrost tundra soils
in Global Change Biology
Soulet G
(2021)
Temperature control on CO2 emissions from the weathering of sedimentary rocks
in Nature Geoscience
Simms A
(2021)
Evidence for a "Little Ice Age" glacial advance within the Antarctic Peninsula - Examples from glacially-overrun raised beaches
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Silva A
(2021)
A closer look at the forgotten bones of the Dolmen of Pedras Grandes (Odivelas, Portugal). (Examining old human remains 7). UN RECORRIDO POR LOS HUESOS OLVIDADOS DEL DOLMEN DE PEDRAS GRANDES (ODIVELAS, PORTUGAL)
in SPAL. Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla
Sear DA
(2020)
Human settlement of East Polynesia earlier, incremental, and coincident with prolonged South Pacific drought.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Scourse J
(2019)
Advance and retreat of the marine-terminating Irish Sea Ice Stream into the Celtic Sea during the Last Glacial: Timing and maximum extent
in Marine Geology
Schulting R
(2021)
Six centuries of adaptation to a challenging island environment: AMS 14C dating and stable isotopic analysis of pre-Columbian human remains from the Bahamian archipelago reveal dietary trends
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Schillereff D
(2019)
Convergent human and climate forcing of late-Holocene flooding in Northwest England
in Global and Planetary Change
Sayer E
(2019)
Tropical forest soil carbon stocks do not increase despite 15 years of doubled litter inputs
in Scientific Reports
Rushby G
(2019)
Testing the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand hypothesis in North Wales, UK
in The Holocene
Rush Graham Phillip
(2021)
Rapid sea-level rise and climate change : lessons from the early Holocene
Roberts D
(2019)
The mixed-bed glacial landform imprint of the North Sea Lobe in the western North Sea
in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Richards L
(2019)
Dual in-aquifer and near surface processes drive arsenic mobilization in Cambodian groundwaters
in Science of The Total Environment
Reynolds D
(2019)
An integrated carbon and oxygen isotope approach to reconstructing past environmental variability in the northeast Atlantic Ocean
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Reimer P
(2020)
The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55 cal kBP)
in Radiocarbon
Reade H
(2020)
Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland.
in Scientific reports
Reade H
(2020)
Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Preskienis V
(2021)
Seasonal patterns in greenhouse gas emissions from lakes and ponds in a High Arctic polygonal landscape
in Limnology and Oceanography
Prater C
(2021)
Landscape Controls on Nutrient Stoichiometry Regulate Lake Primary Production at the Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
in Ecosystems
Pomeroy E
(2020)
New Neanderthal remains associated with the 'flower burial' at Shanidar Cave
in Antiquity
Plets R
(2019)
Late Quaternary sea-level change and evolution of Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland: new offshore evidence and implications for sea-level reconstruction
in Journal of Quaternary Science
Pearson M
(2019)
Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones
in Antiquity
Pearson M
(2021)
The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales
in Antiquity
Paul A
(2022)
Stocks and biogeochemical cycling of soil-derived nutrients in an ultramafic rain forest in New Caledonia
in Forest Ecology and Management
Orr T
(2021)
Improved pretreatment method for the isolation and decontamination of pyrogenic carbon for radiocarbon dating using hydrogen pyrolysis
in Quaternary Geochronology
Newsham KK
(2020)
A Previously Undescribed Helotialean Fungus That Is Superabundant in Soil Under Maritime Antarctic Higher Plants.
in Frontiers in microbiology
Newnham R
(2019)
Peat humification records from Restionaceae bogs in northern New Zealand as potential indicators of Holocene precipitation, seasonality, and ENSO
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Montoya E
(2021)
Forests protect aquatic communities from detrimental impact by volcanic deposits in the tropical Andes (Ecuador)
in Regional Environmental Change
McLean D
(2020)
Constraints on the Timing of Explosive Volcanism at Aso and Aira Calderas (Japan) Between 50 and 30 ka: New Insights From the Lake Suigetsu Sedimentary Record (SG14 Core)
in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Massilani D
(2020)
Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Mackay H
(2021)
Spatial variation of hydroclimate in north-eastern North America during the last millennium
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Loughlin N
(2021)
Insights into past land-use and vegetation change in the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) using fungal non-pollen palynomorphs
in Journal of Archaeological Science
Lougheed B
(2020)
Re-evaluating <sup>14</sup>C dating accuracy in deep-sea sediment archives
in Geochronology
Loftus E
(2019)
Late Pleistocene human occupation in the Maloti-Drakensberg region of southern Africa: New radiocarbon dates from Rose Cottage Cave and inter-site comparisons
in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
Loader N
(2019)
Tree ring dating using oxygen isotopes: a master chronology for central England
in Journal of Quaternary Science
Description | Radiocarbon dating is the most versatile technique for scientists seeking to precisely date the timing of events and rates of processes in the history of humans and earth systems over the last 50,000 years. Natural abundance and 'bomb' radiocarbon also have wide applications in quantifying the movement of carbon in the environment. The NERC Radiocarbon Laboratory (a component of NEIF- National Environmental Isotope Facility) is internationally recognised and supports, participates in and initiates globally competitive science. This provides a comprehensive service for the NERC research community, including Universities and NERC Centres (e.g. BGS, CEH, BAS, NOC) across a wide range of science areas, including Earth, Marine, Terrestrial and Freshwater, Atmospheric and Polar Science and Science-based Archaeology: • Expertise across a wide spectrum of radiocarbon techniques & applications • Specialist advice at all stages of projects from project inception, applications and grant proposals, field sampling, sample storage and preparation, to data interpretation and publication • Technical developments, often developed collaboratively, to provide leading edge and unique research opportunities to UK researchers • Access to state-of-the art equipment, including cutting-edge AMS analytical equipment (the newly-installed MICADAS and PIMS technology) • Training of students and visiting researchers, including project-customised practical laboratory experience and residential radiocarbon courses |
Exploitation Route | The Facility exists to provide analytical support and scientific expertise for NERC approved projects throughout the UK. Therefore all the findings relate to these projects (c 50-60 per year). The Facility also continuously develops new methods in order to provide UK scientists with cutting-edge techniques for the radiocarbon applications in their projects. Examples include compound-specific amino-acid dating for archaeological bones, novel sampling methods to enable NERC science in otherwise inaccessible, remote and challenging environments, and speciation of organic carbon in complex environmental matrices via techniques available in only a very few (or no) other locations worldwide. |
Sectors | Environment Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |