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
Briones MJI
(2021)
No evidence for increased loss of old carbon in a temperate organic soil after 13 years of simulated climatic warming despite increased CO2 emissions.
in Global change biology
Pomeroy E
(2020)
New Neanderthal remains associated with the 'flower burial' at Shanidar Cave
in Antiquity
Crone A
(2019)
Nasty, Brutish and Short?; The Life Cycle of an Iron Age Roundhouse at Black Loch of Myrton, SW Scotland
in Journal of Wetland Archaeology
Tipping E
(2019)
Modelling the physical states, element stoichiometries and residence times of topsoil organic matter
in European Journal of Soil Science
Faust JC
(2021)
Millennial scale persistence of organic carbon bound to iron in Arctic marine sediments.
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
Pearson M
(2019)
Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones
in Antiquity
Heaton T
(2020)
Marine20-The Marine Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55,000 cal BP)
in Radiocarbon
Wang J
(2020)
Long-term patterns of hillslope erosion by earthquake-induced landslides shape mountain landscapes.
in Science advances
Davis LG
(2019)
Late Upper Paleolithic occupation at Cooper's Ferry, Idaho, USA, ~16,000 years ago.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
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
Wedage O
(2020)
Late Pleistocene to early-Holocene rainforest foraging in Sri Lanka: Multidisciplinary analysis at Kitulgala Beli-lena
in Quaternary Science Reviews
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
Prater C
(2021)
Landscape Controls on Nutrient Stoichiometry Regulate Lake Primary Production at the Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
in Ecosystems
Garfinkel Y
(2019)
Lachish Fortifications and State Formation in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah in Light of Radiometric Datings
in Radiocarbon
Bermingham A
(2021)
Island resource exploitation by the ancient Maya during periods of climate stress, Ambergris Caye, Belize
in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
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
Humphrey L
(2019)
Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco.
in Journal of human evolution
Orr T
(2021)
Improved pretreatment method for the isolation and decontamination of pyrogenic carbon for radiocarbon dating using hydrogen pyrolysis
in Quaternary Geochronology
Blanz M
(2020)
Identifying seaweed consumption by sheep using isotope analysis of their bones and teeth: Modern reference d13C and d15N values and their archaeological implications
in Journal of Archaeological Science
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
Gosling W
(2020)
Human occupation and ecosystem change on Upolu (Samoa) during the Holocene
in Journal of Biogeography
Hocking E
(2021)
Geological evidence of an unreported historical Chilean tsunami reveals more frequent inundation
in Communications Earth & Environment
Ersmark E
(2019)
Genetic turnovers and northern survival during the last glacial maximum in European brown bears.
in Ecology and evolution
Montoya E
(2021)
Forests protect aquatic communities from detrimental impact by volcanic deposits in the tropical Andes (Ecuador)
in Regional Environmental Change
Tarlati S
(2020)
Final deglaciation of the Malin Sea through meltwater release and calving events
in Scottish Journal of Geology
Cole P
(2019)
Explosive activity of the last 1000 years at La Soufrière, St Vincent, Lesser Antilles
in Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research
Ardelean C
(2020)
Evidence of human occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum
in Nature
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
Verity R
(2020)
Estimates of the severity of COVID-19 disease
Dickens WA
(2019)
Enhanced glacial discharge from the eastern Antarctic Peninsula since the 1700s associated with a positive Southern Annular Mode.
in Scientific reports
Dean JF
(2020)
East Siberian Arctic inland waters emit mostly contemporary carbon.
in Nature communications
Biagi P
(2020)
Early Neolithic Settlement of the Po Plain (Northern Italy) Vhò and Related Sites
in Documenta Praehistorica
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
Richards LA
(2019)
Dual in-aquifer and near surface processes drive arsenic mobilization in Cambodian groundwaters.
in The Science of the total environment
Massilani D
(2020)
Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Reade H
(2020)
Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Campeau A
(2019)
Current forest carbon fixation fuels stream CO2 emissions.
in Nature communications
Schillereff D
(2019)
Convergent human and climate forcing of late-Holocene flooding in Northwest England
in Global and Planetary 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
Frederikse T
(2021)
Constraining 20th-Century Sea-Level Rise in the South Atlantic Ocean
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Devièse T
(2019)
Compound-specific radiocarbon dating and mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Pleistocene hominin from Salkhit Mongolia.
in Nature communications
Evans C
(2019)
Comment on: "Peatland carbon stocks and burn history: Blanket bog peat core evidence highlights charcoal impacts on peat physical properties and long-term carbon storage," by A. Heinemeyer, Q. Asena, W. L. Burn and A. L. Jones ( Geo: Geography and Environment 2018; e00063)
in Geo: Geography and Environment
Ascough P
(2020)
Chemical Characteristics of Macroscopic Pyrogenic Carbon Following Millennial-Scale Environmental Exposure
in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Becerra-Valdivia L
(2020)
Challenges in sample processing within radiocarbon dating and their impact in 14C-dates-as-data studies
in Journal of Archaeological Science
Horan K
(2019)
Carbon dioxide emissions by rock organic carbon oxidation and the net geochemical carbon budget of the Mackenzie River Basin
in American Journal of Science
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
Estop-Aragonés C
(2020)
Assessing the Potential for Mobilization of Old Soil Carbon After Permafrost Thaw: A Synthesis of 14 C Measurements From the Northern Permafrost Region
in Global Biogeochemical Cycles
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 |