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
Fielding JJ
(2020)
Tracing lake pollution, eutrophication and partial recovery from the sediments of Windermere, UK, using geochemistry and sediment microfabrics.
in The Science of the total environment
Fitzpatrick A
(2020)
A FACE FROM THE BRITISH IRON AGE: A DECORATED IRON AGE WEAVING COMB FROM HARWELL, OXFORDSHIRE
in Oxford Journal of Archaeology
Blong J
(2020)
Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin: multiproxy analysis of coprolites from the Paisley Caves, Oregon, USA
in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
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
Bronk Ramsey C
(2020)
Reanalysis of the Atmospheric Radiocarbon Calibration Record from Lake Suigetsu, Japan
in Radiocarbon
Kostova R
(2020)
AMS dating and ancient DNA analysis of bone relics associated with St John the Baptist from Sveti Ivan (Sozopol, Bulgaria)
in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Pomeroy E
(2020)
New Neanderthal remains associated with the 'flower burial' at Shanidar Cave
in Antiquity
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
Lougheed B
(2020)
Re-evaluating <sup>14</sup>C dating accuracy in deep-sea sediment archives
in Geochronology
Gehrels W
(2020)
A Preindustrial Sea-Level Rise Hotspot Along the Atlantic Coast of North America
in Geophysical Research Letters
Briones M
(2020)
Substrate quality and not dominant plant community determines the vertical distribution and C assimilation of enchytraeids in peatlands
in Functional Ecology
Tarlati S
(2020)
Final deglaciation of the Malin Sea through meltwater release and calving events
in Scottish Journal of Geology
Cassidy LM
(2020)
A dynastic elite in monumental Neolithic society.
in Nature
Street L
(2020)
Plant carbon allocation drives turnover of old soil organic matter in permafrost tundra soils
in Global Change Biology
Reimer P
(2020)
The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55 cal kBP)
in Radiocarbon
D'Alpoim Guedes J
(2020)
Three thousand years of farming strategies in central Thailand
in Antiquity
Massilani D
(2020)
Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Garnett M
(2020)
Radiocarbon analysis reveals that vegetation facilitates the release of old methane in a temperate raised bog
in Biogeochemistry
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
Haig J
(2020)
A rapid throughput technique to isolate pyrogenic carbon by hydrogen pyrolysis for stable isotope and radiocarbon analysis.
in Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM
Wang J
(2020)
Long-term patterns of hillslope erosion by earthquake-induced landslides shape mountain landscapes.
in Science advances
Forbes V
(2020)
A sub-centennial, Little Ice Age climate reconstruction using beetle subfossil data from Nunalleq, southwestern Alaska
in Quaternary International
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
Reade H
(2020)
Deglacial landscapes and the Late Upper Palaeolithic of Switzerland
in Quaternary Science Reviews
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 |