BGS Climate & Landscape Change
Lead Research Organisation:
British Geological Survey
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Michael Ellis (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Afzal J
(2011)
Dynamic response of the shallow marine benthic ecosystem to regional and pan-Tethyan environmental change at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Armstrong R
(2015)
'Growth rings' in crustose lichens: Comparison with directly measured growth rates and implications for lichenometry
in Quaternary Geochronology
Armstrong R
(2011)
Growth of foliose lichens: a review
in Symbiosis
Asahi H
(2016)
Orbital-scale benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope stratigraphy at the northern Bering Sea Slope Site U1343 (IODP Expedition 323) and its Pleistocene paleoceanographic significance
in Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
Ascough P
(2009)
Hydropyrolysis as a new tool for radiocarbon pre-treatment and the quantification of black carbon
in Quaternary Geochronology
Atazadeh I
(2014)
Morphology, ecology and biogeography of Stauroneis pachycephala P.T. Cleve (Bacillariophyta) and its transfer to the genus Envekadea
in Diatom Research
Atkinson N
(2012)
Does returning sites of historic peri-urban waste disposal to vegetable production pose a risk to human health? - A case study near Manchester, UK
in Soil Use and Management
Banks V
(2012)
Review of tufa deposition and palaeohydrological conditions in the White Peak, Derbyshire, UK: implications for Quaternary landscape evolution
in Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
| Description | This is a broad ranging research programme at one of the NERC Research Centres. It is difficult to summarize the results of more than 200 peer-reviewed research papers, although some of the highlights include: 1. Concentrations of organic contaminants and selected metals (e.g. mercury) within UK tidal river estuaries and surrounding soils are relatively high and are likely to be inherited from the legacy of the industrial revolution. 2. The transport and fate of important macronutrients (e.g. C, N, P) through the shallow subsurface and en route to UK rivers are strongly mediated by the presence and activity of oxygen and, by extension, the activity of biota. 3. Coastal change (whether erosion or deposition) over time-scales of decades to centuries are likely to be strongly dependent on future wave climates as much as they are on sea-level rises. 4. Erosion of soil and sediment across the UK is completely unknown, and we have developed a pilot erosion network to establish the first systematic and accurate measure of erosion. 5. A significant climate change event at about 55 million years ago (in which global temperatures increased by between 5 to 9 C) was likely preceded by a change to the hydrological cycle, manifest by the appearance of particular clay minerals prior to the occurrence of global warming. There are many other results; these are a few highlights. |
| Exploitation Route | Our work is published in high-impact, peer-reviewed international journals, and it is open-access. The work will be built on by both ourselves and other scientists. The work has, in part, also informed various interactions with UK government agencies (e.g. the EA, DECC). |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Education Environment Other |
| Description | The Climate and Landscape Change research project within BGS published 241 peer-reviewed papers. The range of research includes various aspects of soil and sediment quality (C stocks, soil depth, transport of macronutrients through soil and the role of biotic processes, soil resilience, soil moisture, etc), nanoparticles, organic and metal contaminants in estuarine settings, numerical modelling of environmental (land and coastal) change in the face of climate and land-use change, past lessons of rapid climate change (palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments), new techniques to measure Holocene sea-level changes, landslides, glacier and ice-cap dynamics, evolution of the British-Irish ice sheet, coastal erosion, Quaternary geology of the UK, preservation of organic carbon, etc. The scope of research covered issues related to climate change impacts in the context of environmental response and exemplars from Earth's history. This research has led to significant impact within the environmental science community, not least because much of it was performed in collaboration with HEI scientists and also in concert with PhD students. Parts of the research has had a direct impact on the informing of decisions within the UK Environment Agency and its parent body, Defra (e.g. soils research, coastal change). The PI was invited to join the EA's Coastal Erosion Project Advisory Board as a result of our coastal research, and various staff were invited to undertake high-level editorial positions at peer-reviewed journals and within the supporting scientific organizations. Specific input was provided to the Iceland government in connection with a glacial observatory (see below). The BGS operate an observatory site at Virkisjökull in south-east Iceland, studying the evolution of the glacier and the surrounding landscape and their responses to regional climate. The observatory was established in 2009, and new equipment has been installed each year to monitor the key components of this glaciated catchment, namely climate, ice dynamics, landscape change, hydrology and groundwater. Sensors at the site are constantly collecting climate and seismic data, with some of this available through the BGS website. Repeated high resolution surveys study how the glacier and land surface, and the deposits beneath, change over time. BGS is using cutting-edge technologies, not used in such a combination anywhere else in the world. These give unique insights into processes of landscape formation and responses of glacial systems to climate forcing. Beneficiaries: Icelandic government and its associated bodies. This award has developed numerical models of environmental response (both terrestrial and coastal) to climate and land-use change. These models have resulted in invitations from international partners (in India, Belgium) to apply the models to case studies in those locations, and in an invitation to serve on the UK Environment Agency's Coastal Erosion Project Advisory Board. Research in the soils area has been used by Defra in connection with issues of soil erosion across the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | COP21 Climate Change Summit |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | EA Advisory Board |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | At this stage, the specific impacts are unknown, largely because this activity is an advisory body to the EA. However, our collective advice will be used to inform decisions about the management approaches to coastal erosion in the face of accelerating sea-level rise. Therefore, the impacts will lead to an improved environmental sustainability and to effective solutions to societal problems, as indicated above. |
| Description | Soil Health Inquiry |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Title | Georeferenced soil indicator data for the British Isles (2004-2015) |
| Description | I added georeferences (coordinates) to a farmers database so that the data could be analysed spatially for my own research and could be used in other research. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The database will be used in the NERC cross centre ASSIST project which examines relationships between crop yield and soil properties at national scale. |