Establishing long-term baselines of marine variability in the northwest European shelf seas. (Ref:4252)

Marine environments are experiencing unprecedented anthropogenic pressure (e.g. climate change, fishing, and offshore infrastructure projects). Evaluating the magnitude of these impacts requires long-term environmental baselines that predate these impacts. However, instrumental observations typically only span the past 50 years and are likely heavily influenced by anthropogenic factors. Therefore, they do not provide a representative baseline of natural marine variability.
This project seeks to establish long-term marine baselines based on growth ring patterns and the geochemical composition of long-lived marine bivalve molluscs (sclerochronologies). These sclerochronological records provide faithful records of past marine variability and provide significant potential for addressing fundamental questions about the nature of marine variability.
These new sclerochronological records will be used to address key questions associated with the nature of marine variability including: Are observed modern trends in marine variability unprecedented in the context of past centuries? To what extent are warming seawater temperatures impacting marine ecosystems? Are observed changes in North Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns impacting European shelf sea ecosystems?
The student is based within the Sclerochronology and Scleroclimatology Research Group at the Centre for Geography and Environmental Science (university of Exeter). Geochemical analyses will be conducted in the Stable Isotope Laboratory and Celtic Lab within the School of Earth and Environmental Science (Cardiff University). The project is partnering with Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Marine Biological Association who are providing leading expertise in modern marine monitoring and ecological data analysis. The MBA and PML will provide the facilities to assist this training and support throughout the project. The ERC funded SEACHANGE project will provide additional training and field work opportunities.