Climate and Earth System Modelling
Our research aims to quantify and understand the process of past climate and Earth System change with a view to developing better model simulations and predictions of future global change. We utilise a wide range of models, which enables us to investigate the Earth system over timescales from days to millions of years over a variety of spatial scales. Particular areas of interest are:
- biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other elements through the Earth system
- how the carbon cycle has changed over Earth history
- patterns of regional climate change
- the development and validation of statistical downscaling methods
- the interaction between key components of the Earth system, e.g., atmospheric dust, aerosols and vegetation, oceans and sediments, and the physical climate
- data assimilation methods to combine climate simulations with empirical proxy data
Inorganic Geochemistry
Our research focuses on determining how and why Earth’s climate, environments and oceans have changed in the past. We are particularly focused on the interactions between the different components of the Earth system, especially between the biosphere and climate. We utilise a diverse range of analytical techniques including stable isotopes and elemental concentrations, preserved in both historical and geological archives such as soils, fossils, speleothems and sediments/rocks.
We are active in testing the fidelity of known proxies and their carriers, to create more accurate palaeoreconstructions. Collaboration with colleagues focussed on climate modelling allows the Paleoclimatology and Paleooceanography team to bring together numerical modeling, organic geochemistry and micropalaeontology, to better understand the operation of the Earth system through time.
Micropalaeontology
Working alongside colleagues in Palaeobiology, our research in Micropalaeontology covers all the major marine microfossil groups - foraminifera, coccolithophores, dinoflagellates, condonts and ostracods – as well as terrestrial pollen and spore communities. We use these to reconstruct long-term macroevolutionary patterns, short-term ecosystems perturbations and the relationship between climate, environments and life.
Research expertise spans from the early Palaeozoic through to the modern system. Many projects are based on material recovered from major international scientific drilling programs (e.g., IODP, ICDP).
Organic Geochemistry
Our group's research focuses on the source, structure, and distribution of organic carbon compounds (biomarkers) from oceans, lakes, sedimentary rocks and even atmospheric aerosols. We develop biomarker proxies of environmental parameters (e.g. terrestrial and sea-surface temperatures, relative humidity, C3/C4 plant distribution, wetland extent) and use these to answer questions about past climatic and environmental changes.