Digital Commons Network^™

Variation In Wood Density Across South American Tropical Forests, Martin J. P. Sullivan, Oliver L. Phillips, David Galbraith, Everton Almeida, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Jarcilene Almeida, Esteban Álvarez Dávila, Luciana F. Alves, Ana Andrade, Luiz Aragão, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Omar Aurelio Melo Cruz, Fabrício Baccaro, Timothy R. Baker, Sophie Fauset, Olaf Banki, Christopher Baraloto, Jos Barlow, Jorcely Barroso, Erika Berenguer, Lilian Blanc, Cecilia Blundo, Damien Bonal, Frans Bongers, Kauane Maiara Bordin, Roel J. W. Brienen, Igor S. Broggio, Benoit Burban

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Wood density is a critical control on tree biomass, so poor understanding of its spatial variation can lead to large and systematic errors in forest biomass estimates and carbon maps. The need to understand how and why wood density varies is especially critical in tropical America where forests have exceptional species diversity and spatial turnover in composition. As tree identity and forest composition are challenging to estimate remotely, ground surveys are essential to know the wood density of trees, whether measured directly or inferred from their identity. Here, we assemble an extensive dataset of variation in wood density across the …

Tropical Forests In The Americas Are Changing Too Slowly To Track Climate Change, Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Sophie Fauset, Sandra Díaz, Sami W. Rifai, Jose Javier Corral-Rivas, Maria Guadalupe Nava-Miranda, Roy González-M, Ana Belén Hurtado-M, Norma Salinas Revilla, Emilio Vilanova, Everton Almeida, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Luciana F. Alves, Ana Cristina Segalin De Andrade, Antonio Carlos Lola Da Costa, Simone Aparecida Vieira, Luiz Aragão, Eric Arets, Gerardo A. Aymard C, Fabrício Baccaro, Yvonne Vanessa Bakker, Timothy R. Baker, Olaf Bánki, Christopher Baraloto, Plínio Barbosa De Camargo, Erika Berenguer, Lilian Blanc, Damien Bonal, Frans Bongers

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-biodiversity tropical forests. Here, we examined how tropical forests of the Americas have shifted community trait composition in recent decades as a response to changes in climate. Based on historical trait-climate relationships, we found that, overall, the studied functional traits show shifts of less than 8% of what would be expected given the observed changes in climate. However, the recruit assemblage shows shifts of 21% relative to climate change expectation. …

Assessing The Impact Of Historic Mining On The Geochemistry Of Sediments In The Camel Estuary, Cornwall, U.K., Gregory Price, Matthew Cleave

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This investigation focusses on the geochemical properties of surficial sediments in the Camel Estuary, Cornwall, UK. Thegeochemistry of the samples were determined by XRF and data for Sn, As, Cu, Pb and Zn are presented. The data for Pb, Zn andAs shows a down estuary reduction, probably resulting from a combination of increasing distance from a presumed metalliferousmining source and mixing with marine sediments. The highest concentrations for As (48 ppm) and Zn (304 ppm) exceedsediment quality guidelines. Cu and Pb values are below the sediment quality guidelines. Although elevated Sn concentrations areseen in the middle part of the estuary, …

Sorry For Any Inconvenience Caused: Why Britain Messed Up High Speed Rail, Iain Docherty, Jon Shaw

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

High Speed 2—the planned new railway from London to the north of England—is one of the largest and most controversial public sector investment projects Britain has attempted in decades. Much has been written about the huge cost overruns that the project has suffered, and why this led to the eventual cancellation of the line beyond its first phase now under construction. In this article, we explore two under-appreciated aspects of this story: first, the (unintended) consequences of those forms of professional expertise privileged by decision making machinery, and second how the politics of charisma are essential in understanding how the …

Early Cretaceous Giant Glendonites: A Record Of (Sub-)Millennial-Scale Cooling?, Madeleine L. Vickers, Mads E. Jelby, Carlette N. Blok, Gregory D. Price, Rhodri M. Jerrett, Maria A. Jensen, Morgan T. Jones

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Lower Cretaceous succession in Svalbard contains numerous glendonites, pseudomorphs after the cold-water carbonate mineral ikaite, which have been used in conjunction with other evidence to argue for episodic global cooling punctuating the greenhouse climates of the Early Cretaceous. Recent fieldwork in central Spitsbergen has recovered giant bladed glendonites of up to half a metre long, the largest ever recorded in a Lower Cretaceous site, and comparable in size to outlier glendonites found in similar-aged strata of the Sverdrup Basin in Arctic Canada. Unlike the rosette to pineapple-like morphologies seen in some of the largest Canadian Arctic specimens, the new …

Temporal And Spatial Variations Of Urinary Phthalate Metabolites For Adults In China (2005–2020): A Synthesis Of Biomonitoring Data, Yanxia Zhang, Xinkai Wang, Clive E. Sabel, Huan He, Marianne Thomsen, Ming Zhong, Zhikun Chen, Weixi Wang, Biao Huang

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Chinese people are experiencing phthalate exposure risks. However, temporal and regional phthalate internal exposure variations amongst Chinese have not been established. To address this gap, we integrated our 69 adult participants' bio-monitored urinary phthalate metabolite (UPM) concentration data by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry in Xi'an and Nanjing and the data from 35 literature (total sample size: 18768). Then, we analyzed China's temporal and spatial variations of adult UPM levels from 2005 to 2020 based on multi statistical methods. The results showed that the sum of eight UPM concentrations (i.e., monomethyl phthalate (MMP), mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MNBP), …

Drivers Of Vegetation Structure Differ Between Proposed Natural Reference Conditions For Temperate Europe, Elena A. Pearce, Charles W. Davison, Florence Mazier, Signe Normand, Ralph Fyfe, Maria Antonia Serge, Paolo Scussolini, Jens Christian Svenning

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Aim: Pre-degradation baseline conditions (references) provide crucial context for restoration actions. Here, we compare vegetation structure and its driving processes across the main pre-agricultural references discussed for temperate Europe: the Last Interglacial and the early-mid Holocene—before and after the arrival of Homo sapiens, respectively. Location: Temperate Europe. Time Period: The first ~4000–6000 years, excluding the initial early-successional phases, of the Last Interglacial (PAAZ III) and Holocene (8700–5700 BP). Major Taxa Studied: Plants. Methods: We use large datasets of pollen-based vegetation reconstructions (REVEALS) to compare open vegetation, light woodland and closed forest between the two periods. We use Random Forest modelling …

Marine Terrace Staircases Of Western Iberia: Uplift Rate Patterns From Rocky Limestone Coasts Of Central Portugal (Cape Raso - Abano Beach And Cape Espichel), Martin Stokes

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Western Iberian Peninsula is undergoing compressive tectonic reactivation, resulting in spatial and temporal variations of surface uplift. Uplift quantification can be undertaken in coastal settings using staircases of shore platforms developed onto rocky headlands. This study analyses two marine terrace staircases in central Portugal: Cape Raso - Abano beach and Cape Espichel. Geomorphic and stratigraphic analyses identified marine terraces/shore platforms developed below a culminant shore platform, four at Cape Raso and eleven at Cape Espichel. The terrace chronology was obtained by using ESR and pIRIR dating. Using the interactions between the elevation, age and global mean sea-level elevations, the …

Microplastics And Nanoplastics In Tea: Sources, Characteristics And Potential Impacts, Neamatollah Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard, Faezeh Jahedi, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Recent scientific studies have raised concerns about the presence and potential impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in tea-based drinks. This review critically examines publications relating to MNPs in tea, with focus on the type of sample involved, methods and techniques employed to isolate and identify MNPs, and the main qualitative and quantitative findings. Sources of MNPs in tea include production water, plastic packaging and contaminated tea leaves but the most important source is teabags when steeped in boiling water. Here, more than 10⁹ MNPs have been reported to be released per plastic teabag. However, significant quantities of MNPs …

Large Range Sizes Link Fast Life Histories With High Species Richness Across Wet Tropical Tree Floras, Timothy R. Baker, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Kofi Affum-Baffoe, Shin-Ichiro Aiba, Sophie Fauset, Perpetra Akite, Miguel Alexiades, Everton Almeida, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Esteban Alvarez Davila, Christian Amani, Ana Andrade, Luiz Aragao, Alejandro Araujo-Murakami, Eric Arets, Luzmila Arroyo, Peter Ashton, Suspense A. Averti Ifo, Gerardo A. C. Aymard, Michel Baisie, William Balee, Michael Balinga, Lindsay F. Banin, Olaf Banki, Christopher Baraloto, Jorcely Barroso, Hans Beeckman, Jean-Francois Bastin, Serge Begne, Natacha Nssi Bengone

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Understanding how the traits of lineages are related to diversification is key for elucidating the origin of variation in species richness. Here, we test whether traits are related to species richness among lineages of trees from all major biogeographical settings of the lowland wet tropics. We explore whether variation in mortality rate, breeding system and maximum diameter are related to species richness, either directly or via associations with range size, among 463 genera that contain wet tropical forest trees. For Amazonian genera, we also explore whether traits are related to species richness via variation among genera in mean species-level range …

Beyond The Closed-Forest Paradigm: Cross-Scale Vegetation Structure In Temperate Europe Before The Late-Quaternary Megafauna Extinctions, Elena A. Pearce, Florence Mazier, Charles W. Davison, Oliver Baines, Szymon Czyzewski, Ralph Fyfe, K Binka, Steve Boreham, Jacques Louis De Beaulieu, Cunhai Gao, Wojciech Granoszewski, Anna Hrynowiecka, Małgorzata Malkiewicz, Tim Mighall, Bożena Noryśkiewicz, Irena Agnieszka Pidek, Jaqueline Strahl, Hanna Winter, Jens Christian Svenning

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Last Interglacial (∼129,000–116,000 years ago) provides key insights into temperate European vegetation dynamics before significant anthropogenic impacts. Using LOVE (Local Vegetation Estimates) and REVEALS (Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites) models, this study reconstructs vegetation patterns across local (∼9 km²) and regional (∼100 km²) scales. Local landscapes presented a heterogeneous mosaic, with averages of 17 % open vegetation, 21 % closed forests, and 63 % light woodlands, reflecting high fine-scale heterogeneity. Importantly, weak local-regional correlations highlight the importance of localised drivers. Longitude and, to a lesser extent, precipitation explained some variation in local vegetation openness, but heterogeneity …

Browning Events In Arctic Ecosystems: Diverse Causes With Common Consequences, Scott Davidson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Arctic ecosystems are experiencing extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of >1000 km2. Collectively known as browning events, these are key contributors to the spatial and temporal complexity of Arctic greening and vegetation dynamics. If we are to properly understand the future of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, their productivity, and their feedbacks to climate, understanding browning events is essential. Here we bring together understanding of browning events in Arctic ecosystems to compare their impacts and rates of recovery, and likely future changes in frequency and distribution. We …

Ocean Crustal Veins Record Dynamic Interplay Between Plate-Cooling-Induced Cracking And Ocean Chemistry, Aled D. Evans, Rosalind M. Coggon, Michelle Harris, Elliot J. Carter, Elmar Albers, Gilles M. Guérin, Thomas M. Belgrano, Mallika Jonnalagadda, Lewis J.C. Grant, Pamela D. Kempton, David J. Sanderson, James A. Milton, Timothy J. Henstock, Jeff C. Alt, Damon A.H. Teagle

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

As ocean crust traverses away from spreading ridges, low-temperature hydrothermal minerals fill cracks to form veins, transforming the physical and chemical properties of ocean crust whilst also modifying the composition of seawater. Vein width and frequency observations compiled from the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) South Atlantic Transect (∼31°S) and previous scientific ocean drilling holes show that vein width distributions progressively broaden and observed strain (Σm_veins/m_core) increases with crustal age, whereas vein densities (#_veins/m_core) remain approximately constant. Elemental mapping and textural observations illuminate multiple precipitation and fracturing episodes that continue as the …

Fine Sediment-Associated Contaminants In Gravel Bed Rivers: Evaluating Storage Times And Turnover Using Fallout Radionuclides (Frns), Enrique G. Muñoz-Arcos, Geoffrey E. Millward, Caroline C. Clason, Claudio M. Bravo-Linares, William H. Blake

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Excess fine sediment supply and its associated contaminants can have detrimental effects on water quality and river ecology with sediment deposition on, and subsequent infiltration in, streambeds impacting riverine habitats. Fallout radionuclides (FRNs) are used as tracers in aquatic systems, and the ⁷Be/²¹⁰Pb_ex ratio is a useful indicator for sediment residence/storage time. Suspended and submerged mid-channel bar sediments were collected during five surveys within a 5 km reach of a typical temperate lowland agricultural river system. Solids were analysed by gamma (⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb_ex) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP, trace metals …

Salinity Controls On Steel Biocorrosion Relevant To The Disposal Of High-Level Radioactive Waste, M. N. Rose, C. Boothman, S. Shaw, K. Morris, D. L. Engelberg, M. T. Bailey, J. R. Lloyd

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

In a geological disposal facility (GDF) for spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste, the canister serves as one of the main engineered barriers. The resistance of the canister to degradation processes such as microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) needs be characterised to support GDF environmental safety cases. Here the impacts of salinity on sulfate-reducing bacterial (SRB) activity and associated MIC were explored in 84-day batch incubations at 30 °C. A 5 % standard bentonite slurry (MX80) in a low-salinity (0.1 g l⁻¹ NaCl) artificial groundwater containing lactate added as an electron donor provided suitable conditions for the proliferation of SRB. …

Elevated Co2 Increases The Canopy Temperature Of Mature Quercus Robur (Pedunculate Oak), William Hagan Brown, Emanuel Gloor, Ralph Fyfe, A. Rob Mackenzie, Nicholas J. Harper, Peter Ganderton, Kris Hart, Giulio Curioni, Susan Quick, Scott J. Davidson, Emily Yetton, Jen L. Diehl, Sophie Fauset

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The canopy thermal response of natural forests to elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) is an understudied biophysical feedback in the global climate system. We investigated the effects of eCO₂ (150 μmol mol⁻¹ above ambient) on canopy temperature (T_can) dynamics of mature (> 175 years) Quercus robur (oak) at the Birmingham Institute for Forest Research Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (BIFoR-FACE) facility in Staffordshire, England, during the growing seasons of 2021, 2022 and 2023. We employed long-term, high-frequency thermal infrared (TIR) imaging to measure T_can. Our results show that daily maximum oak T_{can …}

The State Of Temperate Rainforest In South West England, Thomas Murphy, Katerina Chernyuk, Marcin Roszkowski, Shaun Lewin, Paul Lunt, James Buckley

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Temperate Rainforest is a biome of global significance which is rare and declining, yet supports endemic biodiversity and offers a range of co-benefits including carbon sequestration, natural flood management, climate moderation, and human well-being. The UK hosts a very large proportion of European bioclimatic space suitable for the development of Temperate Rainforest, yet very little of this woodland remains. In SW England, Temperate Rainforest habitat is mostly dominated by oak woodland (NVC communities W11 and W17) and occupies a broad but fragmented distribution across the region. SW temperate rainforest is exposed to a range of current and future threats and …

Global And Regional Estimation And Evaluation Of Suitable Roof Area For Solar And Green Roof Applications, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Souran Chatterjee, Luisa F. Cabeza, Gergely Molnár

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Buildings contribute to 40% of energy consumption and 30% of CO₂ emissions in 2019 globally, therefore it is necessary to exploit different solutions to decrease the corresponding energy demand, including green and cool roofs as well as on-site energy generation. To evaluate the potential of such technologies, one major input data for models and calculations is the available roof area, yet the literature shows a huge knowledge gap in this regard. Therefore, this paper contributes to filling this gap by estimating the roof availability over the period 2022–2060, using the detailed regional projections of the BISE (Building Integrated Solar …

A Systematic Review Of Biomonitoring Microplastics In Environmental Matrices: Emphasis On Airborne Particles, Dry Deposits, And Comparative Analysis With Traditional Methods, Faezeh Jahedi, Neamatollah Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The use of plastics continues to rise each year due to their versatility and essential role in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and food packaging. However, plastics present a serious environmental challenge because they take over 500 years to decompose. During this time, they break down into tiny particles known as microplastics (MPs), which are now found everywhere, water, soil, and even the air we breathe. Recently, researchers have even detected MPs in clouds, making their presence in the atmosphere a growing concern for both the environment and public health. Traditional methods for sampling MPs in the air, such as active …

Interactions Of Anthropogenic Microfibres With The Marine Macroalga, Ulva Lactuca, Adam Collins, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Little information exists on the interactions between microfibres (MFs) and marine macroalgae. In this study, the translucent green seaweed, Ulva lactuca, has been exposed to ∼2 mg L⁻¹ suspensions of MFs prepared from dryer lint under controlled conditions, with MFs on the alga surface and remaining in seawater subsequently counted and characterised. MFs were mainly <2 mm and cellulosic, and contained various additives and chemicals used in textile treatment. Interactions of MFs with U. lactuca were spatially heterogeneous but correcting for pre-existent MFs on the surface, mean trapping efficiencies on a dry mass and surface area basis were 252 mL g⁻¹ and 0.858 mL cm⁻², respectively. Despite this heterogeneity, there was evidence of differential trapping based on fibre colour and length. Interactions between the amphiphilic algal surface and MFs are likely both hydrophobic and electrostatic and are not fully reversible, with only …

Care‐Ful Encounters: A Case For Empathetic Youthful Encounters With Coastal Environments, Mark Holton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper extends discourse of environmental stewardship and coastal management by examining the intersecting and overlapping relationships between notions of care and encounter in generating and maintaining forms of environmental empathy among young people at various socio-spatial scales. Exploring ‘care-ful encounters’ matters in terms of developing new ways of understanding how the choreographies of care and self-care shape, and are shaped by, encounters with human and non-human others, and prompts critical engagement and reflection with care as felt and experienced, that could otherwise be considered as distanced and ‘over there‘. Two key contributions emerge – first, that the combined role …

Anthropogenic Microfibres And Other Microplastics In The Sediments And Soils Of A Small, Moorland Reservoir (Burrator, Southwest England), Alexandra Sutton, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Little is known about the sources, transport and fate of anthropogenic microfibres (AMFs) and other microplastics (MPs) in dammed reservoirs. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations, characteristics and pathways of anthropogenic particles in sediments and soils from a small, upland reservoir (Burrator, southwest England) and its influent and effluent river. Surface and subsurface (5 cm) sediments and soils were collected and characterised for organic matter and key geochemical (Ca, Fe and Rb) and anthropogenic (Pb and Zn) elements. AMFs and MPs were isolated from samples by flotation in ZnCl₂ and analysed microscopically; a selection was …

Arctic Fjord Ecosystem Adaptation To Cryosphere Meltdown Over The Past 14,000 Years, Jochen Knies, Youngkyu Ahn, Berenice Ebner, Lukas Smik, Kwangchul Jang, Seung Il Nam, Simon T. Belt, Carsten J. Schubert

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Arctic cryosphere is the epicentre of acute global change impact, with abrupt warming and amplification driving rapid sea ice decline and irreversible glacial ice loss. A key challenge is understanding how the cryosphere meltdown will impact Arctic marine carbon cycles and ecosystems. Here, we use organic geochemical biomarkers to trace the contribution of different planktonic groups to organic carbon in Arctic fjord sediments (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard) during past warmer and colder (than present) climate states. We show that phytoplankton community structures changed abruptly with variable sea ice cover and glacial ice loss. Our results imply that future deglaciation of Svalbard …

Tsunami Boulder Transport In Coastal Environments: Insights From Physical Experiments And Dimensional Analysis, Storm Roberts, Alison Raby, Sarah Boulton, William Allsop, Alessandro Antonini, Ivo Van Balen, David Mcgovern, Keith Adams, Ian Chandler, Jonas Cels, Irene Manzella

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coastal boulder deposits hold the potential to aid in the reconstruction of past extreme wave events. However, commonly used hydrodynamic equations for calculating wave heights from transported boulders can be inaccurate. New and alternative methods need to be explored in an interdisciplinary way to ensure a more complete picture of the phenomenon of boulder transport is achieved. Through the use of a physical experiment, this study aims to investigate the influence of different tsunami wave types, wave parameters and boulder shapes on boulder transport distance. The experimental results also allow for a novel application of dimensional analysis to enable comparisons …

Changes In The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Covid-19 In Japan From 2020 Through 2023, Atsuna Tokumoto, Kazuaki Jindai, Tomoki Nakaya, Mayuko Saito, Clive E Sabel, Hitoshi Oshitani

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

BACKGROUND: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varied among countries. The spatiotemporal trends of COVID-19 in Japan remain understudied. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a detailed investigation of the spatiotemporal evolution of infections/deaths across prefectures in Japan, to analyze the changing patterns of COVID-19 circulation in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

METHODS: We extracted data from nationally represented open-source data from January 15, 2020, to May 9, 2023, and we calculated the incidence rate of infection and the mortality. Further the ratios were obtained by dividing those rates in prefectural level by those in national level to make them …

Canopy Functional Trait Variation Across Earth’S Tropical Forests, Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Sophie Fauset, Sami W. Rifai, Xiongjie Deng, Hans Ter Steege, Eleanor Thomson, Jose Javier Corral-Rivas, Aretha Franklin Guimaraes, Sandra Muller, Joice Klipel, Angelica F. Resende, Göran Wallin, Carlos A. Joly, Katharine Abernethy, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Celice Alexandre Silva, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Danilo R. A. Almeida, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Gregory P. Asner, Timothy R. Baker, Maíra Benchimol, Lisa Patrick Bentley, Erika Berenguer, Lilian Blanc, Damien Bonal, Kauane Bordin, Robson Borges De Lima, Sabine Both, Jaime Cabezas Duarte

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Tropical forest canopies are the biosphere’s most concentrated atmospheric interface for carbon, water and energy1,2. However, in most Earth System Models, the diverse and heterogeneous tropical forest biome is represented as a largely uniform ecosystem with either a singular or a small number of fixed canopy ecophysiological properties3. This situation arises, in part, from a lack of understanding about how and why the functional properties of tropical forest canopies vary geographically4. Here, by combining field-collected data from more than 1,800 vegetation plots and tree traits with satellite remote-sensing, terrain, climate and soil data, we predict variation across 13 morphological, structural …

Metal Contamination In Sediments Of An Estuary Impacted By Discharges Of Antifouling Waste (Yealm, Southwest England), Oliver Bradley, Gillian A. Glegg, Geoffrey E. Millward, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Yealm is a small, protected estuary in southwest England. A paint-testing laboratory on the estuary operated from the 1920s until 2011 but sometime in 2015 or 2016, an unauthorised discharge of antifouling waste occurred. In this study, concentrations of metals and forms thereof associated with contemporary and historical antifouling formulations (As, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sn, Zn, organic Hg, organic Sn), along with other elements of geochemical or anthropogenic interest, were measured in fractionated (<180 μm) surface sediments at different distances from the discharge. Close to the discharge, concentrations of organic-Sn, representative of tributyltin, exceeded a level that requires material disposal in landfill; here and upestuary, concentrations of Cu and Hg exceeded respective predicted effect levels for estuarine sediments. Analysis of paint flakes isolated from sediments outside the laboratory revealed similar chemical signatures (high concentrations of Cu in most flakes and high levels of Hg and Sn in several cases), consistent with antifouling paint being the cause of contamination. Concentrations of Cu, Hg and organic Sn in sections of a dated core sampled close to the discharge exhibited enrichment since the opening of the laboratory nearly 100 years ago, with distinctive peaks for Hg and organic Sn coincident with periods shortly after these biocidal metals began to be phased out or restricted. These observations suggest that historical waste discharges may have been important and that any remediation measures will be challenging. The general observations might also be applicable to other facilities where contemporary and legacy antifouling waste is commonly discharged to sediments (e.g., boatyards).

Field Learning And Employability In Geography, Earth, And Environmental Sciences, Jacqueline Dohaney, Alison Stokes

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Society needs talented Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) graduates to help address global challenges, but the pathway to professional employment is seldom easy. After graduation, most GEES graduates enter professions requiring broad transferable skills and 'value-added' experiences to thrive in the modern workforce. GEES educators can therefore enhance employability by using field experiences to introduce and develop transferable skills valued by employers. Here, we define employability for our context, explore GEES graduate skills and describe the ways that communication, project management and personal and professional skills can be embedded in field experiences guided by the available literature. We identify …

Navigating The Transition: Modelling The Path For Net-Zero European Building Sector, Souran Chatterjee, Gergely Molnar, Benedek Kiss, Daniel Topal, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Transition towards a net-zero building sector offers substantial potential to mitigate climate change impacts andthus plays a pivotal role in meeting the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement. Stakeholders often use mathematical models to understand the true potential for mitigating emissions by reducing the energy demand of thebuilding sector. However, the existing models rarely provide insights into net-zero pathways for both the residential and tertiary buildings as this is a complex sector to calculate the future pathways towards net-zero.Hence, uncertainties in the associated policy decisions persist. Therefore, this study uses the High-EfficiencyBuilding (HEB) energy model to calculate the energy …

Tracking Palaeotemperatures In Coniacian–Maastrichtian Seas, Gregory D. Price, Bryan Low Kai Sheng

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

In this study the stable isotopes of belemnites, are presented from the Coniacian–Maastrichtian interval (∼76–66 Ma) derived from the chalks of Yorkshire and Norfolk, UK, deposited on the western North Atlantic shelf. Cathodoluminescence and elemental geochemistry of the belemnites reveals that most of the rostra were well preserved. If interpreted in terms of temperature, our oxygen isotope record reveals that during the Coniacian (at ∼43 °N) the climate was relatively warm, with maximum mean temperatures of ∼26 °C, followed by cooling to <∼21 °C during the Campanian and Maastrichtian. This overall stratigraphic trend is similar to other records, suggesting that the cooling pattern was not a regional trend and, therefore, driven predominantly by global mechanisms. Within our belemnite data, we also observe a decline in δ¹³C at the Campanian- Maastrichtian boundary, again consistent with other records. This trend has been interpreted as …