• Legacy, emerging and sewage contamination in sediments, Thames estuary, UK
• Pharmaceuticals, pesticides and toxicity, Nairobi river, Kenya
• Sediment and soil pollution of Red river and urban canals of Hanoi, Vietnam
• PAH, PCB and black carbon in surface soils central London, UK
• Dermal bioaccessibility of PAH for the re-development of brownfield sites

• Tracking organic carbon by molecular markers in the Conwy estuary, Wales, UK
• Chemical characterisation of fossil woods (lignites) from the Miocene
• Carbon storage and organic matter stability in freshwater wetland peats (Mexico; Panama)

• Rock-Eval(6) hydrocarbon geochemistry of Carboniferous shales, UK
• Understanding the transfer of hydrocarbon bearing parent rock to soils

• Rock-Eval(6) pyrolysis — bulk rock method — for oil and gas exploration, provision of 16 standard acquisition and calculated parameters used to evaluate source rocks and hydrocarbon potential. Measurement of:
  • TOC (per cent)
  • S1
  • S2
  • S3
  • hydrogen index
  • oxygen index
  • production index
  • Tmax
  • TpS2
  • residual organic carbon (per cent)
  • mineral carbon (per cent) of rocks, cuttings, coals and isolated kerogens
• Rock-Eval(6) pyrolysis — organic matter method — to asses organic matter changes in geologically immature environmental materials including soils, estuarine sediments, upland and coastal peats, microplastics, wood/charcoal and other biological/forensic materials (tyres/vegetation/paints). Rock-Eval requires between 10–60 mg material per analysis. For all peat and soil characterisation we offer calculated recalcitrance and lability indices (R and I index) in addition to the other parameters.
• Iatroscan — thin layer chromatography to assess total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) to give saturate, aromatic and resion/asphaltene compound class concentrations enabling a rapid assessment of hydrocarbons whether in source rock or oil spill impacted sediment or soil.
• Gas chromatography mass spectrometryÌý (GC-MS) (Thermo Scientific Trace 1300 GC TSQ900 Triple quadrupole system) for the separation and measurement of:
  • organic contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH 32 compounds), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), faecal stanols/sterols and others such as organo chlorinated pesticides (DDT)
  • organism or process-specific biomarker compounds (e.g. steranes, triterpanes) using selected ion monitoring (SIM) or MS/MS
  • molecular palaeothermometers such as alkenones for the UK37 and UḰ37 sea-surface temperature proxy
• Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC/MS) (Ultrahigh performance HPLC-Thermo TSQ Quantiva MS/MS) for separation and measurement of
  • organic contaminants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, and xenoestrogens
  • tetraether lipids (GDGT) and associated BIT index (the ratio between brGDGTs mainly produced by soil bacteria and aquatic crenarchaeol) for tracking carbon in the environment
  • molecular palaeothermometers such as TEX 86 for the reconstruction of palaeosea-surface temperatures
• Toxicity testing (Microtox Model 500) — we offer both the (aqueous) acute toxicity testing and (soils, sediment, drilling muds, sludges) solid-phase testing using the in-vitro bioluminescent bacteria Allivibrio fischeri. The solid phase test requires 7 g of material and the aqueous test requires 10 ml water. Toxicity evaluation by microtox complements individual compound determinations by GC/MS and LC/MS. Data reported as an EC₅₀ that can be benchmarked against published non-toxic, moderately toxic, acutely toxic assessment criteria.
• Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), (Bio-Rad FTX3000MX), diffuse reflectance instrument that can be fitted with an autosampler for high-throughput evaluation of functional group chemistry of leaf litter, peats, soils, sediments, mudrock, rock and biological material.
• Total organic carbon (TOC) and black carbon – elementar macro C analyser for the measurement of TOC (per cent), TIC and TC. Our combustion analyser is capable of analysing large samples (0.5 g dry weight) and thus provide solution to TOC evaluations in soils and sediments. We also offer precise and accurate measurement of black carbon (per cent) in soils and sediments using classical wet chemical methods combined with elemental analysis.
• Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (CDS 2500 pyroprobe) for the characterisation of structural polymers and macromolecules (polysaccharides, lignin, suberin and tannin) and geomacromolecules (kerogens and coal) present in biological, soils, sediments and rocks.
• Gas chromatograph (Hewlett Packard 6890) fitted with flame ionisation detector (FID), used for the measurement of n-alkanes and fatty acids in soils, sediments and associated biological materials. Evaluation of n-alkane envelop, CPI, Pr+Ph/n-alkanes to indicate maturation, migration, biodegradation.

Kim, A W, Vane, C H, Moss-Hayes, V, Berriro, D B, Fordyce, F, Everrett, P, and Nathanail, P C. 2018. . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 108(2–3), 231–248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691018000324

Vane, C H, Kim, A W, Moss-Hayes, V, Turner, G, Mills, K, Chenery, S R, Barlow, T S, Kemp, A C, Engelhart, S E, Hill, T D, Horton, B P, and Brain, M. 2020. . Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 151, 110721. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110721

Vane, C H, Lopes dos Santos, R A, Kim, A W, Moss-Hayes, V M, Fordyce, F M, and Bearcock, J M. 2019. . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 108(2–3), 299–314. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691018000294

Vane, C H, Turner, G H, Chenery, S R, Richardson, M, Cave, M C, Terrington, R, Gowing, C J B, and Moss-Hayes, V. 2020. . Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts 22, 364–380. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C9EM00430K

Girkin, N T, Vane, C H, Cooper H V, Moss-Hayes, V, Craigon, J, Turner, B L, Ostle, N, and Sjogersten, S. 2018. . Biogeochemistry, Vol. 142(2), 231–245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0531-1

Lopes dos Santos, R A, and Vane, C H. 2019. . Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. 108(2–3), 289–298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S175569101800035X

Mills, K, Vane, C H, Lopes dos Santos, R A, Ssemmanda, I, Leng, M J, and Ryves, D. 2018. . Journal of Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 202, 122–138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.09.038

Upton, A, Vane, C H, Girkin, N, Turner, B, and Sjogersten, S. 2018. ÌýGeoderma, Vol. 326, 76–87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2018.03.030

Pharaoh T C, Gent, M A, Hannis, S D, Kirk, K L, Monaghan, A A, Quinn, M F, Smith, N J P, Vane, C H, Wakefield, O, and Waters, C N. 2018. In Paleozoic Plays of NW Europe. Monagahan, A A, Underhill, J R, Hewett, A J, and Marshall, J E A (editors). Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol. 471. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/SP471.7

Waters, C N, Vane, C H, Kemp, S J, Haslam, R B, Hough, E, and Moss-Hayes, V. 2019. . Petroleum Geoscience, Vol. 26, 325–345. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-039

Whitelaw, P, Uguna, C N, Stevens, L A, Meredith W, Snape, C E, Vane, C H, Moss-Hayes, V, and Carr, AD. 2019. . Nature Communications, Vol. 10(1), 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11653-4.

We are able to offer the following sample analyses:

• core handling
• sample preparation/subsampling: cutting/encapsulation
• moisture content
• porosity with density (liquid re-saturation)
• porosity (helium) using caliper bulk volume
• permeability (nitrogen gas)
• probe/mini permeability (point)
• specific yield/drainable porosity (centrifuge): consolidated
• specific yield/drainable porosity (centrifuge): unconsolidated
• pore-fluid extraction (including volatiles)
• liquid permeability (falling head): unconsolidated
• liquid permeability (pumped via coreholder)
• permeability at elevated pressures (per point to 5000 psi)
• porosity (helium injection) at elevated pressures (per point to 5000 psi)
• mercury injection pore size distribution and porosity
• particle size distribution (Mastersizer)
• particle size distribution (wet, dry and motorised shaker)
• individual or batch labelled sample photography
• drainage capillary pressure (porous plate)
• capillary pressure (multi-stage centrifuge)
• electrical testing (Archie, Cementation Exponent)
• full method and QA reporting

Data is available in a variety of formats and can be integrated into standard core or geophysical log outputs such as AGS* or ** software to provide colour composite plots, including optical or imagery at any scale required. Interpreted statistical outputs can be provided.

* Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists

** Registered trademark of ALT

Coring and core analysis is a cost-effective way of providing vital subsurface information required by geoscientists in groundwater, environmental, mineral, hydrocarbon and geotechnical investigations.

Hydrogeologists use core analysis data to determine flow and storage in aquifers and to consider their vulnerability to pollution. By attributing models with data, aquifer management is much easier.

In the mineral extractive industry, the objective of coring and core analysis is to characterise rock for an evaluation of reserves. A special case exists for mineral brines where fluid density and viscosity affect extraction.

In the hydrocarbon industry, the objective of coring and core analysis is to reduce uncertainty in reservoir evaluation by providing data representative of the reservoir and to provide information on how fluids will respond to pumping and pressure changes in the reservoir during extraction. The higher pressures and temperatures associated with these reservoirs (and to some extent deep geothermal investigations) and the mixture of fluids present make these studies much more complicated.

Used alone or in conjunction with other data, e.g. pore fluid geochemistry, field-scale hydraulic properties, pump test data and borehole logging, sample testing provides a powerful tool for investigating hydrogeology and reservoir properties, resolving problems in both the saturated and unsaturated zones.

We have extensive experience of testing operations in the UK and overseas for a wide range of clients including Government agencies, water industry and private sector consultancies.

Our testing service typically ranges from basic sample testing for a single borehole to comprehensive analyses and interpretation of borehole cores for a site or region, incorporating other hydrogeological data collated specifically or already available. Processing and interpretation of clients’ own data and its integration with other hydrogeological information is also undertaken. Tests conducted or reviewed are databased with strict client confidentiality.

We hold records and data from over half-a-million boreholes distributed throughout the UK and this information can be used to geologically classify and make regional interpretations of new data. The laboratory sample reference collection and datasets formed a basis for the Major and Minor Aquifer Properties Manuals and associated databases.

Aquifer properties manualsÌý

Allen, D J, Brewerton, L J, Coleby, L M, Gibbs, B R, Lewis, M A,ÌýMacDonald, A M, Wagstaff, S J, and Williams, A T. 1997. . 51ÁÔÆæ Technical Report WD/97/034; Environment Agency R&D Publication 8. (Unpublished.)

Jones, H K, Morris, B L, Cheney, C S, Brewerton, L J, Merrin, P D, Lewis, M A,ÌýMacDonald, A M, Coleby, L M, Talbot, J C,ÌýMckenzie, A A,ÌýBird, M,J, Cunningham, J E, and Robinson, V. 2000. . 51ÁÔÆæ Technical Report WD/00/004; Environment Agency R&D Publication 68. (Unpublished.)

• 51ÁÔÆæ UK Geoenergies Observatories’ Glasgow Observatory and boreholes peripheral to the Cheshire Geoenergy Observatory
• Nottingham Geoenergy Test Bed
• DTC Penrith Sandstone study
• Buckinghamshire Chalk study

• Thames Water Plc
• SRK
• Environment Agency
• Armenia Mining Co.

The facility has a Beckman Coulter LS 13320 laser diffraction particle size analyser which operates over a particle size range of 0.0399 to 2000 µm. Dry sieving is used to integrate particles > 2000 µm. The removal of soil organic matter is required prior to analysis, which is undertaken in house.

Soil aggregate formation is key to delivering good soil physical structure, helping to provide structure for water and nutrient movement band the protection of soil organic matter from decomposition. Thus the ability of aggregates to withstand disaggregation is an important factor in delivering good soil structure. Mineralogy and soil organic matter are important controlling influences. We have developed methods to use the Beckman Coulter LS 13320 laser diffraction particle size analyser to carry out aggregate stability measurements. Analysis is usually undertaken on 1–2 mm macro-aggregates, but other aggregate sizes can be measured. The advantage of this technique is that a consistent amount of energy is imparted to the particles undergoing analysis, allowing for reproducible measurements.

For field analysis of compacted soils the Soil Physics Facility has a Penetrometer logger with GPS to enable spatial surveys of soil compaction to take place.

The lab also has experience of implementing and running networks of soil moisture sensors to understand the influence of moisture on soil functioning. Modelling sensor results using Hydrus 1D is also undertaken.

April 2026: Isotopes and science: my student placement at BGS

Industrial placements at BGS for undergraduate students give real-life experience of working in laboratories and learning different analytical techniques.

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March 2026: PhD adventures in Copenhagen, Denmark: revealing past recovery processes of tropical forest systems through ancient environmental DNA

September 2025: Esthwaite Water: applying novel approaches to understand lake-water nutrient pollution

Andi Smith (BGS) and Savannah Worne (Loughborough University) embarked on fieldwork in the Lake District, applying a novel stable isotope method for tracing phosphorus sources.

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September 2025: PhD adventures in the Philippines: coring around Lake Bulusan

Chris Bengt recounts his two-week field trip to Bulusan Volcano Natural Park in the Philippines to collect lake sediment cores, fresh soil and water samples.

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September 2025:ÌýDr Angela Lamb (BGS) appointed honorary professor by the University of Nottingham

Dr Lamb will take up the position of honorary professor of environmental geochemistry, with a focus on collaborative research. The University of Nottingham has appointed BGS senior isotope research geochemist, Angela Lamb, as an honorary professor. As part of her role, Angela will contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching alongside facilitating collaborative research programmes between BGS and the University of Nottingham. Angela research focuses on the application of light stable isotopes to science-based archaeology, palaeoecology and environmental tracing, specialising in sulfur isotopes. She has developed a long-standing collaborative relationship with the University of Nottingham Department of Classics and Archaeology through the jointly operated Centre for Environmental Geochemistry.

August 2025: Gemini: a new stable isotope tool

51ÁÔÆæ Stable Isotope Facility has new mass spectrometer equipment for analysing carbon and oxygen isotopes from carbonates and water.

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May 2025:ÌýCongratulations to those who have received NEIF funding at the spring 2025 meeting for the following research projects:

• Dr KA Hemer (UCL). MatHapMo: The Dynamics of Population Mobility in the Indus Valley during the Mature Harappan Period
• Prof D Thornalley (UCL). Paleoceanographic Changes in the Northwest Atlantic During Heinrich Stadial 1
• Dr JF Dean (Bristol). Finding and fixing gas leaks: Using urban waterways to halt the global rise in methane emissions
• Prof GMF van der Heijden (Nottingham). Exploring synergies and trade-offs between carbon and biodiversity for liana thinning treatments in tropical forests
• Dr AC Law (Nottingham). Using stable isotopes to investigate how nutrient cycling on plastic biofilms in the benthic zone of lakes will be impacted by changing stratification regimes
• Dr D Wright (Newcastle). England earliest aristocrats? Mapping migration and diet among Earls Barton first burial population

December 2024: Carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of carbonates and the development of new reference materials

Dr Charlotte Hipkiss and Kotryna Savickaite explore the importance of standard analysis when testing carbon and oxygen samples.

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November 2024: Studying oxygen isotopes in sediments from Rutland Water Nature Reserve

Chris Bengt visited Rutland Water as part of a project to determine human impact and environmental change in lake sediments.

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October 2024: Exploring the role of stable isotope geochemistry in nuclear forensics

Paulina Baranowska introduces her PhD research investigating the use of oxygen isotopes as a nuclear forensic signature.

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August 2024: Laboratory life: my work experience week at BGS

Aspiring astrophysicist Riveen Pehesara Kumanayaka shares his experience following an A-level work placement with BGS.

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December 2023:ÌýCongratulations to those who have received NEIF funding at the autumn 2023 meeting for the following research projects.

Dr M van Hardenbroek (Newcastle). Pond Ecosystem reconstruction PhD project

Dr L Wedding (Oxford). Coupling seascape ecology and biogeochemistry to model land-sea nutrient connectivity.

Prof J Montgomery (Durham). Was there a ‘forest effect’ in the ORS Sr-isotope biosphere of Neolithic Orkney?

Dr HC Glanville (Loughborough). Farming for Carbon and Nature – a stable isotope approach for assessing soil carbon stability.

Dr S Worne (Loughborough). Reconstructing the impacts of sewage treatment methods on nutrient loading, water quality and ecosystem health.

Prof R Sakrabani (Cranfield). Evaluating stability of carbon capture based organo-mineral fertilisers in agricultural soils.

Prof GEA Swann (Nottingham). Developing sponge oxygen isotopes for palaeoclimate research.

Prof MJ Leng (Nottingham). Decadal-scale variability in the East Asian Monsoonal during the last glacial period: siderite oxygen isotope analyses from Lake Suigetsu, Japan.

Dr VNP Panizzo (Nottingham). Assessing anthropogenic impacts to biogeochemical cycling at a protected tropical wetland (Lotak Lake, India).

Prof D Thornalley (UCL). Reconstructing different stratification regimes in the deglacial northwest Atlantic using isotopes from three species of planktic foraminifera.

Prof MJ Kaiser (Heriot-Watt). Understanding the timing of larval settlement events in a commercial bivalve to inform the definition of fisheries management units.

Dr K Littler (Exeter). Testing a new paleo-pCO2 proxy through Pleistocene ice core validation.

December 2023:ÌýCongratulationsÌýto Dr Charlie Rex on successfully defending her thesis entitled Isotope reconstructions of East Asian Monsoon behaviour across Glacial Terminations I and II from Lake Suigetsu, Japan. Charlie was supervised by Dr Richard Staff and Professor Jamie Toney (both University of Glasgow), Professor Melanie Leng (BGS) and Emma Pearson (Newcastle University). Charlie is now the Outreach and Communications Manager at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, where she works with schools and the wider public to share the wonders of the subject.

November 2023:ÌýCongratulations to Dr Fiona Moore (Dept. of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham)) on the successful defence of her PhD thesis entitled: The Population Dynamics of Middle Saxon East Anglia: a multi-isotope and geochemical study. Fiona was supervised by Professors Hannah O’Regan, Chris Lovelock (University of Nottingham) and Jane Evans (BGS) and Dr Angela Lamb (BGS).

September 2023: BGS laboratory spotlight: isotopes as recorders of climate and environmental change.

Find out how measuring oxygen and carbon isotopes in tiny fossils improves our understanding of past climate.

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August 2023: ‘Core Blimey!’– A PhD fieldwork trip to India.

NERC Envision PhD student Hamish Duncalf-Youngson recently visited Loktak Lake in Manipur, Northeast India, to engage with local stakeholders and conduct fieldwork.

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August 2023: Midlands Innovation TALENT placement at BGS.

Jodie Brown revisits her time at BGS Stable Isotope Facility as part of the Midlands Innovation TALENT project, which aims to increase the status of technicians.

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April 2023:ÌýAngela Lamb has recently been successful in securing a NERC Standard Grant: “Nature of the Beast? Resolving drivers of prey choice, competition and resilience in wolvesâ€�, in collaboration with Professor Danielle Schreve (Royal Holloway University of London). The project will explore and quantify variation in modern and past wolf diet, in order to assess the impact of forcing factors such as changes in climate, environment, prey community and carnivore competition on feeding behaviour and morphology, and the rates of change at which these occur. This will be the first, most comprehensive and state-of-the-art examination of diet in modern and recent (<250,000 year) European fossil wolf records.

March 2023: Peter Wynn, Ben Surridge (Both Lancaster University) and Andi Smith have been awarded a NERC Exploring the Frontiers Grant (£100,000) entitled: Establishing a new palaeothermometer from the speleothem archive of phosphate-oxygen isotopes.

Temperature records are critical for understanding past and future climate. However, reconstructing past temperature dynamics is incredibly difficult. Of the currently available terrestrial archives of past temperature, these are often spatially limited, suffer from ambiguity around calibration, or require large sample sizes. These issues have prevented the development of a high resolution, high density network of terrestrial temperature records. This is now often considered the single most significant gap in the palaeoclimate archive. Here, we seek to provide a breakthrough in the field of

temperature reconstruction by developing a new palaeothermometer using phosphate-oxygen isotopes.

February 2023:ÌýWhen did the cows come home? By David Osborne

PhD student David Osborne is exploring Bronze Age animal husbandry using isotopes and X-rays.

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December 2021:ÌýCongratulations to Mr Alistair Morgan (Geography) on the successful defence of his masters by research thesis entitled: Phosphorous in caves: Phosphate-oxygen isotopes as a novel speleothem palaeothermometer. Alistair was supervised by Dr Peter Wynn and Dr Ben Surridge (Lancaster University) and Dr Andi Smith (BGS).

Congratulations to Dr Haydar Martinez Izquierdo Dyrzo (Geography) on the successful defence of his PhD thesis entitled: Exploring Holocene Lake Palaeoclimatic records in the Maya Northern Highlands and the central Mayab. Haydar was supervised by Professors Matthew Jones and Sarah Metcalfe (University of Nottingham) and Melanie Leng (BGS).

October 2021: Congratulations to those who have received NEIF funding at the autumn 2021 meeting for the following research projects.

• 2456.1021 VNP Panizzo (Nottingham): Understanding long-term environmental impacts to inform sustainability in Lake Victoria, Kenya.
• 2457.1021 R Madgwick (Cardiff): When did transhumance start in Iberia? Reconciling δ18O, δ13C and 87Sr/86Sr isotope approaches to study sheep mobility.
• 2459.1021 D Magnone (Lincoln): Quantifying the relationship between sedimentary organic carbon storage and sedimentary geochemical composition using δ13C in two contrasting eastern England catchments.
• 2462.1021 V Ersek (Northumbria): Using coral skeletons to record groundwater nitrogen pollution of the marine environment in the Maldives: A pilot study.
• 2464.1021 SF Henley (Edinburgh): Determining the rates of nitrogen regeneration by Southern Ocean phytoplankton species through use of a 15N tracer method.
• 2465.1021 AM Tye (51ÁÔÆæ): Understanding phosphorus sources and cycling in sediments from impacted river systems – a novel 206/207Pb and phosphate oxygen isotope approach.
• 2470.1021 P Anand (Open University): Late Pliocene and early Pleistocene Indian Summer Monsoon wind variability in response to climate.

September 2021:ÌýCongratulations to Dr Linghan Zeng on the successful defence of his PhD thesis entitled: Anthropogenic impacts on shallow lake ecosystems in the middle Yangtze floodplain since the 19th century. Linghan was supervised by Melanie Leng (BGS) and Suzanne McGowan/George Swann (Geography, University of Nottingham).

August 2021:ÌýCongratulations to Dr Fuen Canadas Blasco whoÌý successfully defender her PhD entitled: “Biogeochemistry of late Ediacaran organic-rich shales in South Chinaâ€�. Fuen was based at UCL and supervised by Prof Greham Shields and Prof Philip Pogge Von Strandmann. Prof Melanie Leng and Dr Andi Smith supported Fuen from NEIF.

June 2021: Climate change and human migration out of Africa by Dr Jon Dean

An international team of scientists, including Dr Jonathan Dean (now at the University of Hull) and Prof Melanie Leng (BGS Chief Scientist, environmental change, adaptation and resilience), have reconstructed how climate has changed over the last 200 000 years in eastern Africa. They have shown how climate change could have enabled the out of Africa migration of Homo sapiens around 60 000 years ago. The paper was published in Nature Communications, Earth & Environment in June 2021.

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June 2021:ÌýCongratulations to those who have received NEIF funding at the Spring 2021 meeting for the following research projects.

• 2356.0321 D A Sear (Southampton): Reconstructing late Holocene hydroclimate variability in the tropical South Pacific using lake sediment archives and oxygen isotopes
• 2375.0321 B Hoogakker (HW Edinburgh): Lessons from the past: Deoxygenation of the ocean
• 2376.0221Ìý I Boomer (Birmingham): Dolomite in Snowball Earth: the Port Askaig Formation
• 2381.0321 J C Rushton (BGS Keyworth): Dating diagenesis for CO2 storage through pore-scale isotope analysis
• 2384.0321 H J O’Regan (Nottingham): When did the cows come home? A multi-isotope exploration of local and regional grazing patterns in Bronze Age Lincolnshire
• 2398.0421 S Kender (Exeter): Oceanographic and biotic changes in Australia during Oceanic Anoxic Events
• 2411.0321 M A Maslin (UC London): Diatom biogenic silica oxygen isotope measurements of annual laminated diatomite beds from Ol Njorowa Gorge (Kenya) dated to first dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa
• 2414.0321 M van Hardenbroek (Newcastle): Iron Age Palaeoenvironments of NW Scotland
• 2415.0321 M Roffet-Salque (Bristol): Determining the routing of H from feed and water to ruminant enteric methane using a feeding experiment
• 2416.0421 M J Leng (Nottingham): Central Mediterranean rainfall and global marine circulation patterns during the Last Glacial and Holocene

April 2021

SIF staff contributed to a number of presentations at this year European Geophysical Union meeting:

Transport and storage of anthropogenic contaminants in the Red River Delta, Vietnam

Virginia Panizzo, Lucy Roberts, Nga Do, Sarah Taylor, Michael Watts, Elliott Hamilton, Suzanne McGowan, Duc Trinh, Melanie Leng, and Jorge Salgado

Mon, 26 Apr, 09:15–09:17

Sclerochronological evidence of pronounced seasonality from the Pliocene of the southern North Sea Basin, and its implication

Andrew Johnson, Annemarie Valentine, Melanie Leng, Bernd Schöne, Hilary Sloane, and Stijn Goolaerts

Thu, 29 Apr, 14:15–14:17

Oxygen isotopic evidence of climate variability in southern England since the Medieval Period.

Joanna Tindall, Jonathan Holmes, Ian Candy, Melanie Leng, Kira Rehfeld, Louise Sime, Irene Malmierca Vallet, Thierry Fonville, Pete Langdon, and David Sear

Fri, 30 Apr, 09:21–09:23

April 2021

Congratulations to Melanie Leng,head of the stable isotope facility at BGS, who has been included inÌý, a list of the top 1000 most influential climate scientists in the world, with 444 publications and over 13 500 citations to her name. Mel ranking of 522nd in the world puts her in the top 100 climate scientists in the UK.

The Reuters Hot List was created by ranking scientists based on the number of papers published, the field citation ratio and a measure of each paper reach. It not a list of the ‘best’ or ‘most important’, but the most influential.

March 2021:ÌýCongratulations to Blessing Chidimuro on the successful defence of her PhD thesis ‘A multiâ€�isotope, multiâ€�tissue study of diets in industrialised societies of 17th to 19th century England’.

Blessing was supervised by Michelle Alexander (University of York) and collaborated with Angela Lamb and Hilary Sloane (Stable Isotope Facility) on the isotope analysis of human dental calculus carbonate to investigate a potential new proxy for sugar consumption. Blessing is now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Isotope Ecology/Archaeology based at the University of Reading.

November 2020: Stable Isotope Research Apprenticeship by Savannah Worne

After completing a PhD researching the interaction between subarctic sea ice, oceanic nutrient upwelling and global climate over the last million years at the University of Nottingham, Savannah Worne is now undertaking an apprenticeship at the BGS. Here, she tells us a little bit more about what the role entails…

October 2020:ÌýCongratulations to those who received NEIF funding at the Autumn 2020 meeting for the following research projects.

• IP2297-0920 Prof D C Gooddy: Understanding biogeochemical cycling in a newly constructed wetland for waste water treatment using nutrient isotopes
• IP2305-0920 Dr K Littler: Reconstructing the South Asian monsoon during the dynamic Pliocene
• IP2307-0920 Dr P M Wynn: The speleothem phosphate isotope record: establishing a new proxy for palaeotemperature
• IP2308-0920 Dr R A Staff: Reconstructing the strength of the East Asian monsoon across Termination I from varved Japanese lake sediment
• IP2311-0920 Dr J F Dean: Determining the source of methane hotspots in urban waterways.
• IP2314-0920 Dr M D Jones: Reconstructing lake levels and palaeohydrology from the middle–upper part of the Lake Lisan Formation, Dead Sea Basin, Jordan
• IP2315-0920 Dr P Anand: Late Pliocene and early Pleistocene Indian summer monsoon variability in response to climate
• IP2316-0920 Prof M J Leng: Investigating the onset and evolution of Lake Ohrid during the early Pleistocene

May 2020: Meet the isotope hunters: part 2

Dr Andi Smith and Dr Jack Lacey will continue to explain their work as ‘isotope hunters’ for environmental investigations and we will see how the answers provided by isotope fingerprints are powerful tools supporting academics and policymakers in their fight against high levels of pollution in air, water and soil and delivering them information on past climate.

May 2020: Meet the isotope hunters: part 1

In many countries, institutions are investigating ways to detect and measure pollution levels, allowing regulatory bodies to implement preventive actions to limit the negative effect of pollution on the air, land, and water, and their associated risks for human and environmental health. In environmental investigations that seek to understand climate change or pollution sources, isotope fingerprints can provide a unique insight into the origin or production of a sample material, providing a strong supportive tool for investigators. One such laboratory is the National Environmental Isotope Facility based at the BGS in Nottingham (UK), where the ‘isotope hunters’ have been providing expert support for environmental research. In this series of posts, we want to better understand the work of “Isotope Hunters� for environmental investigations. For this reason, we interviewed Dr Andi Smith and Dr Jack Lacey, who will be discussing the work they carry out on environmental change within their specialty of stable isotope geochemistry.

May 2020:ÌýCongratulations to those who received NEIF funding at the Spring 2020 meeting for the following research projects.

• IP–2229–0520 Dr K Beck (Lincoln): Disentangling southern hemisphere climate and environmental interactions of the late Pleistocene
• IP–2232–0520 Dr K Edgar (Birmingham): What was the dominant driver(s) of the early Eocene hyperthermal events? New insights from a benthic foraminiferal record from the Indian Ocean (IODP Site U1514)
• IP–2236–0520 Dr S Engels (Birkbeck): Investigating and refining the use of oxygen isotopes from chironomid head capsule chitin to record past climatic changes
• IP–2237–0520 Prof P Dennis (East Anglia): RESOLVE
• IP–2242–0520 Dr M Frogley (Sussex): High-resolution responses to Holocene environmental shifts in the Balkans
• IP–2243–0520 Dr K Selby (York): Assessing the impact of current and future climate change on UK small lakes
• IP–2252–0520 Prof R Gehrels (York): Response of peatlands to future climate change: reconciling palaeoecological and experimental methods
• IP–2255–0520 Dr M Jones (Nottingham): Reconstructing lake levels and palaeohydrology from the Lake Lisan Formation, Jordan
• IP–2258–0520 Dr S Kender (Exeter): Understanding the causes and consequences of palaeoenvironmental change in the high latitudes during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event
• IP–2260–0520 Prof B Lomax (Nottingham): Inferring hydroclimate of subtropical Australia through the Holocene

March 2020:ÌýRichard Madgwick (University of Cardiff) and Angela Lamb have been awarded an AHRC grant (£247,577) entitled FEASTNET:

Feasting networks and Resilience at the end of the British Bronze Age. This project will explore responses to a deteriorating climate and trade collapse at the end of the Bronze Age in Britain. A major focus is the new social and economic networks that developed and how these made communities resilient in the face of turmoil. This will be achieved by employing a suite of scientific methods to analyse the very rich, but understudied sites known as middens. Multi-isotope analysis (strontium, sulphur, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) will reveal where animals and humans came from and how agricultural production was maximised through different husbandry practices and landscape use. Project partners include Operation Nightingale, The Wiltshire Museum, The British Museum and Breaking Ground Heritage.

December 2019: Suigetsu, sediment and silica: embarking on my PhD by Charlie Rex

Anyone who has started researching something new is well aware of the challenges involved: vast amounts of literature, creating sensible hypotheses and selecting a suitable methodology (among other hurdles!). For new PhD students, this can also involve a totally new setting, such as a new city, country, or continent. Thankfully I didn’t have to move continent, but I did make the move to Scotland and start fresh on a PhD topic that I found fascinating and unfamiliar in equal measure. Though this was daunting, I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a multidisciplinary, multi-continental academic network who have helped me get off to a good start! Find out more about Charlie experience below.

November 2019: Building capacity for archaeological science in Turkey by Emma Baysal and Holly Miller

Emma Baysal from Trakya University and Holly Miller of the University of Nottingham and BGS Visiting Research Fellow were awarded a Newton Advanced Fellowship. ‘Building Capacity for Sustainable Archaeological Science and Heritage in Turkey’ (NAFR1180204) promotes capacity building, education and training in the field of archaeological science in Turkey. This is the second in a series of three blogs that will discuss their initial three weeks of activities at BGS with guest researchers from Turkey.

November 2019:ÌýCongratulations to Savannah Worne on the successful defence of her PhD entitled ‘Investigating Bering Sea oceanographic response to the Milankovitch orbital cycle climatic shift during the middle Pleistocene’. Savannah wrote her thesis by paper and these have been published so far:

• Worne, S, Kender, S, Swann, G E A, Leng, M J, and Ravelo, A C. 2019.Ìý.ÌýEarth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 522, 87–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.06.028
• Kender, S, Ravelo, A C, Worne, S, Swann, G E A, Leng, M J, Asahi, H, Becker, J, Detlef, H, Aiello, I W, Andreasen D, and Hall, I R. 2018.Ìý.ÌýNature Communications, Vol. 9, 5386. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07828-0
• Swann, G E A, Kendrick, C P, Dickson, A J, and Worne, S. 2018. Late Pliocene marine pCO2 reconstructions from the Subarctic Pacific Ocean. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 33, 457–469.

Savannah was supervised at Nottingham by Profs George Swann and Sarah Metcalfe, at Exeter by Dr Sev Kender and undertook her isotope analysis at the BGS with Prof Melanie Leng.

November 2019:ÌýCongratulations to those who have received EIF funding at the Autumn 2019 meeting for the following research projects.

• EK307–08/18 Dr C Rice (Southampton): Macroecological study of the field metabolic rates of marine fishes using otolith carbon stable isotopes
• IP–1939–1119 D Gooddy (BGS): A multinutrient isotope approach to understand the impact of water treatment on inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in public water supplies
• IP–1942–1119 R Holdsworth (Durham): Fracture connectivity and fluid sourcing in the Cleveland Basin
• IP–1943–1119 M Jones (Nottingham): 2000 years of hydrological change in Africa: implications for future climate scenarios
• IP–1944–1119 J Lee-Thorp (Oxford): Sea surface temperature and hunter-gatherer marine resource use from marine carbonates in northern Japanese prehistory
• IP–1948–1119 S McGowan (Nottingham): Understanding long-term environmental conditions to inform sustainable aquaculture development in Lake Victoria, Kenya
• IP–1949–1119 H O’Regan (Nottingham): A multi-isotope study of human movement and diet in Middle Saxon East Anglia
• IP–1950–1119 V Peck (BAS): Reconstructing variability of the ‘cold water route’ through the late Pleistocene

October 2019: BGS Wilding Group – every tree counts

The BGS Keyworth-based Wilding Group have been up and running for a few months now and over the course of a lunchtime each month we work on specific areas of our site to encourage wildlife and help increase biodiversity.

October 2019: Newton Advanced Fellowship: BGS training programme week one by Emma Baysal et al.

Emma Baysal (Trakya University) and Holly Miller (University of Nottingham) were awarded a Newton Advanced Fellowship to promote capacity building, education and training in the field of archaeological science in Turkey. This is the first in a series of three blogs that will discuss their initial three weeks of activities at BGS, with guest researchers from Turkey.

September 2019: Stable isotope mass spectrometer user group meeting 2019 by Rob Burton

The 15th SIMSUG meeting was hosted by the Organic Geochemistry Unit at the University of Bristol. SIMSUG offers a platform for innovations in stable isotope research methodology and analytical instrumentation to be communicated amongst members of the stable isotope community. Attendees at SIMSUG included delegates from research institutes, manufacturers and technical experts; each providing a unique contribution towards the wide-ranging spectrum of content.

August 2019: Why we need a geo-observatory of Africa oldest lake by Melanie Leng

This summer,ÌýMelanie LengÌý(BGS Chief Scientist for Environmental Change Adaptation) attended a workshop in Dar es Saleem, Tanzania, with around 70 other scientists from 10 countries, with the aim to form a plan to create a palaeo Geo–Observatory in this region. The Geo–Observatory, in the form of a long sediment core, will contain information on past conditions in Lake Tanganyika and tropical East Africa. Here Melanie tells us about why we need to do research in this region and what happens next.

June 2019:ÌýCongratulations to Elizabeth Atar on the successful defence of her PhD thesis entitled ‘Late Jurassic sedimentation in the boreal Tethyan seaway: climate modelling, geochemistry and petrography of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation.’

Climate exerts a strong influence on sedimentation. Understanding the processes behind the spatial and temporal heterogeneities in sedimentary successions can, therefore, be used to reconstruct climate processes in the geological past. Deposited across >1000 km in northwest Europe in the shallow (<200 m), epicontinental Laurasian Seaway, the Kimmeridge Clay Formation provides an exceptional opportunity to study climate processes and their effect on sedimentation at different latitudes through the late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian–Tithonian). This thesis presents independent climate modelling, sedimentological, and geochemical datasets from three time-equivalent sections, spanning one million years, in the northern and southern extents of the Laurasian Seaway (30–60°N palaeolatitude) in order to investigate climate dynamics and controls on sedimentation at different northern hemisphere latitudes in the Late Jurassic.

The climate modelling results yield two different hypotheses:

• HadCM3L indicates that an expanded Hadley Cell and migrated intertropical convergence zone resulted in tropical conditions over the Laurasian Seaway, whereby organic carbon-enrichment in sediments was promoted through enhanced nutrient supply resulting from continental weathering and erosion.
• FOAM suggests subtropical to temperate conditions prevailed and that organic carbon enrichment was driven by wind-driven upwelling of nutrient-rich water.

Sedimentological and geochemical analyses for the Ebberston 87 core, drilled in the Cleveland Basin (Yorkshire, UK), indicates depositional conditions fluctuated between three distinct states and that alternations of organic, carbon-, carbonate- and clay-rich mudstone and redox conditions were driven by the expansion/migration of the intertropical convergence zone.

Analysis of the Swanworth Quarry 1 core, drilled in the Wessex Basin (Dorset, UK), reveals that, although depositional energy differed between the Cleveland and Wessex basins, sedimentation in both basins was driven by the same, overarching tropical climate control.

Analysis of a third core, drilled in Adventdalen (Svalbard), demonstrates that organic, carbon-rich sedimentation occurred in a deltaic setting, which had a markedly higher depositional energy.

While the depositional environments in the northern and southern sectors of the Laurasian Seaway differed substantially, similarities between the three studied sections, namely cyclical deposition of terrestrial, organic, carbon- and detrital-rich sedimentation, integrated with published data from throughout the seaway, suggest a low-latitude, tropical influence on sedimentation and organic carbon enrichment across the entire Laurasian Seaway. Furthermore, the palaeogeographic setting of the Laurasian Seaway made the sedimentary system sensitive to subtle changes in weathering and water depths, resulting in distinct modes of sedimentation and biogeochemical cycling.

June 2019:ÌýCongratulations to Katrina Kerr on the successful defence of her PhD thesis entitled ‘Reconstructing the Indian summer monsoon response to global climate change’.

The Indian summer monsoon, a subsystem of the Asian monsoon, is one of Earth most dynamic expressions of oceanic–atmospheric–terrestrial processes affecting some of Earth most densely populated regions. Therefore, it is imperative to have a comprehensive understanding of the Indian summer monsoon in order to understand how its behaviour may be manifested by anthropogenic induced climate changes.

Reconstructing how the monsoon behaved in the past presents an opportunity to disentangle its sensitivities to a range of forcing parameters (e.g. ice volume) during periods of differing climatic states. However, understanding of how the Indian summer monsoon behaved in the past has been limited both spatially and temporally, further constrained by discrepancies among climate proxy records.

This work fills both a temporal and spatial gap in our knowledge of the past behaviour of the Indian summer monsoon. High-resolution (millennial to centennial scale) records of Indian summer monsoon-induced river runoff and surface freshening from the core convective region of the Indian summer monsoon, the northern Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, have been generated from 70 000 to 140 000 years ago. These records provide an insight into how the Indian summer monsoon responded to the penultimate deglaciation (Termination II), the subsequent warmth of the Last Interglacial Period and ensuing oscillations between the warm interstadial and cold stadial periods of Marine Isotope Stage 5. These records are compared with both high- and low-latitude climate records in order to understand how the monsoon responded to changes in Earth internal climate system and the influence of external preconditioning

June 2019:ÌýMelanie Leng, head of the Stable Isotope Facility and Chief Scientist for Environmental change, adaptation and resilience, has been awarded an MBE in this year Queen Birthday Honours List for services to environmental science. The list, which has been published annually since 1917, recognises those who have contributed to the British Empire. MBE, or Member of the British Empire, is bestowed upon those who have made a considerable contribution to the community through their line of work.

June 2019:ÌýThe following NEIF-SC applications to the stable isotope facility at the BGS were awarded.

• IP–1901–0619 Dr K Adamson (Manchester Metropolitan): Reconstructing palaeoenvironmental conditions in the Egyptian Nile Valley from the Old Kingdom to present (pilot)
• IP–1910–1019 Dr A Henderson (Newcastle): Holocene climate evolution in Arctic Alaska and its link to Aleutian Low variability
• IP–1913–0619 Dr B Hoogakker (Heriot-Watt): Lessons from the past: deoxygenation of the ocean
• IP–1914–1619 Dr S Kender (Exeter): Deep sea biotic responses during Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 2 in the southern high latitudes
• IP–1915–0619 Dr S Kender (Exeter): Oceanographic and vegetation changes across the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in NW Europe and the Arctic
• IP–1918–0619 Prof M Leng (Nottingham): Stable C isotope analyses coupled to XRF core scanning through a UK black shale giant
• IP–1924–0619 Dr J Pike (Cardiff): Holocene diatom and sponge spicule oxygen isotope ratios from the west Antarctic Peninsula: exploring seasonal and depth related isotope offsets using paired samples
• IP–1926–0619 Dr Z Shi (Birmingham): Changing shipping emissions: impact on sulphate aerosol in the marine atmosphere (CSEIA)
• IP–1927–0619 Prof G Shields (UCL): Paleoceanographic context of organic matter deposition on the Yangtze craton, South China during the Ediacaran Period
• IP–1929–0619 Dr M van Hardenbroek (Newcastle): Iron Age palaeoenvironments of north-west Scotland (pilot)

May 2019: Talking environmental change and human impact at EGU19 by Dr Jack Lacey

Dr Jack LaceyÌýfrom the BGS Stable Isotope Facility attended EGU from April 7–12. Today he tells us about his week and the research he presented…

May 2019:ÌýCongratulations to Dr Stuart Young on the successful defence of his PhD thesis ‘The ecology of immune variation in wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)’.

Stuart was supervised by Jan Bradley (University of Nottingham) and collaborated with Angela Lamb (BGS) on stable isotope analysis. Stuart is now working as a programme officer for the IUCN Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group based at Chester Zoo. A paper on Stuart work has just been published inÌýFunctional Ecology:

Taylor, C H, Young, S, Fenn, J, Lamb, A L, Lowe, A E, Poulin, B, MacColl, A D C, and Bradley, J E. 2019.Ìý.ÌýFunctional Ecology, Vol. 33(8), 1425–1435. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13354

May 2019: Latest developments in methane isotope analysis by Andi Smith

Recent requirements for understanding methane formation processes has led to investment in a new stable isotope mass spectrometer by BGS. This instrument is specifically designed to analyse both carbon and hydrogen isotopes in water and gas samples and is perfectly set up to support large groundwater and soil gas surveys. As part of the launch of this equipment the stable isotope team includingÌýProf. Melanie LengÌýandÌýDr Andi SmithÌýwent and presented the new instrumentation at European General Assembly last month.

April 2019: European Science Foundation

Melaine LengÌýwas appointed to sit on the European Science Foundation College of external reviewers for a three year period.

March 2019: Isotopes in Biogenic Silica group

Jack LaceyÌýwas invited to be a convenor of the working group Isotopes in Biogenic Silica (IBiS).

The study of biogenic silica (silica deposited in plants, algae and animals) in Quaternary sediments is currently being revolutionised by technical advances in stable-isotope mass spectrometry, ICP–MS andÌý³²Si dating. Growing interest in the global biogeochemical cycle of silicon and its coupling with the carbon cycle is evident from an upsurge of papers, while a wide range of disciplines have begun to focus on processes involving biogenic silica in the modern environment, including:

• agronomy
• biogeochemical modelling
• ecology
• forestry
• geochemistry
• geomorphology
• hydrology
• limnology
• oceanography
• pedology
• physiology

March 2019:ÌýAngela LambÌýandÌýJane Evans, along with Richard Madgwick (University of Cardiff), have been awarded a British Academy/Leverhulme Trust small grant (supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Caton-Thompson Fund), entitled ‘â€�Wet Feetâ€�: developing sulphur isotope provenance methods to identify wetland inhabitants’. The project aims to refine our understanding of how sulphur isotopes can be used as an isotope fingerprinting tool for individuals living on Jurassic mudstones and/or wetland environments.

March 2019: Homeward bound: last leg of the ORCHESTRA cruise (Part 4) by Carol Arrowsmith

We were at sea for around eight weeks on the RRS James Clark Ross, undertaking the ANDREXII transect. We set off from the Punta Arenas, Chile, calling in at the Falklands before crossing the Drake Passage to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula at 60oS, and then out along over 3000 miles to the Indian Ocean at 30oE. Find out more from Carol below.

March 2019: Prehistoric Britons rack up food miles for feasts near Stonehenge

A collaboration between BGS (Angela Lamb,ÌýJane EvansÌýand Hilary Sloane) and scientists from Cardiff University, University of Sheffield and University College London has provided evidence of the earliest large-scale celebrations in Britain – with people and animals travelling hundreds of miles for prehistoric feasting rituals. The study, led by Dr Richard Madgwick of Cardiff University, is the most comprehensive to date and examined the bones of 131 pigs, the prime feasting animals, from four Late Neolithic (c. 2800-2400BC) complexes. Serving the world-famous monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, the four sites – Durrington Walls, Marden, Mount Pleasant and West Kennet Palisade Enclosures – hosted the very first pan-British events, feasts that drew people and animals from across Britain. The isotope results show pig bones excavated from these sites were from animals raised as far away as Scotland, North East England and West Wales, as well as numerous other locations across the UK and Ireland. The study, ‘Multi-isotope analysis reveals that feasts in the Stonehenge environs and across Wessex drew people and animals from throughout Britain’, was funded by the British Academy and NERC and is published in Science Advances.

March 2019: Full steam ahead with the sampling on theÌýRRS James Clark Ross: ORCHESTRA Part 3 by Carol Arrowsmith

We are now cruising along the 60oS latitude, having crossed the Drake Passage, passing Elephant Island (off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula), between Coronation and Laurie Island and are now out in the Weddell Sea at approximately 23oW. This leg of the ORCHESTRA hydrographic/tracer section covers the northern rim of the Weddell Gyre and is called ANDREXII (Antarctic Deep Water Rates of Export). This leg was previously sampled 10 years ago so we are interested to see the difference global warming has made to the ocean. Carol is half way through a research cruise across the Weddell Sea as part of ORCHESTRA.

March 2019: Tropical palaeoclimate meeting as temperatures break records in the UK by Heather Moorhouse

In 2018, the UK NERC-funded collaborators of the International Continental scientific Drilling Program – DeepCHALLA project met in Cambridge amidst a Siberian blast, known as the ‘Beast from the East’, as temperatures plummeted and ice and snow disrupted UK travel. In 2019 however, the scientists met in tropical Lancaster, during maximum temperature records for the month of February. It is predicted that weather events will be increasingly unpredictable, variable and extreme, and the temperature differences between our two meetings merely serves to highlight the future under climate change.

March 2019: From Chile to the Falklands and beyond: ORCHESTRA Part 2 by Carol Arrowsmith

I left the UK last Saturday and flew to Punta Arenas in Chile. There we waited (with various, BAS, NOC and university colleagues) to board the RRS James Clark Ross; a few days later we departed for the Falkland Islands. On board our first task was to lash down all the equipment in the ship laboratories needed for our sampling and familiarise ourselves with the layout of the ship. We have been accompanied for most of the journey so far by a variety of birds and mammals, including magnificent black-browed albatross, that mostly just sit in the water surrounding the ship waiting for food (to upwell from beneath the ship).

February 2019: Investigating the Southern Ocean: ORCHESTRA Part 1 by Carol Arrowsmith

In a few days I will be embarking on my leg of the major NERC project called ORCHESTRA (Ocean Regulation of Climate through Heat and Carbon Sequestration and Transport) to collect seawater samples for isotope analysis. My leg is called ANDREX II – Antarctic Deep Water Rates of Export (ANDREX), and is the second time this part of the ocean has been sampled. I will be boarding the RRS James Clark Ross in Punta Arenas and following a stop off in the Falklands will start sampling from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula along the 60°S parallel and across the Southern Ocean to 30°E, before returning to the Falklands in mid April.

February 2019: BGS and Heriot-Watt Partnership in Action: geochemistry and carbon burial at the BSRG AGM 2018 by Joe Emmings

In late December,ÌýJoe EmmingsÌý(BGS) and Tom Wagner (Heriot–Watt University) convened Geochemistry and Carbon Burial Sessions at the British Sedimentological Research Group (BSRG) AGM. Here Joe tells us about the conference and ongoing research in this area…

February 2019: Can we use carbon isotopes to tell us about past levels of CO₂Ìýin the atmosphere? by Barry Lomax and Melanie Leng

Dr Barry Lomax andÌýProf Melanie LengÌýare isotope geochemists who work on understanding how the isotopic composition of environmental materials can tell us about past environments. Here they blog about their new paper, available via open access in the premiere geochemistry journal (Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta), co–authored by Dr Janice Lake and Dr Phillip Jardine on the use of carbon isotopes in plant materials to predict atmospheric CO₂. The paper sets out to test this relationship to determine if it could be used as a tool for estimating changes in atmospheric CO₂Ìýconcentrations through geological time.

January 2019: Congratulations toÌýMelanie LengÌýfor her contribution to the successful Australian Research Council grant: ‘East Australian climate extremes through the Holocene’.

The project aims are to document climate variability in eastern Australia over the Holocene (approximately the last 11 500 years) and seeks to develop Australia two highest-resolution Holocene climate records using novel techniques (including isotopes) to infer past rainfall, temperature and evaporation. In particular, the plan is to determine the frequency, duration and causes of megadroughts in eastern Australia, of which little is known. Expected project outcomes include improved decision-making capacity for natural resource management and planning.

Mel is a partner investigator with the University of Adelaide chief investigators, Dr John Tibby and Dr Jonathan Tyler.

Many elements of the periodic table are essential for healthy life functioning. Our research focuses on those elements where there are proven or suspected environmental geochemical controls on human, livestock or crop health outcomes, particularly iodine, selenium, iron, zinc and magnesium.

Insufficient dietary supply of micronutrients (such as calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, selenium or zinc) can result in ‘hidden hunger’, which may lead to a poorer nutritional status in populations. The effects of hidden hunger may not only be felt at an individual level; they may also have direct economic consequences at a regional or national population level through an increased health burden.

An equivalent impact is felt in the agricultural sector, where livestock may fail to thrive if micronutrients (such as cobalt, copper, iodine, magnesium, selenium orÌý zinc) transfer from soil to plants in insufficient quantities. Benefits can be obtained by recognising any deficiencies and targeting appropriate interventions at various scales, from local to national.

Our research focuses on the links between the chemical concentration and properties of soil, water and sediments, and how these affect the transfer of mineral micronutrients to crops, livestock and humans. Controlling factors on these transfers include the chemistry and mineralogy of the rocks through which water flows or upon which soil forms.

Our research is generally undertaken in research consortia with cross-disciplinary expertise from a wide range of disciplines, including:

• agricultural soil science
• plant and crop science
• agronomy
• human and animal nutrition
• economics

Beyond Britain, we also work in other parts of Europe, in Asia and have an extensive research programme with partners in sub-Saharan Africa. There is also considerable overlap with our capacity strengthening activities.

Research topics

• biogeochemical cycling of iodine in UK soil
• soil chemistry as information for agriculture in Britain and Ireland
• Magnesium Network (MAG-NET): integrating soil–crop–animal pathways to improve ruminant health
• the impact of soil geochemistry on food chemical composition and hidden hunger in Malawi
• predicting dietary supply of essential micronutrients at national, continental and global scales
• strengthening African capacity in soil geochemistry to inform agriculture and health policies (research with partners in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Research to understand the environmental distribution and potential consequences of elements that may be harmful to health.

The chemical composition of all living organisms can be affected by their environment and, in turn, can be diagnostic of the environment to which they have been exposed. These qualities allow us to use biomarkers to:

• study exposure to nutrients or potentially harmful elements in humans and animals
• study data on human and ecosystem health outcomes compared to measured environmental concentrations
• contribute to the reconstruction of the origins and migration of people, goods, foodstuffs and animals

Changes in the composition of rocks are reflected in the composition and properties of soil and sediments formed from degradation of those rocks. There is an equivalent effect on the chemical properties of groundwater and surface waters. These chemical properties in soil, water and sediments can give rise to insufficient supply of micronutrients or excess supply of potentially harmful elements through our diets and contact with these environmental media.

Anthropogenic activity, such as agricultural soil management or industrial contamination, can further alter the concentrations and ratios of elements that humans, animals or plants are exposed to. It is via exposure to our local environment, through the food we eat, the water we drink and the air (and dust) we breathe in, that small but measureable chemical concentration changes take place in the tissue of organisms.

We can use the measurement of these concentrations as part of a suite of tools to assess actual exposure to contaminants and demonstrate whether high environmental concentrations are causing high body burdens of chemicals. We can apply the same technologies in other situations to investigate the likely origin or movement of the organisms we are studying, through using chemical properties as a ‘fingerprint’ of the geochemical environment of origin.

Our external partners in this theme include specialists in:

• public health
• epidemiology
• toxicology
• risk assessment
• fisheries protection
• archaeology

Research topics

• biomonitoring of private water supply users in Cornwall
• biological markers in invertebrates exposed to contaminants in soils and sediments
• the impact of soil geochemistry on food chemical composition and hidden hunger in Malawi
• tracing migration of wild fish stocks
• the impact of pollution, climate change and overfishing on shellfish for stock management and protection
• geochemical tools applied to archaeological sciences

We can perform elemental analyses on plant samples, including forage vegetation and crops from root vegetables through to wheat, rice and maize grains. Analysis of plant materials is not covered under the scope of ISO 17025 accreditation.

Trace and major elements capability

The facility has three inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments:

• Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole
• Agilent 7500
• Spectro Array ICP-MS

We have capability for:

• high-throughput, survey-scale analyses of 57 elements, plus iodine using a TMAH extraction
• isotope ratio analyses for uranium (e.g. DU) and lead (provenancing)
• solid sampling on a microscale using laser ablation ICP-MS

The ability to determine mercury in a wide variety of biological material such as plants or tissue directly, without time-consuming chemical preparation, is provided by a Milestone DMA-80 atomic absorption spectrometer.

Spatially resolved analysis

It is frequently advantageous to know the location of elements within a biological structure at a microscale, for example to differentiate uptake into plant roots, stem or leaf. Laser ablation coupled with ICP-MS can provide this.

The hard parts of aquatic biota grow on a seasonal or even daily basis in a manner analogous to tree rings, thus providing ‘tape recorders’ of environmental change. The laboratories have two decades of experience of applying laser ablation to corals, shells (bivalves) and fish earbones (otoliths).

Gamma-emitting isotopes capability

Natural daughter products from uranium and thorium decay, such asÌý²¹⁰Pb, may be used as environmental tracers.

Certain artificial isotopes may be found in our environment or industrial processes due to past nuclear releases, i.e.Ìý¹³⁷Cs from atmospheric bomb tests orÌý⁶⁰Co from steel irradiation. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Water sample types we can analyse include:

• environmental
• groundwater
• stream water
• borehole water
• pore water
• process water

We also have the facilities to analyse other waters such as:

• saline matrices
• synthetic
• experimental and hydrothermal fluids
• effluents
• leachates

Trace and major elements capability

The facility has three inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments:

• Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole
• Agilent 7500
• Spectro Array ICP-MS

We have capability for:

• high-throughput, survey-scale analyses of 57 elements, plus iodine with TMAH preservation
• low-volume analyses (<Ìý5ÌýmL, including IC, pH/Alk, NPOC)
• elemental speciation of arsenic, chromium and selenium using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• isotope ratio analyses for uranium (e.g. DU) and lead (provenancing)

In addition, we have a Spectro Arcos inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) instrument used for analysis of major and high trace elements in high total dissolved solutions such as process or saline waters.

Anions: ion chromatography

We have one Dionex ICS5000 dual line ion chromatograph (UKAS accredited for aqueous samples to ISO 17025). There is capability for high-throughput, survey-scale analyses of fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and sulphate, as well as analysis of low-volume and saline matrix samples.

Alkalinity, pH and organic carbon

Alkalinity and pH are measured using a Radiometer TIM autotitrator. Both pH and alkalinity (expressed as bicarbonate) are accredited to ISO 17025. Determination of alkalinity speciation (hydroxide, carbonate and bicarbonate) can be provided, but outside the scope of accreditation.

Total organic carbon (TOC) or dissolved organic carbon (DOC) (according to whether the sample has been filtered) is measured as non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) to reflect sparging inherent in the method, and utilises a Shimadzu TOC-L instrument (accredited to ISO 17025).

Radon in water

Radon (²²²Rn) is measured by a liquid scintillation counting (LSC) technique using a HIDEX Triathler liquid scintillation counter to quantify the activity ofÌý²²²Rn radionuclides in aqueous samples.

Gamma-emitting isotopes capability

Natural daughter products from uranium and thorium decay, such asÌý²¹⁰Pb, may be used as environmental tracers. Occasionally anthropogenic processes such as oil or gas extraction may pre-concentrate these to hazardous levels e.g. radium in barium sulphate-rich brines.

These radionuclides may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Certain artificial radionuclides may be found in our environment or industrial processes due to past nuclear releases, e.g.Ìý¹³⁷Cs from atmospheric bomb tests orÌý⁶⁰Co from steel irradiation. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Soil sample types we can analyse include:

• agricultural
• contaminated land
• urban
• domestic

High throughput is available for survey-scale soil sampling.

Trace and major elements capability

The facility has three inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments:

• Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole
• Agilent 7500
• Spectro Array ICP-MS

We have capability for:

• high-throughput, survey-scale analyses of 55 elements, plus iodine using a TMAH extraction
• elemental speciation of arsenic
• elemental speciation of chromium and iodine using speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry
• isotope ratio analyses for uranium (e.g. DU) and lead (provenancing)

In addition, we have a Spectro Arcos inductively coupled plasma atomic l emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) instrument for solutions with a high total dissolved solids, such as partial extractions or cation exchange capacities.

The ability to determine mercury in a wide variety of solids directly, without time-consuming chemical preparation, is provided by a Milestone DMA-80 atomic absorption spectrometer.

Bioaccessibility and CISED

We offer bioaccessibility testing of soils by the application of a methodology that simulates conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, to assess the human bioaccessibility of potentially harmful elements by ingestion. The methodology applied has been developed by the BioAccessibility Research Group of EuropeÌý(BARGE) and is known as the unified BARGE method or UBM ().

These tests can be followed up with an investigation into the source of the potentially harmful elements by defining the mineral association of elements using a method of chemometric identification of substrates and element distribution (CISED) (;Ìý).

Partition coefficient

Partition coefficient (Kd) testing is also available for a range of routine and non-routine determinands, e.g. nitrates, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, phosphorus, vanadium, potassium, zinc and mercury. The method employed uses an Environment Agency-approved Kd test adapted from Gillespie et al., 2000 (Environment Agency Technical Report TR P340).

Partial extractions and cation exchange capacities

There are many partial extraction schemes aimed at defining plant available fractions from soil or exchangeability. The laboratories have experience in many of these and they can be made available as required or to customer/collaborator-specific requirements.

Gamma-emitting isotopes capability

Natural daughter products from uranium and thorium decay, such asÌý²¹⁰Pb, may be used as environmental tracers. Occasionally anthropogenic processes such as oil or gas extraction may pre-concentrate these to hazardous levels e.g. radium in barium sulphate-rich brines.

These radionuclides may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Certain artificial radionuclides may be found in our environment or industrial processes due to past nuclear releases, e.g.Ìý¹³⁷Cs from atmospheric bomb tests orÌý⁶⁰Co from steel irradiation. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

The sample handling team routinely prepares bulk reference materials for a variety of sample matrices such as soils, peats and sediments. Bulk materials and reference materials are used for laboratory quality control (QC) and proficiency testing to assess the quality of instrumentation and analytical techniques.

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Our methods are capable of analysing a full range of igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary rock materials, including mineralised material. We can adapt our procedures for pure and applied geochemical applications. A wide range of metallic, industrial and waste minerals can be analysed as either bulk granular material or individual pieces. We are active participants in the Ìý and proficiency testing schemes.

Trace and major elements capability

The facility has three inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instruments:

• Agilent 8900 Triple Quadrupole
• Agilent 7500
• Spectro Array ICP-MS

We have capability for:

• high-throughput, survey-scale analyses of 55 elements, plus iodine in sediments using a TMAH extraction
• solid sampling on a microscale using laser ablation ICP-MS

In addition, we have a Spectro Arcos inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) instrument for solutions containing high total dissolved solids, such as fusions.

Mercury in sediments

Mercury can be determined in a wide variety of solids directly, without time-consuming chemical preparation. This is done using a Milestone DMA-80 atomic absorption spectrometer.

Industrial and critical minerals

A new generation of metals and semi-metals will be critical for both hi-tech and green applications. We have tailored packages for selenium, indium, tellurium and rare earth elements (REEs).

We can calculate radioactivity indices in gypsum by measuring natural radium, thorium and potassium activity. We have developed a method for analysis of complex matrices such as fly ash, gypsum or polyhalite.

The spatial analysis of individual mineral grains (10–100 μm) using laser ablation extends the BGS’s other capability (SEM-EDX) for diagnostic trace elements either of high value or that are key to geological process understanding.

Heavy mineral analysis

Correlation and provenance of geological materials can be achieved through analysis of heavy minerals (density >2.85Ìýg/cm³). Geochemical analysis by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) establishes the relative or absolute abundance of key elements associated with specific heavy minerals: apatite, chrome spinel, monazite, titanium oxides (rutile, titanite, anatase etc.) and zircon. This technique provides unique mineral-chemical signatures, broad trends in major cation groups and the quantification of specific REEs.

Classification of sediments and their associated sources are constructed through the comparison of the geochemistry associated with both ultra-stable and unstable heavy minerals. Heavy minerals from the 63–125 μm sand fraction are concentrated using a typical ‘sink float’ heavy media separation using lithium polytungstate. Samples are fused using a lithium metaborate flux and analysed using ICP-AES for a suite of major, minor and trace elements.

Core profiling and in situ analyses

Stratigraphic analysis is done using handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (HH-XRFS) to analyse drillcore to identify sedimentary cycles. We also carry out in situ analyses of building stones.

Gamma-emitting isotopes capability

Natural daughter products from uranium and thorium decay, such asÌý²¹⁰Pb, may be used as environmental tracers. Occasionally anthropogenic processes such as oil or gas extraction may pre-concentrate these to hazardous levels e.g. radium in barium sulphate-rich brines.

Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Certain artificial isotopes may be found in our environment or industrial processes due to past nuclear releases, e.g.Ìý¹³⁷Cs from atmospheric bomb tests orÌý⁶⁰Co from steel irradiation. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

The laboratories can analyse a wide range of samples, including but not exclusive to:

• biomonitoring samples (toenails; urine; hair)
• ecological samples (earthworms; coral; otoliths; fish; feathers)
• archaeological samples (glass pottery)
• geophagy samples

For solutions, low-volume pore waters (spun or squeezed), saline and hyper-alkaline solutions are used.

Gamma-emitting isotopes capability

Natural daughter products from uranium and thorium decay, such asÌý²¹⁰Pb, may be used as environmental tracers. Occasionally anthropogenic processes such as oil or gas extraction may pre-concentrate these to hazardous levels i.e. radium in barium sulphate-rich brines. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Certain artificial isotopes may be found in our environment or industrial processes due to past nuclear releases, i.e.Ìý¹³⁷Cs from atmospheric bomb tests orÌý⁶⁰Co from steel irradiation. Some of these may be measured using our Canberra Broad Energy germanium gamma spectrometers.

Microscale analyses

Laser ablation ICP-MS for is available for spatial and micro analyses of individual minerals as well as solid or fluid inclusions etc. We would normally couple this with scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analysis of thin sections or polished blocks.

Laser ablation ICP-MS is also available for spatial and micro-analyses of both ecological samples (e.g. sea coral, otolith — fish ear bones) or archaeological samples where either growth structures or chemistry may by on the scale of tens of microns.

Experimental design

We provide advice on sampling strategy for field collections or experimental design and optimal analytical methodology.

The facility handles a wide range of samples, including but not limited to:

• contaminated land
• agricultural soils
• vegetation and crops
• rocks, minerals and sediments

We use bespoke equipment depending on the sample matrix and subsequent analytical method, whether trace element or organic chemistry, mineralogy and petrology.

We have the capability to handle low-volume samples through to high-throughput, survey-scale jobs, preparation of bulk materials and reference materials for proficiency testing and certification. Although its methods are not specifically accredited, the sample preparation laboratories are managed following our quality system, which is accredited by UKAS to ISO 17025.

The facility uses a clean preparation environment to minimise sample cross-contamination and can handle contaminated and ore-grade samples away from areas used for trace-level sample preparation.

The majority of sample material is milled using agate media to minimise metal contamination of sample matrices. Other types of mill (e.g. Cr-steel mixer mill) are used when large volumes of sample are required and the potential for contamination is less significant.

Our Environmental Radioactivity Facility concentrates on:

• sediment profiling of peat and lake deposits to support reconstruction of recent environmental history
• radonÌýmeasurements to understand the natural distribution and migration of this gas in the environment

Peat profiling

Peat cores are used to reconstruct the accumulation of peat, through analysis of sample slices taken at intervals down a core. In ombrotrophic peat bogs, for which accumulated material is derived from the breakdown of plants, there is no mineral source of natural radioactivity within the layers of peat. Where the peat has not been disturbed by erosion, such as from rivers or human activity, it can accumulate a continuous record of atmospheric deposition of minerals to the land surface.

In order to make this archive relevant to the history of landscape evolution and records of human activity, it is important that the layers of peat can be dated. The age-dating provides a chronological context to the other measurements, such as organic markers or chemical pollutants. These data allow us to understand the processes of peat accumulation and look at the implications of peat erosion into local water courses, as well as providing records of ‘Anthropocene’ activity.

The ability to date peat cores uses the natural deposition of a radiogenic isotope of lead (Pb) onto the earth’s surface from atmospheric fallout. The isotope ²¹⁰Pb forms in the atmosphere due the decay of the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon (Rn, isotope ²²²Rn) and is deposited as a particulate.

When ²¹⁰Pb-containing material is deposited onto the surface of peat, it is retained and gradually buried as organic matter continues to accumulate through time. The ²¹⁰Pb atoms in turn decay at a well-characterised rate (half-life) and, because no further ²¹⁰Pb is added to the buried layers, the rate equation can be used to reconstruct the age of the slices of peat taken for measurement from the core.

We measure ²¹⁰Pb using one of our gamma spectrometers.

In addition to ²¹⁰Pb, anthropogenic-derived radioisotopes can be measured by gamma spectrometry and used to corroborate these models. For example, atmospheric bomb tests were associated with the release of the caesium isotope ¹³⁷Cs, which peaked in the 1960s: the rate of decay of this isotope is well understood and can be used to assess the age of peat material.

Using the complementary techniques of Pb and Cs dating, the age of peat and rates of peat accumulation can be modelled from approximately the last 150 years. We are able to link this with other established techniques to reconstruct contaminant loading onto peat from atmospheric deposition, such as with stable Pb isotope dating and isotopic liability testing using Pb isotope ratios determined by ICP-MS.

Reference

Rothwell, J J, Taylor, K G, Chenery, S R N, Cundy, A B, Evans, M G, and Allott, T E H.ÌýÌý2010. .Ìý Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 44, 8497–8502.Ìý DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es101150w

Lake, river and estuary sediment profiling

The same principles described forÌýpeatÌýcan be applied to dating lake and large river sediments. However, there is an added complication, as ²¹⁰Pb is incorporated into these sediments not just from atmospheric sources, but also from deposition of water-borne sediment. These minerals are ultimately derived from the erosion of rocks in the river catchment, and will contain ²¹⁰Pb from the decay of naturally occurring uranium-bearing minerals in the sediment. These minerals represent a continuous source of replenishment of ²¹⁰Pb in the core, whilst the ²¹⁰Pb from atmospheric deposition is isolated as the sediment accumulates. This inherent mineral-derived ²¹⁰Pb activity needs to be taken into account when calculating a deposition age for a sample slice from the core and to reconstruct sedimentation rates via making measurements on a sequence of samples through the core.

Reconstruction of river and lake deposition or estuarine sediments is used to understand human–environment interactions as a result of population growth, urban expansion, climate change and pollution events.

Reference

Kemp, A C, Sommerfield, C K, Vane, C H, Horton, B P, Chenery, S, Anisfeld, S, and Nikitina, D. 2012. . Quaternary Geochronology, Vol. 12, 40–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2012.05.004

Radon in soil and water

Radon (Rn) gas is a natural decay product from both the uranium series (²²²Rn) and thorium series (²²⁰Rn). Most rocks will contain small concentrations of uranium and thorium, decay from which provides a well-known background level of Rn. Certain rocks can have relatively elevated concentrations of the Rn parent elements and hence can give rise to high concentrations of Rn.

Rn is soluble in water and can readily dissolve into ground water. This may then be released directly as a gas via fissures or dissolved in water by flow from aquifers. In turn this could lead to unusually high concentrations of Rn in some areas, potentially becoming aÌýrisk to healthÌýif trapped in unventilated buildings.

We measure Rn in water and soil using a combination of liquid scintillation counting, alpha counting and gamma spectrometry. Measurement of Rn has well-established applications in developing natural tracer and hazard assessment methods, e.g. in soil profiles and domestic drinking water supplies. This is an important aspect of establishing and monitoring baselines as part of BGS research into baseline groundwater conditionsÌýin areas that have the potential for extraction of unconventional gas resources.

Our approach is always to do an initial evaluation of the existing skills capability, laboratory infrastructure, equipment and supporting infrastructure with our local counterparts to develop a sustainable capacity strengthening plan. The scope of evaluation includes but is not limited to:

• management systems for quality assurance
• sample preparation
• sample analysis
• sample analysis by subcontractor laboratories
• quality control of analytical data

Projects often require local delivery of training priorities agreed with the stakeholders and can be complemented with short-term visits to our own laboratories when in-country capacity strengthening is not possible. We have developed considerable experience resulting in a wide range of training activities which we can use to provide a customised training programme.

We also undertake individual technical skills development with scientists in companies, institutes and universities through international funding initiatives such as:

• DFID Commonwealth Scholarship Council UK fellowship
• Royal Society International Exchange
• Royal Society of Chemistry analytical chemistry training schemes

These types of scheme provide funds for travel and training and have proved very successful in transferring skills. In these instances we typically provide both laboratory and wider research programme training (e.g. advanced data presentation and analysis).

We have considerable experience in developing research skills in sub-Saharan Africa through PhD training, jointly with in-country university and agricultural research institute counterparts and in partnership with the University of Nottingham through the joint . We were awarded a Royal Society/DFID Africa Capacity Building Initiative programme grant ‘Strengthening African capacity in soil geochemistry to inform agricultural and health policies’ (2015–2020), which has three, core-funded PhD studentships in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as further associated PhD studentships underway or in development.

Recent projects

• Afghanistan Geological Survey: Ìý(mineral-resource evaluation, laboratory rebuilding and training programme)
• Nigeria Geological Survey Agency: Ìýand infrastructure assessment
• Liberia Geological Survey: capacity strengthening
• Laboratory evaluation in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
• Saudi Geological Survey: BGS-hosted training of laboratory technicians
• International exchange scheme activities withÌý, and
• Royal Society/DFID project Strengthening African capacity in soil geochemistry to inform agricultural and health policies (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

The inorganic geochemistry team provides training in laboratory systems (e.g. quality assurance) and techniques, from sampling strategy to sample preparation, dissolution, sample analyses to interpretation and data management, all with an overarching need to provide an audit trail to maintain confidence in data outputs.

PhD students

We regularly host PhD students undertaking experimental work or for laboratory training in systems of work (e.g. health and safety; quality assurance) and the wide range of techniques and procedures available. The students have access to the range of laboratory and applied scientific expertise of the inorganic geochemistry team and the wider BGS.

Overseas trainees

In recent years we have hosted overseas trainees from India, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe through international development projects, exchange secondments or on a commercial basis. We have also provided training packages in Jamaica and Israel, as well as major capacity strengthening programmes in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Liberia.

Industrial placements

We provide 12-month rolling programmes for research projects and on-the-job training for applied analytical chemistry placements. Examples of previous sandwich research projects include:

• development of elemental speciation for field and laboratory techniques (SPE; HPLC-ICP-MS)
• validation of a mercury analyser
• specialised method development for analysis of heavy minerals
• set up of radiochemistry analytical equipment
• application of bioaccessibility methodology to soil risk assessment and geogenic dust analyses