ESSI Newsletter - School of Earth and Environment - University of Leeds

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Oct 22, 2015 - RJG (2016) The effect of ocean acidification on ... nutrients into the ocean, which .... very seriously w
ESSI Newsletter

ESSI Newsletter

Issue one

Issue one October 2015 Issue 2 Spring 2016

Earth Surface Science Institute SCHOOL OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENT

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF ESSI is delighted to welcome two new academic members of staff. Professor Steve Banwart joins us from Sheffield University as a new Chair in Soil/Agriculture/Water Research. Steve is a world-leading researcher in the study of reactive processes in soil and groundwater, and will lead an integrated Centre for Research on Agriculture, Food, Technology and Sustainability. We also welcome Dr Christian März from Newcastle University as Associate Professor in Biogeochemistry. Christian is an inorganic geochemist who works on highly topical issues related to elemental cycles in modern and ancient environments, with an emphasis on climatic controls on carbon and nutrient cycles. We look forward to working with Steve and Christian over the coming years

Professor Simon Poulton, Director of ESSI

INSIDE THIS ISSUE PUBLICATIONS Read more about some of our top publications from the last six months Pages 2, 3 & 4 EVENTS Find out what we have been up to recently Pages 4 & 5 AWARD WINNERS Celebrating our achievements Page 6 LATEST FUNDING SUCCESS Read about some of our new research ventures Page 7

OUR RECENT KEY PUBLICATIONS 

Schmidt A, Skeffington RA, Thordarson T, Self S, Forster PM, Rap A, Ridgwell A, Fowler D, Wilson BM, Mann G, Wignall PB, Carslaw KS (2015) Selective environmental stress from sulphur emitted by continental flood basalt eruptions. Nature Geoscience, 9, 77-82 Read more on pg. 3



Pogge von Strandmann PAE, Stüeken EE, Elliot T, Poulton SW, Dehler CM, Canfield DE, Catling DC (2015) Selenium isotope evidence for progressive oxidation of the Neoproterozoic biosphere. Nature Communications, 6, 10157 Read more on pg. 2



Du H, Chen W, Cai P, Rong X, Dai K, Peacock CL, Huang Q (2016) Cd(II) Sorption on Montmorillonite-Humic acid-Bacteria Composites. Scientific Reports, 6, 19499



Stockdale A, Tipping E, Lofts S, Mortimer RJG (2016) The effect of ocean acidification on organic and inorganic speciation of trace metals. Environmental Science and Technology, 50 (4), pp 1906–1913



Poulton SW; Henkel S; März C; Urquhart H; Flögel S; Kasten S; Sinninghe Damsté JS; Wagner T (2015) A continental-weathering control on orbitally driven redox-nutrient cycling during Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2, Geology, 43, pp.963-966.



Fuller AJ, Shaw S, Peacock CL, Trivedi D, Burke IT (2016) EXAFS study of Sr sorption to illite, goethite, chlorite and mixed sediment under hyper-alkaline conditions. Langmuir, 32, 29372946



Magnall JM, Gleeson SA, Stern RA, Newton RJ, Poulton SW, Paradis S (2016) Open system sulphate reduction in a diagenetic environment – isotopic analysis of barite (δ34S and δ18O) and pyrite (δ34S) from the Tom and Jason Late Devonian Zn-Pb-Ba deposits, Selwyn Basin, Canada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 180, 146-143



Georgieva MN, Wiklund H, Bell JB, Eilertsen MH, Mills RA, Little CTS, Glover AG (2015) A chemosynthetic weed: the tubeworm Sclerolinum contortum is a bipolar, cosmopolitan species. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:280



Stawski TM, Van Driessche AES, Ossorio M, Rodriguez-Blanco JD, Besselink R, Benning LG (2016) Formation of calcium sulfate through the aggregation of sub-3namnometre primary species Nature Communications, 7, 11177 Read more on page 4

Researchers uncover the key to the rise of the animal kingdom: Simon Poulton A new study may have resolved a fundamental question concerning the development of Earth as a planet on which animals could flourish: what came first, increasing levels of oxygen or complex animals? Before now it was not known how quickly Earth’s oceans and atmosphere became oxygenated and if animal life expanded before or after oxygen levels rose. The new study, published in Nature Communications, shows the increase in oxygenation began significantly earlier than previously thought and occurred in fits and starts spread over a vast period. Since oxygen began to rise before animals evolved, it is therefore likely that early animal evolution was kick-started by oxygen, rather than animals evolving and then driving oxygenation themselves. Professor Simon Poulton, ESSI director, a co-author of the study, said: “It’s a chicken and egg situation: did the first simple animals evolve and bioengineer oxygen to higher levels, allowing more complex life to evolve on Earth, or did oxygen begin to rise first, thus allowing complex animals to evolve?” In the study, an international team of researchers tracked what was happening with oxygen levels globally 770-520 million years ago (770-520 Ma) using new tracers in rocks across the US, Canada and China. The first complex lifeforms are known to have emerged on Earth about 600 million years ago. Samples of rocks that were laid down under the sea at different times were taken from different locations to piece together the global picture of the oxygen levels of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. By measuring selenium isotopes in the rocks, the team revealed that it took 100 million years for the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere to climb from less than 1% to over 10% of today's current level. This was arguably the most significant oxygenation event in Earth history because it ushered in an age of animal life that continues to this day. Lead researcher, Dr Philip Pogge von Strandmann, from UCL, said: “We took a new approach by using selenium isotope tracers to analyse marine shales which gave us more information about the gradual changes in oxygen levels than is possible using the more conventional techniques used previously. We were surprised to see how long it took Earth to produce oxygen and our findings dispel theories that it was a quick process caused by a change in animal behaviour." During the period studied, three big glaciations – the ‘snowball Earth’ Sturtian (about 716Ma) and Marinoan (about 635Ma) glaciations, and the smaller Gaskiers glaciation (about 580Ma) – occurred whereby the Earth's land was covered in ice and most of the oceans were 2

frozen from the poles to the tropics. During these periods, temperatures plummeted and rose again, causing glacial melting and an influx of nutrients into the ocean, which researchers think caused oxygen levels to rise deep in the oceans. Increased nutrients mean more ocean plankton, which will bury organic carbon in seafloor sediments when they die. Burying carbon results in oxygen increasing, dramatically changing conditions on Earth. Until now, oxygenation was thought to have occurred after the relatively small Gaskiers glaciation melted. The findings from this study pushes it much earlier, to the Marinoan glaciation, after which animals began to flourish in the improved conditions, leading to the first big expansion of animal life. Study co-author Professor David Catling, from the University of Washington, added: “Oxygen was like a slow fuse to the explosion of animal life. Around 635 Ma, enough oxygen probably existed to support tiny sponges. Then, after 580 Ma, strange creatures, as thin as crêpes, lived on a lightly oxygenated seafloor. Fifty million years later, vertebrate ancestors were gliding through oxygen-rich seawater. “Tracking how oxygen increased is the first step towards understanding why it took so long. Ultimately, a grasp of geologic controls on oxygen levels can help us understand whether animal-like life might exist or not on Earth-like planets elsewhere.”

Role of Volcanism in Dinosaur Extinction Theory: Paul Wignall The role volcanic activity played in mass extinction events in the Earth’s early history is likely to have been much less severe than previously thought, according to this recent study. Asteroid impacts and long-lasting

Lava fountaining above the volcanic fissure of the Holuhraun flood basalt eruption in Iceland in September 2014, which can be considered as a smaller scale analogue for the eruptions in the Deccan Traps, 65 million years ago. Credit: Michelle Parks (University of Iceland) volcanic eruptions called continental flood basalts – the two most commonly cited possible causes of mass extinction events – would have propelled gas and dust into the atmosphere and altered climate for years. But, until now, the impact of years of sulphur dioxide emissions from continental flood basalts was unknown. In a study published in Nature Geoscience, researchers have provided for the first time a quantitative estimate of the degree and nature of the effects that such eruptions had on the Earth’s climate, vegetation and oceans. Study lead author Dr Anja Schmidt said: “At the time when the dinosaurs reigned, numerous long-lasting eruptions took place over the course of about a million years. These eruptions, called ‘continental flood basalts’ were not like volcanic eruptions we often see today, with lava gushing from the ground like a curtain of fire.” “Each eruption is likely to have lasted years, even decades, and eruptions

were separated by periods without volcanic activity. The lava produced by an eruption of average intensity would have filled 150 Olympic-size swimming pools per minute.” In the new study, the researchers used a sophisticated computer simulation of the spread of the gas and aerosol particles, which showed that the climatic impacts of flood basalts was less grim than scientists had previously suggested. They found that only if such flood basalts oozed for hundreds of years, without interruption, may the climatic impacts have had a severe effect on plants and animals. The researchers used information on the duration and intensity of continental flood basalt eruptions, such as the Deccan Traps eruptions 65 million years ago, which covered one-third of what is now India, to estimate the climatic and environmental effects of the huge quantities of sulphur dioxide gas emitted by these eruptions. Their computer simulation showed that temperatures on Earth were 3

indeed cooler as a result of the eruptions – by as much as 4.5 degrees Celsius – but that the temperature would return to normal within 50 years after an eruption ceased. Dr Schmidt noted that the conclusions are based on the assumption that climate feedbacks were very similar to those today. The new findings will challenge the earth sciences community as a whole to re-examine the causes of mass extinctions and the role of volcanism.

thought be a single-step process. However, a group of geochemists, including School of Earth Environment members Dr. Tomasz Stawski and Prof. Liane G. Benning, have now shown that gypsum forms through a complex 4-step process. The team examined the process using in situ and time resolved synchrotron-based X-ray scattering at Diamond Light Source (Harwell, UK) and they identified and quantified each step of the formation process. It was highlighted that the initial moments in the reaction chain are of Formation of gypsum could particular importance, as they tell us about water on Mars: determine the final properties of Lianne Benning gypsum. A new explanation on how gypsum In this 1st step, tiny sub-3 nm grows from ions in solutions has been elongated particles form the primary reported in Nature building blocks. In subsequent steps Communications. Gypsum is an these blocks cumulate, self-assemble abundant, naturally occurring mineral and rearrange themselves, to finally and it is extensively used as the transform to gypsum crystals. construction material Plaster of Paris. It a global production of ~100 As quoted by the European billion kg per year and is also found Association of Geochemistry, the lead on the surface of Mars. This new author, Dr. Tomasz Stawski knowledge could lead to a significant (University of Leeds and GFZ, change in the way we process an Potsdam) stated, “Importantly, we important building material, as well as envisage that it is possible to alter allow us to interpret past water this pathway by specifically targeting

availability on other planets such as Mars. The formation of gypsum, from concentrated aqueous solutions of calcium sulfate, had previously

individual stages. For example we could arrest the reaction at the first stage when only nano-bricks are formed, and thus directly synthesise a highly reactive precursor to Plaster of Paris” This new understanding of the process opens the way to more energy efficient production of plaster, which is normally produced by the energy-intensive heating of gypsum, therefore reducing costs and carbon emissions of the industry. Dr Stawski continued. “This is a multibillion dollar industry, but basic geochemistry behind the fundamental process has not been understood. Previous attempts to understand gypsum formation depended on sampling from the solutions in which the mineral was formed and drying, so it was never clear if what we were

seeing was an artefact of the process. It’s like looking at an ancient mummy, you see the results of the

drying process, but that gives you no real understanding of the recentlydead pharaoh they started out with. Now we have a clear idea of the process”. The senior author of the study, Prof. Liane Benning (University of Leeds and GFZ, Potsdam) highlights that: “We know that gypsum is naturally found on Mars, so applying our current finding will also help us understand and predict the hydrological conditions at the time of gypsum formation on other planets”.

EVENTS ESSI Day This year’s theme for our annual Science day was ‘Ice’ . The event was held on 22nd October and organised by University Academic Fellow Lauren Gregoire. We were lucky enough to hear from the following guest speakers, JeanBaptiste Ladant (Laboratoire de Sciences du Climat de L’Environement, France), Jochen Knies (Geological Survey of Norway), Emilie Capron (British Antarctic Survey) and Pippa Whitehoue (Durham University). Alongside our visitors we also heard about some of the fascinating science carried out by 4

our own researchers with presentations delivered by new University Academic Fellow, Ben Mills, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Bas De Boer, NERC Research Fellow, Ruza Ivanovic, Research Fellow Kate Briggs and PhD students Yvonne Smith and Ilkka Matero. These events are always highly enjoyable and Ice day was no exception, a great day was had by everyone, providing a chance to hear about some of our science and network in an informal environment. The day was rounded off with a reception and poster session followed with a dinner.

Earth Day In January ESSI took part in the School’s first Earth Day. This event was run to enhance links between the Earth Science Institutes; ESSI, Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT) and Institute of Applied Geoscience (IAG). A day of talks and poster sessions was organised to promote the science being conducted across these Institutes. A representative from each research group gave a presentation, giving a brief overview of their group and their aims followed by a case study of some of their most exciting science. The day was an excellent opportunity to showcase work and interact with members of the other institutes they might not normally have contact with. It is hoped that the event will encourage links between researchers studying similar areas but from different disciplines, leading to future collaborations.

Geo Bake-Off winner!

Triceratops unearthed in the Hell creek formation, North East Montana and was a worthy winner, well done!

Away Day Our annual away day was held at the beginning of the year. The event is an opportunity for the members of ESSI to come together to discuss ongoing and future strategy. The staff met in the morning and then PhD students and Post Docs joined for lunch and the afternoon session. As well as considering the future direction of the Institute, the day also included some scientific talks, given by some of the more senior members, who do not often give internal presentations on their science. These presentation were really enjoyed and everyone agreed it was great to hear from some of the Principal investigators. The day was rounded off with an award ceremony. A full list of awards and the winners can be found below. Voted for by Institute members: 

Most Engaging Presentation Speaker— Andy Bray



Star ESSI Technician 2015—Andy Connelly



Star PhD Supervisor 2015—Rob Newton



Best Overall Research Team 2015—Ian Burke



Most Ridiculously Exotic Fieldwork Loctaion 2015 - Luke Faggetter for surviving supervisors near death experience in Death Valley, USA



Social Animal 2015—James Witts

Voted for by the technicians: 

Most enthusiastic—Mark Xiong



Being quietly awesome—Daniela Meier



Most likely to forget to go home—Maria Ramirez Garcia

Voted for by ESSI Director and Research group leaders:

 As part of the School’s Christmas celebrations a Geo Bake-Off competition was organised, research groups were encouraged to get together to design and bake a cake to represent their work! The competition was taken very seriously with a panel of judges assessing the cakes  on design, taste and scientific accuracy. There were some fantastic entries and after much deliberation our very own Palaeo@Leeds cake was the overall  winner! The cake, baked by Tracy Aze, Lauren Gregoire and Ruza Ivanovic depicted a Juvenile

Best Cohen Student Paper 2015—Adam Fuller – For Fuller et al., Caesium incorporation and retention in illite interlayers, Applied Clay Science, 2015 Best Palaeo@Leeds Student Paper 2015—James Witts – For Witts et al., Evolution and extinction of Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) cephalopods from the López de Bertodano Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctica, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2015 Young Scientist of the Year 2015— Rhian ReesOwen – For outstanding progress in research and consistent success in independently engaging in externally-funded scientific opportunities.

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AWARD WINNERS

We are pleased to announce that Dr Caroline Peacock has been honoured with one of these With great pleasure we congratulate Dr Tracy Aze on awards. Caroline was winning the Lyell Fund Award, and Professor Liane G recognised for her 2015 Benning on her Bigsby Medal from the Geological Society European Association of 2016. Geochemistry Houtermans Tracy is a Lecturer in Marine Micropaleontology, and her Medal. research is at the Nominations were interface of palaeobiology gathered from across the and palaeoclimatology. University's community and Using the marine were judged by a panel that included Pro Vice plankton fossil record she Chancellors Professor David Hogg and Viv Jones, Linda investigates evolutionary Mortimer-Pine (Deputy Director of HR), Professor Steve trends, the interactions Scott (Dean of Maths and Physical Sciences) and between species and the Professor Jane Francis, a former Dean of the Faculty of response of organisms to Environment and currently Director of the British Antarctic environmental change. Survey. Her Current research All the nominees were celebrated on International concerns the factors that Women’s Day on the 8th March at a Women of influence extinction risk during the Cenozoic (65 million Achievement event hosted by the Vice Chancellor, Sir years to the present day), to determine whether there are Alan Langlands. species or ecosystems that are more vulnerable to extinction in the face of rapid environmental change. Adam Fuller, a former ESSI PhD student who was Liane Benning, co-located at GFZ, German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany and ESSI is supervised by Ian Burke has been awarded the 2016 NNL (National Nuclear Laboratory) Chief Scientists award a Professor of Experimental Biogeochemistry. Her research addresses geochemical for BEST Publication from an NNL – University collaboration. The award was received for the publication reaction mechanisms at low to AJ Fuller, S Shaw, MB Ward, SJ Haigh, J Frederick W hydrothermal temperatures in Mosselmans, CL Peacock, S Stackhouse, AJ Dent, D inorganic and biologic systems. Her research team are Trivedi, IT Burke. (2015). Caesium incorporation and retention in illite layers. Applied Clay Science applying a variety of laboratory The Judging panel stated that the paper addressed ‘a and field approaches to study biogeochemical processes (e.g., theme of practical importance to contaminated land and therefore is directly relevant to site remediation nucleation, growth and crystallization kinetics of minerals, around the world. Indeed, the paper has already been cited by two studies associated with Fukushima’. fungal weathering, biomineralization, life in extreme They went on to say ‘the work is an outstanding example environments, etc). The Geological Society 2016 Awards will be presented at of effective collaboration between academia (Leeds, President’s Day 2016, to be held at Burlington House on Manchester), STFC (Daresbury and Diamond), and NNL’. 8 June.

The Geological Society Awards 2016

2016 NNL Chief Scientist’s Award

Celebrating Women of Achievement The University's Women of Achievement Awards recognise the significant contribution and impact that both female staff and students have made across the University and beyond. The awards are part of the University's commitment to further promote gender equality and support the career development of talented women in all areas of the organisation. 6

NEW RESEARCH FUNDING Caroline Peacock has been successful in an application to the Royal Society, co -funded by the NSFC, to fund exchanges between her group at Leeds and Wuhan Agricultural University China. They will be focusing on carbon cycling in soils and sediments and the role of minerals in stabilising and burying organic carbon over short to long timescales. The grant amounts to £111,975 and will run for 2 years. Surviving extinction: traits encouraging survival at times of stress (SurE TESTS) A Marie Curie Fellowship has been awarded to Song Haijun of the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) to come and work with Paul Wignall and Alex Dunhill. The two year project is to investigate the survivors of extinction events and evaluate the traits that may have led to their survival. The project will focus on the Triassic, a time bracketed by two mass extinctions and marked by several other major crises within it. The team will compile a large database of marine fossil ranges and assess selectivity for factors such as anoxia, temperature and geographic distribution. The ultimate goal is to understand the drivers of biodiversity changes associated with major environmental and climate changes. Rob Newton, Cris Little, Simon Poulton and Paul Wignall Have had a large NERC grant funded (Jet: Jurassic Earth Systems and Timescale). The £3 million project is led by the University of Exeter. With £560k to Leeds over 5 years. The project builds upon International Continental Drilling funding of ~£1million to drill a 1.5km borehole through the Jurassic of North Wales. The Leeds group will apply cutting edge techniques to reconstruct seawater chemistry and palaeoeclogy across a major interval comprising several climate and biotic crises in Earth History Aisling Dolan and Alan Haywood have been successful in securing £6,305 from the Past Earth Network to support five early career scientists to attend AGU in December 2016.

Our Researchers at Conferences

EGU General Assembly 2016

Researchers from the Institute were in Vienna in April (17th—22nd) showcasing their work at the European The 59th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Geoscience Unions General Assembly. Association was held in Cardiff from 14th – 17th December Highlights from ESSI included NERC Research Fellow Dr and members of ESSI’s Ruza Ivanovic‘s presentation on ‘The effect of sudden ice Palaeo research group sheet melt on ocean circulation and surface climate 14presented their science. 16 ka’, and Academic Fellow Dr Lauren Gregoire asking Dr Cris Little presented ‘How much did the North American ice sheet contribute to his talk ‘Animal-animal Meltwater Pulse 1a?’. Aisling Dolan, Alan Hayward, Dan and animal-microbial Hill and PhD student Ilkka Matero were also in ecological interactions attendance presenting posters on their science. In in ancient methane seep addition, Aisling co-convened a session entitled ‘Antarctic communities’ at the palaeoclimates, sea level change and ice dynamics in Symposium being held past warm episodes: marrying models and data.’ at the National Museum of Wales. PhD student, Edine Pape gave a presentation on ‘A stable isotopic investigation of chemosymbiosis through geological time’, and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Alex Dunhill presented his work on ‘Dinosaur biogeographic structure and Mesozoic continental fragmentation: a network-based approach’. Additionally, PhD students Autumn Pugh and Jed Atkinson had posters in the conference poster session.

Pal Ass 15

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Newsletter compiled by Claire McLoughlin

School of Earth and Environment Institute Director, Professor Simon Poulton School of Earth & Environment Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/essi/ Twitter @ESSILeeds 8