QUADRAT DTP: Dynamics of carbon capture in Scottish and Irish peatlands over the past centuries

Peatlands store and potentially release large amounts of carbon, and thus it is essential to predict their role in future warming (e.g., Gallego-Sala et al., 2018; Ferretto et al. 2019). The aim of this project is to assess how much carbon has been stored in near-pristine and damaged bogs over the past 4-5 centuries. Relationships between carbon accumulation and the composition of the peat forming vegetation and local water table depths will be explored using plant macrofossil and testate amoebae analyses respectively. Four peat profiles in Northern Ireland and Scotland will be investigated at high resolution in order to produce highly detailed time series of carbon accumulation spanning the past ~500 years. Together with existing contemporary monitoring of fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from bogs by the James Hutton Institute, this will enable enhanced estimates of carbon fluxes within/from/to peatlands.

Robust chronologies are essential for reliable reconstructions of carbon accumulation within bogs. However, two of the most important techniques for dating natural archives severely affect reconstructions of carbon accumulation over the past centuries. Large changes in atmospheric 14C content over this period cause imprecise 14C chronologies, and current 210Pb-based chronologies are inflexible and incapable of incorporating other dates.

This project will combine 14C and 210Pb dates through a newly published Bayesian alternative, in order to produce enhanced, precise and more flexible chronologies with realistic uncertainty estimates. By combining high-resolution 14C and 210Pb data, we will for the first time be able to test whether 210Pb fluxes have remained constant over the past two centuries. If we find constant 210Pb fluxes, this will confirm a key assumption of 210Pb approaches, however, if not then many existing 210Pb-based chronologies are flawed. Thus this project could have implications for the role of peat bogs in carbon accumulation as well as for 210Pb-based studies across the world.

The student will be required to undertake fieldwork, laboratory analyses and coding. Candidates should display a strong computational aptitude, preferably with experience of the R programming language.

ELIGIBILITY

Candidates should have (or expect to achieve) a minimum of a 2.1 Honours degree in a relevant subject. Applicants with a minimum of a 2.2 Honours degree may be considered providing they have a Distinction at Master’s level.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Natural and Built Environment (subject: Archaeology/Palaeoecology)
• State name of the lead supervisor as ‘Name of Proposed Supervisor’ on application
• State ‘QUADRAT DTP’ as Intended Source of Funding
• To apply, select the ‘Visit Website’ link below or visit https://dap.qub.ac.uk/portal/user/u_login.php

Please note that you do not need to submit a Research Proposal with your QUB postgraduate application, as the proposal is contained within the advertisement.