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2015

Imaging the role of aggregate structure on soil hysteresis

Imaging the role of aggregate structure on soil hysteresis 400 x 400 px

Soil aggregates, essentially the building blocks from which soils are composed, control many soil properties on which our understanding of many of the major challenges facing society depend; how much air or water the soil can hold in order to grow sufficient crops to feed ourselves. By applying X-ray computed tomography, soil researchers have recently […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Glacial sculpting and post-glacial drowning of the Celtic Sea

Glacial sculpting and post-glacial drowning of the Celtic Sea 400 x 400 px

You will reconstruct different landform assemblages from geophysical and sedimentological data, revealing how landscapes have evolved offshore the UK and Ireland from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present day. Why do we care about palaeo-landscapes? Studying the sedimentary records of former ice sheets provides insights into ongoing changes in warming polar regions. Most […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Ecosystem climate feedbacks in a CO2 rich world

Ecosystem climate feedbacks in a CO2 rich world 400 x 400 px

This project investigates how increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration impacts on greenhouse gas release from wetlands which provides an important feedback on the global climate. Today natural wetlands are the greatest emitters of atmospheric methane, a process of which plants are important controls. By the end of this century atmospheric CO2 concentrations may reach 800 ppm […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Ecological tipping points in mangrove ecosystems

Ecological tipping points in mangrove ecosystems 400 x 400 px

Mangroves provide a wide variety of ecosystem services to some of the poorest people on the planet. Under natural conditions, mangroves can persist in an incredibly improbable edaphic (“soil”) environment, characterized by repeated wave action and high salinity, by modifying their internal environment with roots, stems and canopy. Increasingly, however, mangrove systems are subject to […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Early warning of landslide events using computer vision and geophysical image analysis

Early warning of landslide events using computer vision and geophysical image analysis 400 x 400 px

Many cuttings and embankments within the UK transport and utilities infrastructure networks were constructed more than 100 years ago and were poorly engineered. Consequently many of these structures are deteriorating and are prone to disruptive failure, particularly during periods of prolonged rainfall, as exemplified by recent extreme weather events. Considerable resources for maintenance and remediation […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Characterizing behaviour of gases in shale reservoirs

Characterizing behaviour of gases in shale reservoirs 400 x 400 px

With increasing energy prices and advances in drilling and hydraulic rock fracturing (‘fracking’) technology, shale gas has radically changed the energy landscape over the world. However, knowledge on how the gases are trapped within the rock, adsorbed on its surface, dissolved in the pore spaces waters and released after fracking are all poorly constrained. An […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Characterisation of iron bioavailability from African soils

Characterisation of iron bioavailability from African soils 400 x 400 px

We have recently found convincing evidence that soil dust contamination of food is an important (non-haem) dietary source of iron in several sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. In rural Malawi, composite diet analysis of two villages and calculated food composition data were compared against iron biomarkers. Measured iron intake was greater than calculated intake, and highly […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Changing patterns of insect migration studied with a network of weather radars

Changing patterns of insect migration studied with a network of weather radars 400 x 400 px

Long-range insect migration occurs on an enormous scale and provides huge costs and benefits to agricultural ecosystems. Insect population dynamics and migration phenology are both strongly influenced by climate, and thus patterns of insect migration are likely to be highly responsive to global environmental change. It is vitally important to understand such changes if we […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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Causes and consequences of immune variation in rodents

Causes and consequences of immune variation in rodents 400 x 400 px

The norm is to be exposed to a wide range of infectious organisms and most wild animals are infected with a wide range of parasites. Yet in modern societies we humans are infected with relatively few parasites and as a consequence the hygiene hypothesis suggests we are developing autoimmune diseases and allergies. Laboratory mice are […]

January 16, 2017 2015

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