Current Postgraduate Students
Mr Thomas Lawrence
Contact Mr Thomas Lawrence (email at thomas.lawrence@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
2011 - Present: PhD in Physical Geography.
Title: "Abrupt relative sea-level changes in mid- and high-latitude coastal environments"
2010 - 2011: MRes Marine Geosciences (Distinction), Plymouth University.
Supervisor: W. Roland Gehrels.
2007 - 2010: BSc (Hons) Geography (1st Class), Plymouth University.
Supervisor: W. Roland Gehrels.
Current Research
Abrupt relative sea-level changes in mid- and high-latitude coastal environments
Through the adoption of a location-specific approach, my research focuses on reconstructing past events of rapid sea-level rise (involving cases of tsunami and glacial melt-water induced accelerations in the rate of global sea-level rise) to better understand the evolution and response of coastal systems. Coastal environments of west Greenland are situated close to the source of large tsunami (driven by rock-avalanches), but the frequency and magnitude of these events, as well as the subsequent response of the coast, is poorly understood. In contrast, mid-latitude coasts (such as the UK) are vulnerable to abrupt changes in relative sea-level driven by the intermittent (i.e. non-linear) shrinkage of far-field ice-sheets. The early Holocene contained a series of such events that could serve as potential analogues for future abrupt deglacial events that could occur under the present mode of climate warming. I am developing records of these early Holocene events in the hope to better our understanding of the coastal response to abrupt forcing.
The UK theme of this research is a collaboration with Professor Roland Gehrels (Plymouth), while the Greenland theme is supported by the Polish National Science Centre (grant No. 2011/01/B/ST10/01553).
Funding
Durham Doctoral Studentship Award, 2011-2014. £36,000.
NERC Radiocarbon Award, 2012, allocation number 1629.0312. £7540.
QRA/Chrono Radiocarbon Award, 2012. ~£1500.
Hatfield College Independent Research Grant, 2012. £250.
Marine Institute Small Collaborative Research Grant, Plymouth University, 2011. £5000.
Conference presentations
Lawrence, T., Gehrels, W.R., Long, A.J., Woodroffe, S.A., Smith, D. Quantifying the timing and magnitude of the abrupt sea-level changes that triggered the 8.2 ka climate cooling. Sea-level and adjustment of the land, observations and models Conference (SLALOM), March 2012, University of Athens. Oral presentation.
Lawrence, T., Gehrels, W.R. Constraining the amount of sea-level rise that triggered the 8.2 ka climate cooling. All at Sea Conference, Sept. 2011, University of York. Oral presentation.
Professional memberships
Member of (postgraduate):
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Quaternary Research Associated (QRA)
Royal Geographical Society (RGS)
The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS)
Awards
The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS) - Student Award. 2012.