Departmental Research Projects

Dr Dave Roberts

Contact Dr Dave Roberts (email at d.h.roberts@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

My research interests centre on glacial sedimentary processes, subglacial processes and controls on ice sheet and ice stream dynamics. In Greenland my work focuses on ice sheet evolution and ice stream dynamics during the last glacial cycle. I have studied ice stream and interstream behaviour adjacent to contemporary outlets such as  Jakobshavns Isbrae and Helheim Gletscher, and also have interests in large palaeo, cross-shelf ice streams such as  Holsteinborgs Isbrae and the Uummannaq Ice Stream System and the forcing mechanisms that govern their behaviour. I have also investigated controls on surging glacier behaviour on Disko Island, West Greenland with particular emphasis on subglacial conditions, basal ice derivation and the role of glaciohydraulic supercooling.

In the UK, my work in Norfolk, the Irish Sea and the East coast has focussed on the importance of  understanding the subglacial and ice marginal processes that accompany ice sheet/stream advance and retreat  during glacial cycles. On the east coast, understanding the controls on LGM  ice sheet dynamics and fast ice flow in the NE sector of the BIIS  has been a major focus of recent work, as have interactions between the British and Fennoscandanavian ice sheets throughout the Quaternary.

Research Groups

• Quaternary Environmental Change (QEC)
• Sea Level Research Unit (SLRU)

Research Projects

• Deglacial history of the southeast sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum, The
• Geochronology and dynamics of the western sector of the Greenland Ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum, The
• Reconstructing ice sheet history using relative sea-level (RSL) observations and modelling
• Streamlined bedrock terrain and fast ice flow, Jakobshavns Isbrae, West Greenland: implications for ice stream and ice sheet dynamics
• Swale-Ure Washlands Project, The

Research Interests

• Ice stream evolution and behaviour
• Subglacial processes and ice sheet dynamics
• Ice-sheet marginal dynamics, glaciomarine processes and sea-level change

Selected Publications

Books: sections

• Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Thomas, G.S.P., Gonzalez, S., Roberts, D.H. & Coope, R. (2006). Emerging from the Ice Age. In A New History of the Isle of Man. Chiverrell, R.C. & Thomas, G.S.P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 1: The Evolution of the Natural Landscape.: 220-278.
• Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Roberts, D.H., Tomlinson, G.S.P., Pooley, E., Fullen, M., Hallett, M. & Harris, J. (2006). The Holocene. In A New History of the Isle of Man. Chiverrell, R.C. & Thomas, G.S.P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 1: The Evolution of the Natural Landscape.: 126-219.
• Thomas, G.S.P., Chiverrell, R.C., Huddart, D., Long, D. & Roberts, D.H. (2006). The Ice Age. In A New History of the Isle of Man. Chiverrell, R.C. & Thomas, G.S.P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 126-219.
• Roberts, D.H., Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Gonzalez, S., Turner, S. & Horton, B.P. (2004). New data on Holocene sea-level changes on the Isle of Man. In The Quaternary of the Isle of Man and North West England. Chiverrell, R.C., Plater, A.J. & Thomas, G.S.P. Quaternary Research Association. 112-124.
• Roberts, D.H., Dackombe, R.V. & Thomas, G.S.P. (2004). The glacial landsystem signature of the south Isle of Man. In The Quaternary of the Isle of Man and North West England. Chiverrell, R.C., Plater, A.J. & Thomas, G.S.P. Quaternary Research Association. 44-53.
• Chadwick, R. A., Jackson, D. I., Kimbell, G. S., Johnson, H., Chiverell, R. C., Thomas, G. S. P., Jones, N. S., Riley, N. J., Pickett, E. A., Young, B., Holliday, D. W., Ball, D. F., Molyneux, S. G., Long, D., Power, G. M. & Roberts, D.H. (2001). The Geology of the Isle of Man and its offshore area. In Keyworth.
• Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2000). The glacial deposits of Trimingham. In The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk, QRA Field Guide. Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. 103-111.
• Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2000). The glacial deposits of West Runton. In The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk. Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. 77-85.
• Long, A.J. & Roberts, D.H. (1997). Sea-level change. In England's Coastal Heritage: A Survey for English Heritage and the RCHME. English Heritage and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. Fulford, M., Champion, T. & Long, A.J. Archaeological Report. 15: 25-49.

Journal papers: academic

• Roberts, D.H., Rea, B., Lane, T., Schnabel, C. & Rodés, A. (2013). New constraints on Greenland ice sheet dynamics during the last glacial cycle: evidence from the Uummannaq ice stream system. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface 1-23.
• Livingstone, S.J., Evans, D.J.A., Ó Cofaigh, C., Davies, B.J., Merritt, J.W., Huddart, D., Mitchell, W.A., Roberts, D.H. & Yorke, L. (2012). Glaciodynamics of the central sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet in Northern England. Earth-Science Reviews 111(1-2): 25.
• Roberts, D.H., Evans, D.J.A., Lodwick, J. & Cox, N.J. (2012). The subglacial and ice-marginal signature of the North Sea Lobe of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum at Upgang, North Yorkshire, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
• Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., Bridgland, D.R. & Ó Cofaigh, C. (2011). Dynamic Devensian ice flow in NE England: a sedimentological reconstruction. Boreas 41: 337–366.
• Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., Bridgland, D.R., Ó Cofaigh, C. & Riding, J.B. (2011). Provenance and depositional environments of Quaternary sediments from the western North Sea Basin. Journal of Quaternary Science 26(1): 59-75.
• Roberts, D.H., Long, A.J., Davies, B., Simpson. M.J.R. & Schnabel, C. (2010). Ice stream influence on West Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics during the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Quaternary Science 25(6): 850–864.
• Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., Bridgland, D.R., Ó Cofaigh, C., Riding, J.B., Demarchi, B., Penkman, K.E.H & Pawley, S.M. (2010). Timing and depositional environments of a Middle Pleistocene glaciation of northeast England: New evidence from Warren House Gill, County Durham. Quaternary Science Reviews
• Roberts, D.H., Yde, J., Long, A.J., Knudsen, N.T. & Lloyd, J.M. (2009). Ice marginal dynamics during surge activity, Kuannersuit Glacier, Disko Island, West Greenland. Quaternary Science Reviews 28(3-4): 209-222.
• Roberts, D.H., Long, A.J., Schnabel, C., Davies, B., Simpson. M.J.R, Sheng, X. & Huybrechts, P. (2009). Ice sheet extent and early deglacial history of the southwestern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Quaternary Science Reviews 28(25-26): 2760-2773.
• Long, A.J., Woodroffe, S. A., Dawson, S. Roberts, D.H. & Bryant, C.L. (2009). Late Holocene relative sea-level rise and the Neoglacial history of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Journal of Quaternary Science 24: 345-359.
• Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., O Cofaigh, C. & Bridgland, D. R. (2009). Subglacial and ice marginal controls on sediment deposition during the last glacial maximum: interlobate ice sheet dynamics at Whitburn Bay, County Durham, England. Boreas
• Davies, B.J., Bridgland, D.R., Roberts, D.H., Ó Cofaigh, C., Pawley, S.M., Candy, I., Demarchi, B., Penkman, K.E.H. & Austin, W.E.N. (2009). The age and stratigraphic context of the Easington Raised Beach, County Durham, UK. Proceedings of the Geologists Association
• Long, A.J., Roberts, D.H., Simpson, M., Dawson, S., Milne, G. & Huybrechts, P. (2008). Late Weichselian relative sea-level and ice sheet history of southeast Greenland. 282: 8-18.
• Roberts, D.H., Long, A.J., Schnabel, C., Simpson, M. & Freeman, S. (2008). The deglacial history of the southeast sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 27(15-16): 1505-1516.
• Engelhart, S.E., Horton, B.P., Roberts, D.H., Bryant, C.L. & Reide Corbett, D. (2007). Mangrove Pollen of Indonesia and its suitability as a sea-level indicator. Marine Geology 242: 65-81.
• Roberts, D.H., Dackombe, R.V. & Thomas, G.S.P. (2007). Palaeo ice streaming in the central sector of the British-Irish Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum: evidence from the northern Irish Sea Basin. Boreas 36(2): 115-129.
• Long, A.J., Roberts, D.H. & Dawson, S. (2006). Early Holocene history of the west Greenland Ice Sheet and the GH-8.2 event. Quaternary Science Reviews 25(9/10): 904-922.
• Roberts, D.H., Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Horton, B.P., Brooks, A.J., Thomas, G.S.P., Turner, S. & Gonzalez, S. (2006). Holocene sea levels, Last Glacial Maximum glaciomarine environments and geophysical models in the northern Irish Sea Basin, UK. Marine Geology 231(1-4): 113-128.
• Roberts, D.H. & Long, A.J. (2005). Streamlined bedrock terrain and fast ice flow, Jakobshavns Isbrae, West Greenland: implications for ice stream and ice sheet dynamics. Boreas 34(1): 25-42.
• Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2005). The deforming bed characteristics of a stratified till assemblage in north East Anglia, UK: investigating controls on sediment rheology and strain signatures. Quaternary Science Reviews 24(1-2): 123-140.
• Long, A.J. & Roberts, D.H. (2003). Late Weichselian deglacial history of Disko Bugt, West Greenland, and the dynamics of the Jakobshavns Isbrae ice stream. Boreas 32(1): 208-226.
• Long, A.J., Roberts, D.H. & Rasch, M. (2003). New observations on the relative sea level and deglacial history of Greenland from Innaarsuit, Disko Bugt. Quaternary Research 60(2): 162-171.
• Long, A.J. & Roberts, D.H. (2002). A revised chronology for the 'Fjord Stade' moraine in Disko Bugt, west Greenland. Journal of Quaternary Science 17(5-6): 561-579.
• Long, A.J., Roberts, D.H. & Wright, M.R. (1999). Isolation basin stratigraphy and Holocene relative sea-level change on Arveprinsen Ejland, Disko Bugt, West Greenland. Journal of Quaternary Science 14(4): 323-345.
• Evans, D.J.A., Owen, L.A. & Roberts, D.H. (1995). Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Devensian (Dimlington-Stadial) glacial deposits, East Yorkshire, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 10(3): 241-265.
• Hart, J.K. & Roberts, D.H. (1994). Criteria to distinguish between glaciotectonic and glaciomarine sedimentation: I-Deformational styles and sedimentology. Sedimentary Geology 91: 191-213.

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Grants Awarded

• 2012: BRITICE-CHRONO: Constraining Rates and Style of marine influenced ice sheet decay (£369925.56 from NERC - Natural Environment Research Council)

Supervises

• Mr Timothy Lane
• Mr William Christiansen
• Miss Katy Hutton