Staff Profile

Dr Erin McClymont

Researcher ID profile

Lecturer in the Department of Geography

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 43498

Fax: +44 (0) 191 33 41801

Room number: 235

Contact Dr Erin McClymont (email at erin.mcclymont@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

My research is focussed on the development and application of organic geochemistry (biomarker) techniques for the reconstruction of past environmental and climate change. I am interested in understanding ocean/ice-sheet and land/ocean interactions, and how the low and high-latitude climate systems might be connected and responsible for global climate change. The biomarker approach allows a large number of processes to be investigated, including the reconstruction of sea-surface temperatures and consideration of the production and recycling of organic matter.

Current research themes include:

(1) Investigating ocean circulation / carbon cycle / ice-sheet interactions during the Pliocene-Pleistocene and mid-Pleistocene climate transitions (~2.6 and 1.2 million years ago)

(2) Identifying evidence for abrupt climate changes in the eastern tropical Pacific during the transition from the last glacial maximum to present

(3) Investigating environmental change in Europe over the last 4000 years as recorded in peatlands

In the summer of 2013 I'll be sailing with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to the Alaskan margins, hoping to recover new evidence for the interaction between climate, ice-sheets and tectonics. You can follow our progress at the Joides Resolution webpage:

http://joidesresolution.org/node/2742

Research Interests

Quaternary Environmental Change
Palaeoceanography
Palaeoclimate
Organic geochemistry (biomarkers)
Abrupt climate change
Land-ocean interactions
Ocean-ice sheet interactions
Marine sediments

Research Students

Lauren Craven-Niemczyk (Durham University)

Benjamin Petrick (Newcastle University)

Tiina Ronkainen (University of Helsinki)

Research Grants

2013: Research Council of Norway Standard Grant(as Co-I) “Ocean Controls on high-latitude Climate sensitivity - a Pliocene case study” (total award: NOK 9,000 (~£1m), PI: B. Risebrobakken, Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research)
2013: NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities Award (as P.I.) "Reconstruction of Plio-Pleistocene South West Pacific Intermediate Water Circulation" (£8500 in kind)
2012: NERC (as P.I.) "Reconstructing intermediate water temperature response to Pliocene - Pleistocene climates" (total award: £246,000)
2010: Academy of Finland (as Co-I) "Biomarkers: a new potential method to study highly humified peat components" (total award: €239,000, PI: M. Valiranta, University of Helsinki)
2010: NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities Award (as P.I.) "Evolving sea surface temperatures in the south-east Atlantic through the Pliocene and Pleistocene" (£11,000 in kind)
2007: NERC New Investigators Award (as sole investigator) "The millennial-scale response of the tropical Pacific to changing climate boundary conditions" (£60,000)
2003: NERC Organic Mass Spectrometry Facility Award (as Co-I) "High precision U^K₃₇' and δ¹³C_alkenone analyses" (£46,800 in kind, PI: J.M. Lloyd, Durham University)

Research Groups

Quaternary Environmental Change (QEC)

Research Projects

Reconstructing intermediate water temperature response to Pliocene - Pleistocene climates

Publications

Journal papers: academic

Fietz, S., Huguet, C., Bendle, J.A., Escala, M., Gallacher, C., Herfort, L., Jamieson, R., Martínez-Garcia, A., McClymont, E.L., Peck, V.L., Prahl, F.G., Rossi, S., Rueda, G., Sanson-Barrera, A. & Rosell-Melé, A. Co-variation of crenarchaeol and branched GDGTs in globally-distributed marine and freshwater sedimentary archives. Global and Planetary Change. 2012;92-93:275–285.
McClymont, E.L., Ganeshram, R.S.S., Pichevin, L.E., Talbot, H.M., van Dongen, B.E., Thunell, R.C., Haywood, A.M., Singarayer, J.S.S. & Valdes, P.J. Sea-surface temperature records of Termination 1 in the Gulf of California: challenges for seasonal and inter-annual analogues of tropical Pacific climate change. Paleoceanography. 2012;27:PA2202.
Pichevin, L.E., Ganeshram, R.S.S., Reynolds, B., Prahl, F.G., Pedersen, T.F.F., Thunell, R.C. & McClymont, E.L. Silicic acid biogeochemistry in the Gulf of California: Insights from sedimentary Si isotopes. Paleoceanography. 2012;27:PA2201.
Rosell-Melé, A., Balestra, B., Kornilova, O., McClymont, E.L., Russell, M., Monechi, S., Troelstra, S. & Ziveri, P. Alkenones and coccoliths in ice-rafted debris during the Last Glacial Maximum in the North Atlantic: implications for the use of UK37' as a sea surface temperature proxy. Journal of Quaternary Science. 2011;26:657-664.
Pancost, R.D., McClymont, E.L., Bingham, E.M., Roberts, Z., Charman, D.J., Hornibrook, E.R.C., Blundell, A., Chambers, F.M., Lima, K.L.H. & Evershed, R.P. Archaeol as a methanogen biomarker in ombrotrophic bogs. Organic Geochemistry. 2011;42:1279-1287
McClymont, E.L., Bingham, E.M., Nott, C.J., Chambers, F.M., Pancost, R.D. & Evershed, R.P. Pyrolysis GC/MS as a rapid screening tool for determination of peat-forming plant composition in cores from ombrotrophic peat. Organic Geochemistry. 2011;42:1420-1435.
Dickson, A.J., Leng, M.J., Maslin, M.A., Sloane, H.J., Green, J., Bendle, J.A., McClymont, E.L. & Pancost, R.D. Atlantic overturning circulation and Agulhas leakage influences on southEast Atlantic upper ocean hydrography during marine isotope stage 11. Paleoceanography. 2010;25:PA3208.
Bingham, E.M., McClymont, E.L., Väliranta, M., Mauquoy, D., Roberts, Z., Chambers, F.M., Pancost, R.D. & Evershed, R.P. Conservative composition of n-alkane biomarkers in Sphagnum species: Implications for palaeoclimate reconstruction in ombrotrophic peat bogs. Organic Geochemistry. 2010;41:214-220.
Martínez-Garcia, A., Rosell-Melé, A., McClymont, E.L., Gersonde, R. & Haug, G. Subpolar Link to the Emergence of the Modern Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue. Science. 2010;328:1550-1553.
Dickson, A.J., Beer, C.J., Demsey, C., Maslin, M., Bendle, J.A., McClymont, E.L. & Pancost, R.D. Oceanic Forcing of the Marine Isotope Stage 11 interglacial. Nature Geoscience. 2009;2:428-433.
McClymont, E.L., Rosell-Mele, A., Haug, G. & Lloyd, J.M. Expansion of subarctic water masses in the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans and implications for mid-Pleistocene ice sheet growth. Paleoceanography. 2008;23:PA4214.
McClymont, E.L., Mauquoy, D., Yeloff, D., Broekens, P., van Geel, B., Charman, D.J., Pancost, R.D., Chambers, F.P. & Evershed, R.P. The disappearance of Sphagnum imbricatum from Butterburn Flow, UK. The Holocene. 2008;18:991-1002.
McClymont, E.L., Martinez-Garcia, A. & Rosell-Melé, A. Benefits of freeze-drying sediments for the analysis of total chlorins and alkenone concentrations in marine sediments. Organic Geochemistry. 2007;38:1002-1007.
Charman, D. J., Blundell, A., ACCROTELM Members & (ELM as ACCROTELM Member) A pan-European testate amoebae transfer function for palaeohydrological reconstruction on ombrotrophic peatlands. Journal of Quaternary Science. 2006;22:209-221.
McClymont, E.L., Rosell-Melé, A., Giraudeau, J., Pierre, C. & Lloyd, J.M. Alkenone and coccolith records of the Mid-Pleistocene in the south-east Atlantic: Implications for the UK37' index and south African climate. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2005;24:1559-1572.
McClymont, E.L. & Rosell-Melé, A. Links between the onset of modern Walker circulation and the mid-Pleistocene climate transition. Geology. 2005;33:389-392.

Books: sections

Rosell-Melé, A. & McClymont, E.L. Biomarkers as palaeoceanographic proxies. In: Hillaire-Marcel, C. & de Vernal, A. Proxies in Late Cenozoic Paleoceanography. Amsterdam Oxford: Elsevier; 2007:441-490.

Articles: review

McClymont, E.L., Pendall, E. & Nichols, J. Stable isotopes and organic geochemistry in peat: Tools to investigate past hydrology, temperature and biogeochemistry. PAGES news. 2010;18:15-18.

Supervises

Miss Lauren Craven-niemczyk