This dataset shows the variation of the thickness of Superficial (Quaternary age) deposits across Great Britain. The data are presented as a vector map of interlocking hexagon cells (side length 1km, area c.2.6 Km2) covering the landmass of Great Britain as a regular grid. Each hexagon cell is attributed with a series of statistics about the thickness of the underlying Quaternary units (e.g. average); additional information relating to the thickness models and the coverage of underpinning data is provided. The data is all derived by spatially summarising the information originally created for the high-resolution Superficial Deposit Thickness Model (a 50m cell size raster model of thickness, first published in 2010).

Quaternary QUEST was led by Dr Tim Lenton at UEA, with a team of 10 co-investigators at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Reading, Leeds, Bristol, Southampton and at UEA. This dataset contains FAMOUS (FAst Met Office/UK Universities Simulator) glacial cycle model data from 150,000 years ago to present. The project team aimed to compile a synthesis of palaeodata from sediments and ice cores, improve the synchronization of these records with each other, and use this greater understanding of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere to improve Earth system models simulating climate over very long timescales. A combined long-term data synthesis and modelling approach has helped to constrain some key mechanisms responsible for glacial-interglacial CO2 change, and Quaternary QUEST have narrowed the field of ocean processes that could have caused glacial CO2 drawdown.

Quaternary QUEST was led by Dr Tim Lenton at UEA, with a team of 10 co-investigators at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Reading, Leeds, Bristol, Southampton and at UEA. This dataset contains the Quaternary QUEST marine isotope data compilation for the last 150,000 years. The project team aimed to compile a synthesis of palaeodata from sediments and ice cores, improve the synchronization of these records with each other, and use this greater understanding of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere to improve Earth system models simulating climate over very long timescales. A combined long-term data synthesis and modelling approach has helped to constrain some key mechanisms responsible for glacial-interglacial CO2 change, and Quaternary QUEST have narrowed the field of ocean processes that could have caused glacial CO2 drawdown.

Quaternary QUEST was led by Dr Tim Lenton at UEA, with a team of 10 co-investigators at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Reading, Leeds, Bristol, Southampton and at UEA. This dataset collection contains glacial and isotope model data. Over the last million years, the Earth has experienced a sequence of temperature oscillations between glacial and interglacial states, linked to variations in the Earth’s orbit around the sun. These climate oscillations were accompanied by changes in atmospheric CO2, but the fundamental reasons for this relationship are still unresolved. This project team aimed to compile a synthesis of palaeodata from sediments and ice cores, improve the synchronization of these records with each other, and use this greater understanding of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere to improve Earth system models simulating climate over very long timescales. A combined long-term data synthesis and modelling approach has helped to constrain some key mechanisms responsible for glacial-interglacial CO2 change, and Quaternary QUEST narrowed the field of ocean processes that could have caused glacial CO2 drawdown.

This layer of the Map based index (GeoIndex) shows the location of available UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) series 1:250000 geological maps. These maps display Bedrock, Quaternary (Superficial deposits) geology of the offshore areas and Seabed Sediments of the UK landmass and offshore regions. The different versions are normally published as separate maps for land areas, but these may be combined on a single map for offshore areas. Maps are normally available in flat and folded format. The UTM Series (Universal Transverse Mercator projection) maps cover an area of 1deg. latitude by 2deg. longitude.

A superficial thickness model covering England Scotland and Wales. The model is derived by direct modelling (natural neighbour interpolation) of BGS Borehole records and BGS Digmap. For the purposes of modelling, superficial deposits include sediments deposited during the Quaternary, subsequent Holocene rivers and coastal systems and also modern anthropogenic material. i.e. deposits that are less than 2.6 million years old. Grids are overprinted with a minimum value so that areas where no bore data is present, but superficial deposits are known to occur are given a minimum 1.5m thickness. The superficial thickness model has been created as baseline datasets for the BGS Information Products programme. The model provides only a simple, mathematical interpretation of reality with some phantom points that improve the model mainly in valley areas where lack of data was given different results as those expected by a geological interpretation of the area. The complexity of Superficial deposits in Great Britain is such that it is only possible to model indicative values of thickness and elevation. The models should never be used as a substitute for thorough site investigation.

The dataset is the output of a NERC fellowship aimed to understand the long-term dynamics of tropical vegetation through palaeoecological analysis. For doing this, two sedimentary archives (Laguna Pindo and Laguna Baños) from Ecuador were radiocarbon dated and analysed for pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal, chironomids, stable isotopes and XRF of tephra deposits. Each proxy was analysed at different resolution. Laguna Pindo is a mid-elevation lake (1250 m asl) that spans the last 50,000 years. Laguna Baños is an Andean lake located at 3800 m asl and contains sediments representative of the last 6500 years. Both water bodies are very shallow. The data is presented mainly in excel spreadsheets as raw data (except for radiocarbon dating data, which are the PDF files provided by NRCF), without any math treatment or conversion. Publication associated with NERC grant, Frazer Matthews-Bird, Stephen J. Brooks, Philip B. Holden, Encarni Montoya, and William D. Gosling (2016), Inferring late-Holocene climate in the Ecuadorian Andes using a chironomid-based temperature inference model. Clim. Past, 12, 1263-1280, 2016. doi:10.5194/cp-12-1263-2016

The Quaternary deposits thickness dataset is a digital geological map across the bulk of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), for areas up to a water depth of 200m, which shows the thickness of the deposits over bedrock in three categories: <5m, 5-50m, and >50m Quaternary cover. These depth bands were picked because they represent the horizons that have impact on offshore infrastructure deployment. The map is derived from (unpublished) BGS 1:1000000 scale Quaternary digital geological mapping. The map was produced in 2014 in collaboration with, and co-funded by, The Crown Estate as part of a wider commissioned project to assess seabed geological constraints on engineering infrastructure across the UKCS. The data are held by the BGS as an ESRI ArcGIS Shapefile.

This award was made as a sailing participant of IODP Expedition 346, an international ocean drilling programme that NERC subscribe to. As such there was a lot of data generated that is owned and kept by IODP and which is freely available at: web.iodp.tamu.edu/UWQ/. Published Paper: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 346 Scientific Prospectus - Asian Monsoon Onset and evolution of millennial-scale variability of Asian monsoon and its possible relation with Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau uplift. doi:10.2204/iodp.sp.346.2013

Files contain heavy mineral (HM) and framework petrography data for samples taken from sediments across Northern China, from Tarim in the west to Ordos in central north China. The data come from river, loess, silt and sand sediments from deserts, the Chinese Loess Plateau, major rivers and alluvial fans of ages spanning the Cenozoic to modern. Data are grouped into tables with sample details and data types. Each file pertains to a given paper: Stevens et al., 2013a: doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.11.032 Stevens et al., 2013b: doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.014 Bird et al., 2015: doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.06.024 Nie et al., 2015: doi:10.1038/ncomms9511 Rittner et al., 2016: doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.12.036 Supplementary Material - Contains Hf, Nd and Sr isotopic data from modern, Pleistocene and Pliocene samples from surface and sediment section sediments from Northern China. Including loess, red clay, sandy desert, alluvial fan and river bar and terrace sediments. Samples obtained between 2010 and 2014.