The dataset details surface sediment water content across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England. Each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, with twenty two sampling quadrats placed on each area. Five replicate sediment samples were taken at each quadrat and then freeze dried to give average percentage water content. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5ffbc89e-ebed-4fdc-9563-bad42f50e8ce

The dataset details surface sediment colloidal carbohydrate concentrations across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Colloidal carbohydrate concentrations in surface sediments (top 2mm) provide a quantitative measure of the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secreted by organisms that form the microphytobenthos (MPB) community. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, twenty two sampling quadrats were placed on each area. Five replicate sediment samples were taken at each quadrat and were analysed using the Dubois Phenol-Sulphuric Assay which involves spectrophotometer analysis of absorptions to determine colloidal carbohydrate concentrations. Values for colloidal carbohydrate concentrations are expressed as glucose equivalents in micrograms per gram of sediment. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/6c027bf9-b344-4178-b8b3-d78cf39f017f

The dataset details surface sediment chlorophyll concentrations across six intertidal sites in the winter and summer of 2013. Chlorophyll concentrations in surface sediments (<2mm) provide a quantitative measure of the microphytobenthos (MPB) community present. Three of the sites were in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three of the sites were in Essex, South East England, each of these sites consisted of a saltmarsh area and adjacent mudflat area, twenty two sampling quadrats were placed on each area. Five replicate sediment samples were taken at each quadrat and then underwent acetone extraction of pigments followed by spectrophotometer analysis of absorptions at relevant wavelengths. Values for chlorophyll a, b and c1+ c2 are expressed as micrograms per gram of sediment. This data was collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/55bc4927-5d9b-4e64-b30e-f4f97c84b87c

Collection of North Pacific core-top foraminifera census data. Grant abstract: The geological record offers an invaluable window into the different ways earth's climate can operate. The most recent large-scale changes in earth's climate, prior to modern climate change, were the Pleistocene glacial cycles, which feature growth and disintegration of large ice sheets, rapid shifts in major rain belts, and abrupt changes in ocean circulation. Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, reconstructed from air bubbles in ice cores, are intimately linked with these ice age climate events. Indeed the close coupling of CO2 and temperature over glacial-interglacial cycles has become an iconic image in climate science, a poster child for the importance of CO2 in climate, and the natural template against which to compare current man-made CO2 rise. However despite the high profile of glacial-interglacial CO2 change, we still don't fully understand its cause. The leading hypotheses for glacial CO2 change involve increased CO2 uptake by the ocean during ice ages, which is vented to the atmosphere during deglaciation. However despite decades of work these hypotheses have had few direct tests, due to a lack of data on CO2 storage in the glacial ocean. One of the most glaring holes in our understanding of ice age CO2 and climate change is the behaviour of the Pacific. This basin contains half of global ocean volume, and ~30 times more CO2 than the atmosphere, and so its behaviour will have global impact. It has also recently been suggested that the North Pacific may play an active role in deglacial CO2 rise, with local deep water formation helping to release CO2 from the deep ocean to the atmosphere. If correct, this hypothesis provides a new view of Earth's climate system, with deep water able to form in each high latitude basin in the recent past, and the North Pacific potentially playing a pivotal role in deglaciation. However few data exist to test either the long-standing ideas on the Pacific's role in glacial CO2 storage, nor the more recent hypothesis that North Pacific deep water contributed to rapid deglacial CO2 rise. Given the size of the Pacific CO2 reservoir, our lack of knowledge on its behaviour is a major barrier to a full understanding of glacial-interglacial CO2 change and the climate of the ice ages. This proposal aims to transform our understanding of ice age CO2 and climate change, by investigating how the deep North Pacific stored CO2 during ice ages, and released it back to the atmosphere during deglaciations. We will use cutting-edge geochemical measurements of boron isotopes in microfossil shells (which record the behaviour of CO2 in seawater) and radiocarbon (which records how recently deep waters left the surface ocean), on recently collected samples from deep ocean sediment cores. By comparing these new records to other published data, we will be able to distinguish between different mechanisms of CO2 storage in the deep Pacific, and to test the extent of North Pacific deep water formation and CO2 release during the last deglaciation. We will also improve the techniques used to make boron isotope measurements, and add new constraints on the relationship between boron isotopes and seawater CO2 chemistry, which will help other groups using this technique to study CO2 change. To help us understand more about the mechanisms of changes in CO2 and ocean circulation, and provide synergy with scientists in other related disciplines, we will compare our data to results from earth system models, and collaborate with experts on nutrient cycling and climate dynamics. Our project will ultimately improve understanding of CO2 exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, which is an important factor for predicting the path of future climate change.

Provided here are in-situ Si and O isotope compositions of Detrital Jack Hills and Lachlan Fold Belt zircons. These data formed the basis of the research published as: Origin and significance of Si and O isotope heterogeneities in Phanerozoic, Archean, and Hadean zircon, Trail et al., (2018), PNAS 115 (41), 10287-10292 The data are provided in a single Excel spreadsheet, with multiple tabs, which are as follows: 1. Sample description and analytical method summaries 2. Solution and laser-fluorination data for characterisation of the standards used in the Ion Probe measurement sessions 3. Ion Probe (In-situ) Si and O isotope data for the Lachlan Fold Belt and Duluth Gabbro zircons 4. Ion Probe (In-situ) Si and O isotope data for the detrital Jack Hills zircons, as well as 207Pb/206Pb age estimates 5. Raw Ion Probe Si and O isotope data for LFB samples 6. Raw Ion Probe Si and O isotope data for Jack Hills samples 7. Ion Probe (In-situ) Si isotope data for the Lachlan Fold Belt zircons (utilising O- hyperion source)

The dataset comprises the surface stability of sediments as determined by a Cohesive Strength Meter (CSM). Between 3 and 5 replicate measurements were taken from each of the 22 designated experiment quadrats at each of the Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) sites. At each CBESS site, a salt marsh site and a mud flat site was examined and three locations were selected in Morecambe Bay, North West England and three locations in Essex, South East England. The Morecambe Bay samples were taken during the winter and summer of 2013. The Essex samples were taken during the winter, early spring and summer of 2013. This data were collected as part of Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS): NE/J015644/1. The project was funded with support from the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme. BESS is a six-year programme (2011-2017) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) as part of the UK's Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/64d64b2c-5f80-4dd5-b778-41c048f96caf

This dataset comprises mathematically modelled data of soil-water saturation, along vertical profiles, at 6 sites near the Namoi River, south-eastern Australia. The vertical profiles span the soil surface down to 10m deep, divided into 944 intervals. The 6 sites are located at different distances from the Namoi River and are split between 2 locations (Old Mollee and Yarral East). The distances from the river channel at each location are, Old Mollee: 50m, 140m and 320m, and Yarral East: 40m, 110m and 290m. The dataset underpins figures presented in Evans et al. (2018). The data were modelled as part of a PhD project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the National Trust. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5f2e06df-d141-4549-95b6-6a56300fc790

Data produced from NERC Grant NE/M001156/1 - Fe speciation data (FeHR/FeT, and FePy/FeHR), collected following methods outlined in Izon et al., 2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS); % Carbonate, determined gravimetrically; d34SV-CDT for sedimentary pyrite, analysed by Iso-Analytical Laboratories, Cheshire, using standard EA-IRMS techniques; d15N of bulk rock, analysed by nano-EA-IRMS, following methods described in Polissar et al., 2009, Analytical Chemistry; d15N of kerogen extracted following the methods described in Zerkle et al., 2017, Nature, analysed by nano-EA-IRMS; d13C of organic carbon, measured on decarbonated rock powders by standard EA-IRMS techniques; %TN and TON % determined by standard EA-IRMS of bulk rock and extracted kerogen, respectively. Drill core samples were taken through the 2.7Ga old Manjeri Formation of the Belingwe Greenstone belt, Zimbabwe, which overlies more ancient gneissic basement with very well-exposed unconformity (Bickle et al. 1975). The Manjeri Formation, typically 50-150m thick, exhibits a deepening succession of facies (Grassineau et al., 2002, Hunter et al., 1998). It is directly overlain by komatiitic basalts and komatiites of the Reliance Fm., dated at 2692±9 Ma (Pb-Pb whole rock; Chauvel et al., 1993). The metamorphic grade of the Manjeri succession is variable, but generally remarkably low (Abell et al. 1981). Three drill cores were taken in the Manjeri Formation. The NERCMAR drill core has been described in detail by Grassineau et al., 2002. Drill cores A and B were collected some km to the north, in the upper Manjeri Formation.

Geochemical data: %C, %OC, %IC, %N Physical Property data: Wet and dry bulk density, water content, porosity. Sediment cores extracted from Offshore Region: Loch Sunart NM 70277 63360, 56.705259, -5.7545471. For more information see published report, Substantial stores of sedimentary carbon held in mid-latitude fjords. / Smeaton, Craig; Austin, William; Davies, Althea; Baltzar, A.; Abell, R. E.; Howe, J. A. doi:10.5194/bg-13-5771-2016

The dataset consists of a spreadsheet containing whole rock geochemistry (Major and trace elements, Hf isotopes) from 7 samples and zircon U-Pb, O, Hf isotope and trace elements compositions (>200 spots on zircons from 7 samples) analysed by Ion Microprobe (NERC EIMF) and MC-LA-ICP-MS (NIGL). The samples are Eoarchaean amphibolite-facies mafic gneisses and a pegmatite as well as granulite-facies mafic gneiss and migmatite (melano- and leucosome) from the Kapuskasing uplift in Ontario, Canada.