ISSUE 13 | 2014 MINEWS · 2015-01-13 · 03 Fossils shed new light on the oceans’ capacity to survive climate change NEWS 05 Plymouth University coastal scientists receive funding

ISSUE 13 | 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

MINEWS

Rare samples help piece together the formation of the Earth’s oceanic crust

Fossils shed new light on the oceans’ capacity to survive climate change

Plymouth University coastal scientists receive funding to study full impact of winter storms

Springer

RESEARCH

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Rare samples help piece together the formation of the Earth’s oceanic crust

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NEWS

05Plymouth University coastal scientists receive funding to study full impact of winter storms

RESEARCH

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Public lecture provided a beacon of light into the history of the Eddystone Lighthouse

NEWS

08

Announcements

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CONTENTS

2 MI NEWS Issue 13 | 2014

Rare samples help piece together the formation of the Earth’s oceanic crustA study by a group of international researchers into the first significant samples of primitive igneous rocks to be taken from deep within the oceanic crust is helping to solve one of geology’s greatest puzzles. Professor Antony Morris (CRES) is part of the team of researchers analysing samples of rock that formed nearly four kilometres deep within the Earth’s crust, in a bid to understand how magma from the Earth’s mantle forms new ocean crust in the deep sea.

The newly recovered, priceless samples are made up of a form of crystalline igneous rock known as layered gabbro. Typically such gabbros are buried beneath a thick layer of sediment and other rocks, making them nearly impossible to access. Until now one of the best opportunities to study the deepest gabbros was in ophiolites – ancient sections of ocean crust that have been tectonically thrust up on land – but it is difficult to establish the precise origin of ophiolites, making it hard to draw conclusions about the formation of crust in today’s oceans.

Professor Morris was aboard research drillship the JOIDES Resolution when the samples were collected from a large tear in the oceanic crust known as the Hess Deep Rift. Located about 1000km west of the Galapagos islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Hess Deep Rift exposes rocks of the lower crust on challengingly steep slopes more than 4800 metres below sea level.

Professor Morris said: “The scientific community has waited decades for samples like these to be collected from the oceans, so that they can be used to test models for how two-thirds of the Earth’s crust forms. Drilling at Hess Deep tested the very limits of the technology of scientific research drilling; even starting a drill hole in such deep water on rubble covered slopes was a major achievement.”

Professor Kathryn Gillis from the University of Victoria in Canada, Co-Chief Scientist of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 345, alongside

Professor Jonathan Snow from the University of Houston USA, said: “By finding these layers in modern ocean crust we have confirmed predictions and refined our hypotheses about how the lower crust forms. With this information, we should be able to assess the role that layered gabbros play in building the crust, as well as in broader global geochemical cycles.”

Professor Morris added: “Shipboard analyses show that these cores provide the last missing piece in our suite of samples from the oceanic crust.”

The findings were first published in the journal Nature in January.

For more information contact, Professor Antony Morris, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Research in Earth Sciences (CRES).

RESEARCHwww.plymouth.ac.uk/marine

MI NEWS Issue 13 | 2014 3

Above left to right:Professor Robert Sutton; Dr Sanjay Sharma; Professor Phil Culverhouse

Above: Springer

RESEARCH

The Marine and Industrial Dynamic Analysis (MIDAS) Research Group, part of Centre for Advanced Engineering Systems & Interactions, has at its disposal an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) named Springer (http://www.tech.plymouth.ac.uk/sme/springerusv/) which is a unique facility within the UK university sector. Currently under the auspices of an EPSRC funded research project, the vehicle has been involved in full scale trials at Roadford Reservoir since September 2013 which are still ongoing. The purpose of this series of trials has been to test and calibrate a new navigation system and check out its radio and Wi-Fi communications systems, and to collect data in order to develop a dynamic model of Springer using system identification methods. Since Springer is a multi-role USV, several of the trials also concerned it performing missions with

varying payloads so that the robustness qualities of its novel adaptive autopilot could be verified. Further work with the USV will be to investigate its capabilities of operating autonomously in a GPS denied environment using a navigation subsystem based on visual simultaneous location and mapping techniques. More recently, the MIDAS and Geomatics Research Groups procured a StarFish side-scan sonar for Springer. The integrated system will be used to conduct autonomous surveys to help in the investigation of the maritime history of Plymouth and its estuaries. Such applications will provide sound scientific and historical data that will generate public interest and raise the profile of Plymouth University through the Marine Institute.

For more information contact: Dr Sanjay Sharma, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Marine and Industrial Dynamic Analysis (MIDAS).

Springer


NEWS

The largest mass extinction event to have affected marine animals occurred near the end of the Permian period, about 252 million years ago. It was associated with an episode of global warming and other environmental changes linked to major volcanic eruptions. The loss of around 90% of marine species is thought to have had substantial ecological effects, but the overall impact on the functioning of marine ecosystems has not previously been studied.

Professor Richard Twitchett and PhD student William Foster, of the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, compiled a detailed list of all fossil benthic marine invertebrates known from rocks of that age, mapping where and when they lived in terms of habitat, region and latitude. They worked out how each of the species moved, what they fed upon, and what role they played in the ecosystem. The final database comprised 22,263 individual fossil occurrences and a total of 1,770 genera.

Following analysis of this database, they discovered that despite the selective extinction of 62-74% of these genera, only one minor functional group disappeared, and there was no significant loss of functional diversity at the global scale. Benthic animals are crucial in driving nutrient cycles and the fact that none of the key benthic ecological groups was completely eliminated during this event was unexpected. At the global scale, the post-extinction ocean was a bit like a ship being run by a skeleton crew: all stations were operational but “manned” by relatively few species. This may explain why there was no explosive radiation of new animal types in the aftermath of the extinction.

However, the results also clearly show that some ecosystems did completely collapse locally, including all tropical reefs. Surprisingly, the major loss of functional diversity in reef settings happened well before the extinction event and onset of climate change.

The study has been published in Nature Geoscience, and was funded by NERC as part of their Coevolution of Life and the Planet research programme. www.lifeandplanet.net

For more information contact: Professor Richard Twitchett; School of Geography and Environmental Science; Centre for Research in Earth Sciences (CRES).


www.plymouth.ac.uk/marine


RESEARCH

Plymouth University coastal scientists receive funding to study full impact of winter storms


Coastal scientists at Plymouth University have launched a 12-month project to fully analyse how the recent barrage of devastating winter storms has affected the communities and coastlines of south west England.

From early December 2013 to February 2014, the coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset were battered by an unprecedented run of major winter storms. Infrastructure and coastal defences have been badly damaged, and initial analysis of the wave data has suggested the storms were the most energetic to affect the South West since 1950.

Now with funding from the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), scientists from Plymouth University’s CCOSE will work alongside the Plymouth Coastal Observatory and the Met Office to assess the direct impact of the storms on the coast, and on the communities that live there. The researchers hope the results of this project will help develop adaptation strategies that might be implemented before future storms.

Professor Gerd Masselink, Principal Investigator at the University’s Rapid Coastal Response Unit, said: “The coastal impact of this sequence of extreme Atlantic storms has been very significant. At several locations, prominent coastal landforms – such as bridges, stacks and arches – have disappeared, suggesting that at least some of the coastal changes will be permanent. However, many changes will turn out to be, in fact, reversible – such is the nature of a dynamic coastline.

“The extent of the damage and disruption caused by the storms, however, highlights the vulnerability of the coast of England to such extreme storm events and a pertinent question to be raised in this context is how sustainable some coastal communities

are in the long-term. One of our main goals is to evaluate vulnerability to similar events and get people thinking about the future by exploring ideas about coastal adaptation strategies.”

During the project, the scientists from Plymouth will measure how the storms affected beaches, cliffs and sand dunes at more than 25 sites around the South West, including popular summer holiday destinations such as Porthleven, Bude and Westward Ho!

They will also assess changes to the underwater landscape at two sites on the north and south Cornish coasts, and use a wave model developed by the Met Office to test out different wave climate scenarios.

The work will feed into a Google Earth-based Atlantic storm coastal impact map to help illustrate the vulnerability of the southwest to Atlantic storms. This map will be useful for coastal councils and general audiences such as A-level geography students.

Professor Duncan Wingham, Chief Executive of NERC, said: “The storms that hit the South West this past winter were some of the worst on record. And with recent simulations suggesting this coastline may become a region of intensified storm activity in future, it’s fitting that NERC is funding this research.”

The £50,000 project started on 1 March 2014, running for one year, and Professor Masselink will work with Professor Paul Russell, Dr Mark Davidson, Dr Daniel Conley and Dr Stephen Fletcher, also from Plymouth University, the Plymouth Coastal Observatory and the Met Office.

For more information contact, Professor Paul Russell, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Centre for Coastal and Ocean Science and Engineering (CCOSE).



Public lecture provided a beacon of light into the history of the Eddystone Lighthouse

The story of one of Plymouth’s most iconic marine landmarks was explored at a special event hosted by Plymouth University’s Marine Institute. An audience of over 200 people attended the event ‘Uncovering Secrets of Eddystone Lighthouse’ to learn about the construction and design of the building, the waves that battle the lighthouse and marine life found beneath it.

The current lighthouse dates back to 1882 and was designed by James Douglass. It is the fourth lighthouse to stand atop the rocks after the first two were destroyed by storm and fire, and the third – designed by John Smeaton and now on the Hoe – had to be dismantled when erosion affected its stability.

Professor Martin Attrill, Director of the Marine Institute, said: “The Eddystone lighthouse is perhaps the iconic symbol of Plymouth, familiar to us all from Smeaton’s Tower on the Hoe and that tower on the horizon as we stare out to sea on a clear day.

But what do we know about the actual lighthouse, perched on a rocky reef 14 km

south of Rame Head, or the treacherous reef itself?

The Plymouth University Marine Institute Spring Public Event heard from three experts, who each covered different aspects of the lighthouse.

Nigel Overton, Curator (City & Maritime Heritage) at Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery, talked about the different iterations and the pioneers who built them, and considered their historical legacies. Dr Alison Raby, Reader in Coastal Engineering in the University’s School of Marine Science and Engineering, considered the tremendous natural forces that the lighthouse is forced to withstand, and how the original designers accounted for these dramatic wave loads. Meanwhile, the rocky terrain of Eddystone Reef, and the marine life that makes its home there, was the focus of Paul Naylor, Marine Biologist, underwater photographer and author.

For more information contact: Frances Peckett; Plymouth University Marine Institute; email: [email protected].

NEWS

Above left to right:Nigel Overton; Professor Martin Attrill; Dr Alison Raby; Paul Naylor




NEWS

Dr Kerry Howell, Associate Professor (Reader) in Marine Ecology, (Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre) has been awarded a Natural Environment Research Council grant in collaboration with Oxford University. The project ‘Influence of population connectivity on depth-dependent diversity of deep-sea marine benthic biota’ will run for three years and start in February 2015. Other Plymouth University researchers involved in the project are Nicola Foster, Andy Foggo, Alex Nimmo Smith, Vasyl Vlasenko and Nataliya Stashchuk. The funding total is £1,121585, of which £573,803 will come to Plymouth.

The study aims to test how patterns of population connectivity vary with depth. This will be done in 3 ways: 1) using genetic analysis (similar to DNA fingerprinting) to compare how related distant populations are and if they become less closely related as you go deeper, 2) using a model of ocean currents to simulate the movement of larvae between sites, and 3) to look at the range and abundance of species present at distant locations to see if those at shallower depths are more similar to each other than those at bathyal depths.

Dr Mark Briffa, Reader/Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour, Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre, has recently started as a Handling Editor at Biology Letters. This is a Royal Society journal that publishes “short, highly-innovative, cutting-edge research articles and opinion pieces accessible to scientists from across the biological sciences”. A Handling Editor makes

decisions on manuscripts based on the advice of the editorial board and / or peer review.

Professor Awadhesh Jha, Professor of Genetic Toxicology & Ecotoxicology, (Ecotoxicology Research & Innovation Centre) has been awarded a Natural Environment Research Council consortium grant. The consortium involves Plymouth University, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Kings College London, University of Nottingham and an International Partner, University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy. The project ‘Elucidating the potential interaction of manufactured nanoparticles with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: An integrated toxicogenomics approach’ has a total value of £ 749 K; Plymouth University’s share is approximately £442 K.

Dr David Bilton, Associate Professor and Reader in Aquatic Biology, Marine Biology & Ecology Research Centre, has been awarded the Marsh award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation. The award is administered by the Zoological Society of London (http://www.zsl.org/science/scientific-awards/) and is presented annually for contribution to fundamental science and its application to the conservation of marine and/or freshwater ecosystems. Dr Bilton will be presented with the award at a ceremony in June.

Dr Gregory Borne, Lecturer in Public Management, Plymouth School of Government (Plymouth Sustainability and Surfing Research Group), has started a blog on sustainability and surfing on the Huffington Post. Dr Borne’s first blog post discusses the impacts of surf tourism and the potential for making it more sustainable. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/gregory-borne/sustainability-surfing_b_4743397.html

A team of four 3rd year engineering students are going to compete in the 2nd European International Submarine Races. The PULSE (Plymouth University Leg-powered Submarine Engineering) team are designing and building a human-powered, flooded-hull submarine to compete with students from three continents. The team have funding through the Marine Institute (HEIF) and are looking for local industry sponsors.

If you are interested in sponsoring the team contact Dr Keri Collins ([email protected]).

For further information on the European International Submarine Races visit their website http://www.subrace.eu/

Announcements




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BUSINESS & LEISURE

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EARTH SCIENCES

ECOTOXICOLOGY

GEOGRAPHY

HYDROGRAPHY

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MARINE TECHNOLOGY & ROBOTICS

MARITIME LOGISTICS & ECONOMICS

MEDIA, ART & DESIGN

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OCEANOGRAPHY

PSYCHOLOGY

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ISSUE 13 | 2014 MINEWS · 2015-01-13 · 03 Fossils shed new light on the oceans’ capacity to survive climate change NEWS 05 Plymouth University coastal scientists receive funding

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