Professor Dave Roberts' Outputs (89)

The late Quaternary glacial depositional environment at Filey Bay, eastern England: Accretionary mechanisms for thick sequences of tills and stratified diamictons (2024)
Journal Article
Evans, D. J., Roberts, D. H., & Phillips, E. (2024). The late Quaternary glacial depositional environment at Filey Bay, eastern England: Accretionary mechanisms for thick sequences of tills and stratified diamictons. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 135(3), 217-236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.01.003

Construction of the Holderness/Flamborough Head moraine belt on the East Yorkshire coast, England, records the oscillatory onshore flow of the North Sea Lobe of the British-Irish Ice Sheet from ~25.8 to ~19.7 ka BP, during which time a thick sequence... Read More about The late Quaternary glacial depositional environment at Filey Bay, eastern England: Accretionary mechanisms for thick sequences of tills and stratified diamictons.

Past glaciation of temperate‐continental mountains: A model for a debris‐charged plateau icefield/cirque glacier landsystem in the Southern Carpathians, Romania (2023)
Journal Article
Balaban, C., Roberts, D., Evans, D., & Jamieson, S. (2024). Past glaciation of temperate‐continental mountains: A model for a debris‐charged plateau icefield/cirque glacier landsystem in the Southern Carpathians, Romania. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 49(2), 601-621. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5723

Reconstructing the extent, style, timing and drivers of past mountain glaciation is crucial in both understanding past atmospheric circulation and predicting future climate change. Unlike in high‐elevation mountains situated in maritime and continent... Read More about Past glaciation of temperate‐continental mountains: A model for a debris‐charged plateau icefield/cirque glacier landsystem in the Southern Carpathians, Romania.

Direct measurement of warm Atlantic Intermediate Water close to the grounding line of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79° N) Glacier, northeast Greenland (2023)
Journal Article
Bentley, M. J., Smith, J. A., Jamieson, S. S., Lindeman, M. R., Rea, B. R., Humbert, A., Lane, T. P., Darvill, C. M., Lloyd, J. M., Straneo, F., Helm, V., & Roberts, D. H. (2023). Direct measurement of warm Atlantic Intermediate Water close to the grounding line of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79° N) Glacier, northeast Greenland. The Cryosphere, 17(5), 1821-1837. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1821-2023

The Northeast Greenland Ice Stream has recently seen significant change to its floating margins and has been identified as vulnerable to future climate warming. Inflow of warm Atlantic Intermediate Water (AIW) from the continental shelf has been obse... Read More about Direct measurement of warm Atlantic Intermediate Water close to the grounding line of Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden (79° N) Glacier, northeast Greenland.

Ice-ocean interactions at the Northeast Greenland Ice stream (NEGIS) over the past 11,000 years (2023)
Journal Article
Lloyd, J., Ribeiro, S., Weckström, K., Callard, L., Ó Cofaigh, C., Leng, M., Gulliver, P., & Roberts, D. (2023). Ice-ocean interactions at the Northeast Greenland Ice stream (NEGIS) over the past 11,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews, 308, Article 108068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108068

Recent observations have identified increased mass loss from Greenland marine-terminating outlet glaciers (MTOG) with implications for global sea-level rise and wider ocean circulation. The flow of Atlantic-sourced waters to the Greenland margin is t... Read More about Ice-ocean interactions at the Northeast Greenland Ice stream (NEGIS) over the past 11,000 years.

Holocene history of the 79° N ice shelf reconstructed from epishelf lake and uplifted glaciomarine sediments (2023)
Journal Article
Smith, J. A., Callard, L., Bentley, M. J., Jamieson, S. S., Sánchez-Montes, M. L., Lane, T. P., Lloyd, J. M., McClymont, E. L., Darvill, C. M., Rea, B. R., O'Cofaigh, C., Gulliver, P., Ehrmann, W., Jones, R. S., & Roberts, D. H. (2023). Holocene history of the 79° N ice shelf reconstructed from epishelf lake and uplifted glaciomarine sediments. The Cryosphere, 17(3), https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-1247-2023

Nioghalvfjerdsbrae, or 79◦ N Glacier, is the largest marine-terminating glacier draining the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). In recent years, its ∼ 70 km long fringing ice shelf (hereafter referred to as the 79◦ N ice shelf) has thinned, and... Read More about Holocene history of the 79° N ice shelf reconstructed from epishelf lake and uplifted glaciomarine sediments.

Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 1 - morphometric analyses (2023)
Journal Article
Newton, M., Stokes, C. R., Roberts, D. H., & Evans, D. J. (2023). Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 1 - morphometric analyses. Geomorphology, 427, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108619

Bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) are subglacial landforms of erosion that occur in glaciated terrain in various geological and (palaeo)glaciological settings. Despite a significant literature on BMGs, no systematic morphometric analysis of these landforms... Read More about Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 1 - morphometric analyses.

Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 2 – conceptual models of BMG initiation (2023)
Journal Article
Evans, D. J., Newton, M., Roberts, D. H., & Stokes, C. R. (2023). Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 2 – conceptual models of BMG initiation. Geomorphology, 427, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108620

Understanding BMG formation equates to being able to explain their initiation as well as their subsequent evolution. Several scenarios of bedrock mega-groove (BMG) initiation are proposed here, which attempt to explain how such parallel fluted terrai... Read More about Characteristics and formation of bedrock mega-grooves (BMGs) in glaciated terrain: 2 – conceptual models of BMG initiation.

The geomorphological record of an ice stream to ice shelf transition in Northeast Greenland (2023)
Journal Article
Lane, T., Darvill, C., Rea, B., Bentley, M., Smith, J., Jamieson, S., Ó Cofaigh, C., & Roberts, D. (2023). The geomorphological record of an ice stream to ice shelf transition in Northeast Greenland. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 48(7), 1321-1341. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5552

Understanding ice stream dynamics over decadal to millennial timescales is crucial for improving numerical model projections of ice sheet behaviour and future ice loss. In marine-terminating settings, ice shelves play a critical role in controlling i... Read More about The geomorphological record of an ice stream to ice shelf transition in Northeast Greenland.

Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction (2022)
Journal Article
Clark, C. D., Ely, J. C., Hindmarsh, R. C., Bradley, S., Ignéczi, A., Fabel, D., Ó Cofaigh, C., Chiverrell, R. C., Scourse, J., Benetti, S., Bradwell, T., Evans, D. J., Roberts, D. H., Burke, M., Callard, S. L., Medialdea, A., Saher, M., Small, D., Smedley, R. K., Gasson, E., …Wilson, P. (2022). Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction. Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research, 51(4), 699-758. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12594

The BRITICE-CHRONO consortium of researchers undertook a dating programme to constrain the timing of advance, maximum extent and retreat of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between 31 000 and 15 000 years before present. The dating campaign across Ireland... Read More about Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction.

The historical emergence of a geometric and sinuous ridge network at the Hørbyebreen polythermal glacier snout, Svalbard and its use in the interpretation of ancient glacial landforms (2022)
Journal Article
Evans, D. J., Ewertowski, M., Roberts, D. H., & Tomczyk, A. M. (2022). The historical emergence of a geometric and sinuous ridge network at the Hørbyebreen polythermal glacier snout, Svalbard and its use in the interpretation of ancient glacial landforms. Geomorphology, 406, Article 108213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108213

The post Little Ice Age recession and downwasting of Hørbyebreen, a Svalbard polythermal glacier, has revealed a sub-polar glacial landsystem within which a geometric and sinuous ridge network (GSRN) has evolved by ice melt-out. Spatio-temporal evolu... Read More about The historical emergence of a geometric and sinuous ridge network at the Hørbyebreen polythermal glacier snout, Svalbard and its use in the interpretation of ancient glacial landforms.

Maximum extent and readvance dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream and Irish Sea Glacier since the Last Glacial Maximum (2021)
Journal Article
Scourse, J., Chiverrell, R., Smedley, R., Small, D., Burke, M., Saher, M., Van Landeghem, K., Duller, G., Cofaigh, C. Ó., Bateman, M., Benetti, S., Bradley, S., Callard, L., Evans, D., Fabel, D., Jenkins, G., McCarron, S., Medialdea, A., Moreton, S., Ou, X., …Clark, C. (2021). Maximum extent and readvance dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream and Irish Sea Glacier since the Last Glacial Maximum. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 780-804. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3313

The BRITICE‐CHRONO Project has generated a suite of recently published radiocarbon ages from deglacial sequences offshore in the Celtic and Irish seas and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and optically stimulated luminescence ages from adjacent onshore... Read More about Maximum extent and readvance dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream and Irish Sea Glacier since the Last Glacial Maximum.

Timing and pace of ice-sheet withdrawal across the marine-terrestrial transition west of Ireland during the last glaciation (2021)
Journal Article
Ó Cofaigh, C., Callrd, S., Roberts, D., Chiverrell, R., Ballantyne, C., Evans, D., Saher, M., Van Landeghem, K., Smedley, R., Benetti, S., Burke, M., Clark, C., Duller, G., Fabel, D., Livingstone, S., McCarron, S., Medialdea, A., Moreton, S., & Sacchetti, F. (2021). Timing and pace of ice-sheet withdrawal across the marine-terrestrial transition west of Ireland during the last glaciation. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 805-832. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3295

Understanding the pace and drivers of marine-based ice-sheet retreat relies upon the integration of numerical ice-sheet models with observations from contemporary polar ice sheets and well-constrained palaeo-glaciological reconstructions. This paper... Read More about Timing and pace of ice-sheet withdrawal across the marine-terrestrial transition west of Ireland during the last glaciation.

Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet advance and retreat over the last 45 000 years: evidence from NW Scotland and the adjacent continental shelf (2021)
Journal Article
Bradwell, T., Fabel, D., Clark, C. D., Chiverrell, R. C., Small, D., Smedley, R. K., Saher, M. H., Moreton, S. G., Dove, D., Callard, S. L., Duller, G. A., Medialdea, A., Bateman, M. D., Burke, M. J., McDonald, N., Gilgannon, S., Morgan, S., Roberts, D. H., & Ó Cofaigh, C. (2021). Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet advance and retreat over the last 45 000 years: evidence from NW Scotland and the adjacent continental shelf. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 871 - 933. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3296

Predicting the future response of ice sheets to climate warming and rising global sea level is important but difficult. This is especially so when fast-flowing glaciers or ice streams, buffered by ice shelves, are grounded on beds below sea level. Wh... Read More about Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet advance and retreat over the last 45 000 years: evidence from NW Scotland and the adjacent continental shelf.

Retreat dynamics of the eastern sector of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation (2021)
Journal Article
Evans, D. J., Roberts, D. H., Bateman, M. D., Clark, C. D., Medialdea, A., Callard, L., Grimoldi, E., Chiverrell, R. C., Ely, J., Dove, D., Ó Cofaigh, C., Saher, M., Bradwell, T., Moreton, S. G., Fabel, D., & Bradley, S. L. (2021). Retreat dynamics of the eastern sector of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 723-751. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3275

The findings of BRITICE‐CHRONO Transect 2 through the North Sea Basin and eastern England are reported. We define ice‐sheet marginal oscillation between ~31 and 16 ka, with seven distinctive former ice‐sheet limits (L1–7) constrained by Bayesian stat... Read More about Retreat dynamics of the eastern sector of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation.

A Detailed Record of Deglacial and Early Post-Glacial Fluvial Evolution: The River Ure in North Yorkshire, UK (2021)
Journal Article
Innes, J., Mitchell, W., O’Brien, C., Roberts, D., Rutherford, M., & Bridgland, D. (2021). A Detailed Record of Deglacial and Early Post-Glacial Fluvial Evolution: The River Ure in North Yorkshire, UK. Quaternary, 4(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4010009

The lower reaches of the River Ure, on the flanks of the Pennine Hills in northern England, contain sedimentary and erosional landforms that are a record of fluvial activity during deglaciation and valley-glacier retreat at the end of the last (Deven... Read More about A Detailed Record of Deglacial and Early Post-Glacial Fluvial Evolution: The River Ure in North Yorkshire, UK.

The deglaciation of the western sector of the Irish Ice Sheet from the inner continental shelf to its terrestrial margin (2020)
Journal Article
Roberts, D., Ó Cofaigh, C., Ballantyne, C., Burke, M., Chiverrell, R., Evans, D., Clark, C., Duller, G., Ely, J., Fabel, D., Small, D., Smedley, R., & Callard, S. (2020). The deglaciation of the western sector of the Irish Ice Sheet from the inner continental shelf to its terrestrial margin. Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research, 49(3), 438-460. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12448

This paper provides a new deglacial chronology for retreat of the Irish Ice Sheet from the continental shelf of western Ireland to the adjoining coastline, a region where the timing and drivers of ice recession have never been fully constrained. Prev... Read More about The deglaciation of the western sector of the Irish Ice Sheet from the inner continental shelf to its terrestrial margin.

The glacial landsystem of Fjallsjökull, Iceland: Spatial and temporal evolution of process-form regimes at an active temperate glacier (2020)
Journal Article
Chandler, B. M., Evans, D. J., Chandler, S. J., Ewertowski, M. W., Lovell, H., Roberts, D. H., Schaefer, M., & Tomczyk, A. M. (in press). The glacial landsystem of Fjallsjökull, Iceland: Spatial and temporal evolution of process-form regimes at an active temperate glacier. Geomorphology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107192

This study assesses the spatial and temporal evolution of the glacial landsystem signature at Fjallsjökull, southeast Iceland, using (a) mapping of the glacial geomorphology and surficial geology and (b) repeat uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys.... Read More about The glacial landsystem of Fjallsjökull, Iceland: Spatial and temporal evolution of process-form regimes at an active temperate glacier.

Sub‐annual moraine formation at an active temperate Icelandic glacier (2020)
Journal Article
Chandler, B. M., Chandler, S. J., Evans, D. J., Ewertowski, M. W., Lovell, H., Roberts, D. H., Schaefer, M., & Tomczyk, A. M. (2020). Sub‐annual moraine formation at an active temperate Icelandic glacier. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 45(7), 1622-1643. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4835

This paper presents detailed geomorphological and sedimentological investigations of small recessional moraines at Fjallsjökull, an active temperate outlet of Öræfajökull, southeast Iceland. The moraines are characterised by striking sawtooth or hair... Read More about Sub‐annual moraine formation at an active temperate Icelandic glacier.

Bathymetry constrains ocean heat supply to Greenland’s largest glacier tongue (2020)
Journal Article
Schaffer, J., Kanzow, T., von Appen, W.-J., von Albedyll, L., Arndt, J. E., & Roberts, D. H. (2020). Bathymetry constrains ocean heat supply to Greenland’s largest glacier tongue. Nature Geoscience, 13(3), 227-231. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0529-x

Mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has increased over the past two decades, currently accounting for 25% of global sea-level rise. This is due to increased surface melt driven by atmospheric warming and the retreat and acceleration of marine-term... Read More about Bathymetry constrains ocean heat supply to Greenland’s largest glacier tongue.

Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet retreat: Shetland and northern North Sea sector (2019)
Journal Article
Bradwell, T., Small, D., Fabel, D., Clark, C. D., Chiverrell, R. C., Saher, M. H., Dove, D., Callard, S. L., Burke, M. J., Moreton, S. G., Medialdea, A., Bateman, M. D., Roberts, D. H., Golledge, N. R., Finlayson, A., Morgan, S., & Ó Cofaigh, C. (2021). Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet retreat: Shetland and northern North Sea sector. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(5), 681-722. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3163

The offshore sector around Shetland remains one of the least well‐studied parts of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with several long‐standing scientific issues unresolved. These key issues include (i) the dominance of a locally sourced ‘Shetland i... Read More about Pattern, style and timing of British–Irish Ice Sheet retreat: Shetland and northern North Sea sector.