Skip to main content
Overview

Professor Dave Roberts

Professor


Affiliations
AffiliationRoom numberTelephone
Professor in the Department of GeographyS101+44 (0) 191 33 41935
Professor , Sea Level, Ice and ClimateS101+44 (0) 191 33 41935

Biography

My research interests centre on glacial sedimentary processes and understanding millenial-scale changes in ice sheet and ice stream dynamics.

In Greenland my work focuses on ice sheet evolution and ice stream dynamics during the last glacial cycle. I have studied ice sheet behaviour along the West and Southeast margins of the Greenland ice sheet and also have interests in large palaeo, cross-shelf ice streams such as the Uummannaq Ice Stream System, Jakobshavns Isbare and Holsteinborgs Isbrae and the forcing mechanisms that govern their long term behaviour. Our new work on the NE Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS Project 2016 - 2020) aims to shed light on the deglacial and Holocene dynamic history of NEGIS and to explore the forcing mechanisms that governed its millenial-scale behaviour.

In the UK, my work in Norfolk, the Irish Sea and the East coast has focussed on the importance of understanding the subglacial and ice marginal processes that accompany ice sheet/stream advance and retreat during glacial cycles. On the east coast, understanding the controls on LGM ice sheet dynamics and fast ice flow in the NE sector of the BIIS has been a major focus of recent work, as have interactions between the British and Fennoscandanavian ice sheets throughout the Quaternary. Two current projects; Britice-Chrono (NERC Consortium) and GLANAM (EU Funded); are both aiming to reconstruct deglacial behaviour of the British-Irish Ice Sheet in order to contextualise future changes in Greeland and Antartica.

Research interests

  • Subglacial processes and ice sheet dynamics
  • Ice stream evolution and behaviour
  • Ice-sheet marginal dynamics, glaciomarine processes and sea-level change

Research Projects

  • BRITICE‐CHRONO: Constraining Rates and Style of Marine‐Influenced Ice Sheet Decay
  • Deglacial History of the Southeast Sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet During the Last Glacial Maximum, The
  • Geochronology and dynamics of the western sector of the Greenland Ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum, The
  • Glaciated North Atlantic Margins (GLANAM)
  • Greenland in a Warmer Climate: What Controls the Advance & Retreat of the NE Greenland Ice Stream? (NEGIS)
  • Reconstructing Ice Sheet History Using Relative Sea-Level (RSL) Observations and Modelling
  • Streamlined Bedrock Terrain and Fast Ice Flow, Jakobshavns Isbrae, West Greenland: Implications for Ice Stream and Ice Sheet Dynamics
  • Swale-Ure Washlands Project, The

Publications

Authored book

  • Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H (2013). Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. QRA.

Chapter in book

  • Davies, B., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H. (2013). - Geology and Landscape. In Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H. QRA.
  • Davies, B., Bridgland, D.R., Roberts, D.H. & O Cofaigh, C. (2013). - Whitburn Bay. In Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H QRA.
  • Roberts, D.H., Mitchell, W.A., Bridgland, D.R. & Innes, J.I. (2013). - Marfield Quarry. In Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H. QRA.
  • Davies, B., Bridgland, D.R., Roberts, D.H. & O Cofaigh, C. (2013). - Warren House Gill. In Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H QRA.
  • Davies, B. & Roberts, D.H. (2013). - Overview of the glacial sediments of County Durham. In Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Davies, B., Yorke, L., Bridgland, D.R. & Roberts, D.H. QRA.
  • Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2011). - Macro and microstructural evidence for a deforming glacier bed: East Runton to West Runton. In Glaciotectonic Field Guide. Phillips, E., Lee, J.R. & Evans, H.M. QRA.
  • Chiverrell, R., Innes, J. B., Thomas, G., Gonzalez, S., Roberts, D. H. & Coope R. (2006). Emerging from the Ice Age. In A New History of the Isle of Man: Volume 1: Evolution of the natural landscape. Chiverrell, R. C. & Thomas, G. S. P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 1: 220-278.
  • Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Roberts, D.H., Tomlinson, G.S.P., Pooley, E., Fullen, M., Hallett, M. & Harris, J. (2006). The Holocene. In A New History of the Isle of Man. Chiverrell, R.C. & Thomas, G.S.P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 1: The Evolution of the Natural Landscape.: 126-219.
  • Thomas, G.S.P., Chiverrell, R.C., Huddart, D., Long, D. & Roberts, D.H. (2006). The Ice Age. In A New History of the Isle of Man. Chiverrell, R.C. & Thomas, G.S.P. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 126-219.
  • Roberts, D.H., Dackombe, R.V. & Thomas, G.S.P. (2004). The glacial landsystem signature of the south Isle of Man. In The Quaternary of the Isle of Man and North West England. Chiverrell, R.C., Plater, A.J. & Thomas, G.S.P. Quaternary Research Association. 44-53.
  • Roberts, D.H., Chiverrell, R.C., Innes, J.B., Gonzalez, S., Turner, S. & Horton, B.P. (2004). New data on Holocene sea-level changes on the Isle of Man. In The Quaternary of the Isle of Man and North West England. Chiverrell, R.C., Plater, A.J. & Thomas, G.S.P. Quaternary Research Association. 112-124.
  • Chadwick, R. A., Jackson, D. I., Kimbell, G. S., Johnson, H., Chiverell, R. C., Thomas, G. S. P., Jones, N. S., Riley, N. J., Pickett, E. A., Young, B., Holliday, D. W., Ball, D. F., Molyneux, S. G., Long, D., Power, G. M. & Roberts, D.H. (2001). In The Geology of the Isle of Man and its offshore area. Keyworth, Nottingham shire: British Geological Survey.
  • Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2000). The glacial deposits of West Runton. In The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk. Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. 77-85.
  • Roberts, D.H. & Hart, J.K. (2000). The glacial deposits of Trimingham. In The Quaternary of Norfolk and Suffolk, QRA Field Guide. Lewis, S.G., Whiteman, C.A. & Preece, R.C. 103-111.
  • Long, A.J. & Roberts, D.H. (1997). Sea-level change. In England's Coastal Heritage: A Survey for English Heritage and the RCHME. English Heritage and the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. Fulford, M., Champion, T. & Long, A.J. Archaeological Report. 15: 25-49.

Journal Article

Supervision students