Geomorphology Association of Ireland Autumn 2024
Introduction
Dear Members,
Welcome to the Autumn 2024 edition of the GAI newsletter. In this edition we have an exciting bursary announcement, lots of recent news from the geomorphology community - even some TV stardom for our coastal crew! - and a feature article that deftly describes the experience of geomorphological fieldwork. We hope you enjoy this issue, and thank you to all our contributors.
Please share with any interested folk and encourage them to join the GAI, more information can be found at our website:
GAI webpage: https://www.irishgeomorphology.ie/
Bursary announcement!
Mr. Richard A. Marston has very generously made a donation to the GAI for the purpose of three undergraduate / postgraduate bursaries for 2024.
Three bursaries are to be made for 2024, each of which is €360. The bursaries are intended for:
- Geomorphology-related fieldwork;
- Travel to assist attending a geomorphology-related workshop or conference; and/or
- Geomorphology research.
Applicants should submit a short letter outlining the reasons for their application addressed to the President of the Geomorphology Association of Ireland no later than the 1st of November 2024 (send to: igeomorphology@gmail.com). Applicants should reflect in their letter about how the bursary would benefit their research and contribute to geomorphology research in Ireland. The applications will be reviewed by the GAI committee and it is expected that the bursaries will be awarded by the 22nd of November 2024.
Successful applicants are expected to provide evidence to the GAI regarding how you used the bursary and also prepare a short article for the GAI newsletter / website on how the bursary benefited your research.
Applicants for the bursaries must be paid members of the Geomorphology Association of Ireland for the year in which the bursary is awarded.
Did you know?
Save the date! GAI Annual Workshop 2025
Dr Niamh Cullen would like you to save the date - April 11th 2025 for the next GAI annual workshop to be held in Dublin City University. Details will be forthcoming.
Windsor Workshop 2024
The British Society for Geomorphology is hosting its annual Windsor Workshop from 02 – 05 December 2024. This is a 3-day workshop open to first year PhD students in Geomorphology, hosted in Windsor Great Park just outside of London. From their website - "The workshop introduces new skills and ideas, and you’ll meet fellow new postgraduates, practicing researchers and the BSG postgraduate representatives." It is a great opportunity to connect with other first year PhDs from the UK and Europe and learn about presentation skills, data analysis, and publishing in geomorphology. The cost is relatively small however there are bursaries available to students applying from abroad. The call should open sometime in October or November, so keep an eye out at: https://www.geomorphology.org.uk/windsor-workshop/
Book release
Keep an eye out for a new publication called 'Lakes in Ireland – Mirrors of Change' coming this year. Showcasing decades of all-island lake research, it includes chapters on the glacial origins of lakes, sediment deposits, biodiversity, hydrology, climate change, archaeological history and more!
Recent news and events
Ireland's Coasts
A three-part documentary series focusing on Ireland's coast is available to stream on RTE player. It discusses the origin story of Ireland’s coast with historical sea level change, the Irish people's ancient relationship with their coastal environment and waters, how climate change is impacting this environment, and how innovative communities are striving to protect the coast. Several GAI members have contributed to this series, amongst a broader Irish academic cohort, as seen below. Watch and share!
Dune research programme
Dr Eugene Farrell (University of Galway)
In August, Dr Eugene Farrell co-led a 3-day field research programme to collect buried dune sediment samples on the Maharees tombolo and Inch barrier in west Kerry with Dr Gordon Bromley (Geography, University of Galway) and Prof Kathryn Fitzsimmons (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia). The research aims to date the most recent age of dune formation in these areas using a technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating or optical dating. In essence, the technique determines the time since quartz grains began to store charge as they cool through the effective closure temperature. As they cool, they trap electron charges originating from within the crystal lattice. These charges are accommodated within crystallographic defects or vacancies in their crystal lattices as the mineral cools below the closure temperature. During de-trapping of these electrons, luminescence is produced. The luminescence or light emission from the mineral is assumed to be proportional to the trapped electron charge population. The work will extend previous research findings that reported large-scale reworking of Irish dune systems from the Little Ice Age. In 2025, the research is being extended with funding from NPWS. The team would like to thank all the landowners for permission to collect samples and Prof. Robert Devoy for his excellent field support and insights.
Image: E.Farrell (University of Galway)
Project update: Climate, Storm Inundation, and Coastal Boulder Deposits in Western Ireland (CliMB)
Dr Mary Bourke (Trinity College Dublin)
This project is funded by The Naughton Faculty Research Accelerator Program (2022-2024). In May we visited our field site on Inis Meáin, an island located off the west coast of Ireland. It was a return visit to download data from instruments and measure boulder movement. Blessed with sunshine, we were able to retrieve most equipment and quantify the distance and direction of our 22 monitored boulders. The Aran Islands have so much interesting geomorphology to offer, the images below show the complex array of the coastal rock coasts.
Image: M. Bourke (TCD). Annotations:
1. Outcrops of the massively bedded carboniferous limestone forming distinctive steps in the landscape.
2. A lower bed, slightly dipping showing micro-basin, trough solutional weathering exploitation along bedrock weaknesses (jointing).
3. Evidence of the geomorphic effect of large storms in the deposition of mega clasts and boulders against topographic breaks of slope.
4. Finally, a distinctive, beautiful, and skilled signature of humans. Who have been building with stone since 3,000 BC but have constructed these stone walls more recently.
The island rises 84 m above the Atlantic and I have found the intertidal zone difficult to image in this macro- tidal (~4.5 m) region. However, I did manage to climb down into the intertidal area to view these large solutional basins and smoothed pinnacles.
Image: M. Bourke (TCD).
We had the additional ‘bucket-list’ experience of the Aurora Borealis after midnight on May 10th. We had the coincident of an intense solar storm (at least 5 coronal mass ejections (CME)) from a sunspot cluster on the earth-facing side of the sun. This activity was combined with clear skies and being in a low-light pollution area of Ireland (dark sky).
Image: M. Bourke (TCD).
Geomorphology at IGC2024
Emily Rick, Kate de Smeth and Dr Jonathan Turner (UCD Geography) led a session on the 'Geographies of Rivers and Floodplains' focusing on the management of riverine environments. Talks included a new geomorphological mapping method, hydrological impacts of arterial drainage, channel response to weir removal, social connectivity along urban rivers, and an innovative example from Hungary of how to build local support for floodplain restoration.
There were also several sessions about coastal geomorphology, as well as peatlands (read more in the next section!).
Dr Eugene Farrell led a fieldtrip that showcased examples in Galway of (1) how our unique glacial history impacts our coastal landscapes and (2) how our conceptual and technical understanding of coastal resilience is used to effectively restore a coastal ecosystem and (3) adaptation strategies to manage flood risks in Galway City. The 38 delegates were mostly international and visited Silverstrand (coastal drumlin), Grattan Beach (dune Nature-based Solution) and the Spanish Arch (coastal flooding). The fieldtrip included onsite discussions with experts working in these areas: Dr Gordon Bromley and Ms Silvia Cascone (Geography, University of Galway) and Ms Paula Kearney (Galway City Council).
Image: E.Farrell (University of Galway)
Peatlands at IGC2024
Dr Dave O'Leary (Teagasc)
Peatlands were well represented at the IGC2024 which was held at the DCU Glasnevin campus in Dublin.
"Old Peat, New Voices: Frontiers in Global Peatland from Early Career Researchers" is an important session in the peat conference circuit which is run yearly by a global network of early career researchers known as the "Peatland ECR Action Team". This year the session was co-convened by Elena Aitova, Dave O'Leary and Richa Marwaha, who are members of this ERC network.
The session was broken into three parts, focused firstly on Peatland Restoration, then after a coffee break the talks turned to Peatland Mapping and Hydrology. Finally, after lunch the talks focused on Peatlands and the Climate which included international talks from peatland colleagues from Swaziland in Southern Africa, a peatland area that was new to most people in the room!
All three sessions were very well attended, and the day ran like a mini-conference within the IGC as a whole. There was lively Q&A and discussions during each session, good networking during the coffee and lunch breaks and finally, the day was finished with a "Peat Meets" social gathering at Fagans in Drumcondra.
Image: D.O'Leary (Teagasc)
Feature article
Robin Lewando, UCC
This is an account of a field trip on 20th August 2024 to obtain a sediment core as part of a PhD study examining biodiversity and climatic change at a lowland lake and peatland site in West Cork.
The lake in Glandart townland is small, almost circular, and unnamed. Covering just 0.36 hectares, less than an acre, it has an average depth of about 3m. It sits on a hilltop at 334m asl, just under 1100 feet. There is a low hummock to the east that is higher than the water level. Just the other side of a 3m thick bund to the west the hill drops away 150m to the valley bottom. This lake is literally poised on the edge.
We are in West Cork, and the view to the west on a clear and sunny day is superb. Sweeping from the distant Beara peninsula in the north across Bantry Bay, Whiddy Island lying in clear view; directly west we are looking down the full length of the Sheep's Head; and to the south of this lies Dunmanus Bay, and then the Mizen, with Mount Gabriel standing distinctive.
Image: Glandart Lake and the view west (Credit: R.Lewando, UCC).
However, today is not a clear and sunny day. It is grey and hazy, with a good stiff breeze blowing fitfully from the west, rippling the waters of the lake, which is unfortunate.
We have come up here to take some surface sediment cores from an inflatable dinghy. The easiest place to access the water is on the eastern shore. The northern and eastern shores are rimmed by a floating mat, whilst the southern and western shores are quite abrupt drops into the lake from rock outcrops.
We launched the dinghy, equipped with gravity corer, and line. We tracked our course on the lake to identify where we went and the exact location of the core. We were out there for a while, spinning at times like a whirligig beetle. At times it seemed as if we were still, and stable, but then suddenly we were close to the lakeside and had to paddle furiously to get back to where we wanted to be. We had to have eyes in the back of our heads. We used a lot of energy, and did a lot of frustrated paddling. The dinghy had to be still long enough to drop the corer to the surface of the sediment, then release the plunger to allow the sediment into the cylinder, and then let it drop into the sediment under its own weight. We needed to be stationary to collect a good core. Several times the corer was dropped to the lakebed, but then the breeze took us, the line dragged, and it had to be retrieved. Eventually, the breeze eased off and we snatched our chance, succeeding in extracting a good 23cm surface core of fine black organic sediment in 3m of water.
When we later examined our GPS track, it looked like a bowl of spaghetti.
Image: Glandart Lake – 1 m contours; land higher than lake level is shown in a darker green. Other contours at 5 m interval. Map created using QGIS and BlueSky survey data. (R.Lewando, UCC).
We surmise that this lake is a kettle lake, not many having been described from the south west of Ireland. The geology in West Cork is almost entirely well fractured siliceous rock that drains well, unlikely to retain a lake in such a location. More likely is the occurrence of impermeable till. Possibly an ice block was deposited within the till, at the top of the hillside where the angle of slope moderates. To the north lies the much higher summit of Mullaghmesha at 490m, to the south an unnamed hill rises to 355m. Between the lake and these higher slopes are gullies that are lower than the lake level – that to the north reaches to a metre below lake level, that to the south is a deeper gully. Even the land to the east, behind the hillock, is lower than the lake level.
When the ice, in the process of receding, paused at the top of the slope, issuing seasonal meltwater, the block of ice within the till would have resisted the water flow, which would have been directed to either side. The flow on the southern side appears to have been more aggressive, cutting what is now a deep gully. The low ground behind the hillock to the east would also have retained a large amount of water. This became a bog, which shows clear signs of having been cut away for fuel within historic times. When the ice block melted, the sediment collapsed, forming the depression that this hilltop lake is now in.
We have yet to date and examine the surface sediment. The purpose is to examine the sediment for chironomid fossils and obtain a proxy signal for summer air temperatures in an area that we consider to have been little affected by anthropogenic change. Ideally, we need a sediment core that will go back to the Neolithic revolution, at about 6000 years ago, so we hope to get a full depth core later. And preferably on a nice calm day.
Paddling by Robin Lewando (UCC), coring and supervision by Dr Michelle McKeown (UCC).
Member news
We are delighted to welcome Professor Cox to TCD Geography as Visiting Professor for the next 3 years. She will be in Ireland this Autumn and is contactable via coxrn@tcd.ie, as well as her usual contact details.
Recent publications
Here are a some examples of recent publications from GAI members. We'd love to showcase your work so if you have a publication to add to the next edition, please email us at iGeomorphology@gmail.com
Arosio, R., Gafeira, J., De Clippele, L.H., Wheeler, A.J., Huvenne, V.A., Sacchetti, F., Conti, L.A. and Lim, A., 2024. CoMMa: A GIS geomorphometry toolbox to map and measure confined landforms. Geomorphology, 458, p.109227. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X24001776
Bourke, M. C., R. Cox and L. Carmel-Spencer (2024). A Bibliography of Coarse Boulder Deposits on the Atlantic Coast of Ireland, Mendeley Data, V1. DOI: 10.17632/tws17639zdvbc17632.17631
Cullen, N. D. and M. C. Bourke (2024). Database of landslides on the whole island of Ireland from 4,200 BP to 2022. Mendeley Data. V1. DOI: 10.17632/xz17633hhsfv17637y.17631
Krueger, E.T., Mouchi, V., Monteys, X., McCarron, S., Lim, A. and Crowley, Q.G., 2024. Development and physical characteristics of the Irish shelf-edge Macnas Mounds, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic. International Journal of Earth Sciences, pp.1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-024-02402-0
Mateos-Cárdenas, A., Wheeler, A.J. and Lim, A., 2024. Microplastics and cellulosic microparticles in North Atlantic deep waters and in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 206, p.116741. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X24007185
Recouvreur, A., Wheeler, A.J., Strachan, R., Meere, P.A., Unitt, R.P. and Lim, A., Large scale bedrock outcrop mapping on the NE Atlantic Irish continental margin. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, p.1258070. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1258070/full
Ren, Z., Liu, C., Zhao, X., Jin, Y., Ou, Y., Liu, R., Fan, H., Yang, Q., Lim, A. and Cheng, H., 2024. A large-scale riverbank erosion risk assessment model integrating multi-source data and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). Ecological Indicators, p.112575. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X2401032X
Waylen, K. A., M. E. Wilkinson, K. L. Blackstock and M. Bourke (2024). Nature-based solutions and restoration are intertwined but not identical: Highlighting implications for societies and ecosystems. Nature-Based Solutions vol 5. DOI: 10.1016/j.nbsj.2024.100116.
Fun from the field!
This summer, Emily Rick and Jonathan Turner (UCD Geography) have been busy surveying two of the Teagasc ACP catchments; Ballycanew in Co. Wexford, and Timoleague in Co. Cork. The topographic and grain size data they've collected will help establish baseline conditions for a Landscape Evolution Model. Emily is applying this model in her PhD to predict future fluvial geomorphic changes in small streams within intensively farmed agricultural catchments, as they face growing pressures from climate change. More can be learned about the Agricultural Catchments Programme here: https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/water-quality/agricultural-catchments/
Image credit: E.Rick, UCD.
Get in touch
To join the GAI or contribute to the newsletter please contact the GAI committee: igeomorphology@gmail.com
We welcome submissions for all sections of the newsletter, including job advertisements and grant and conference announcements. Don’t forget you can also email the GAI community any time using the listserv, or by emailing us to send out on your behalf. We'd love to hear from you!
Best wishes to everyone and stay snug this autumn, 'til next time!
Kate de Smeth (Newsletter Editor), on behalf of the GAI Committee.