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Dr David Wilson
Appointment
- Research Associate
- Dept of Earth Sciences
- Faculty of Maths & Physical Sciences
Biography
- Research associate, Dept of Earth Sciences, UCL, 2018-present
- Senior teaching fellow, Dept of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, 2017-2018
- Research associate, Dept of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, 2013-2017
- Research associate, Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, 2011-2012
- PhD Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, 2011
- BA/MSci Natural Sciences, Jesus College, University of Cambridge, 2007
Research Themes
See More
See LessResearch Summary
As a geologist and earth scientist, my research uses isotopic and geochemical measurements to investigate past changes in ocean chemistry, ocean circulation, continental weathering, and polar ice sheets, and how these interacted with Earth's climate evolution. Evidence from such paleoclimate studies provides an invaluable context for understanding the present and future climate system.
Research Interests
- Isotope geochemistry
- Paleoceanography
- Paleoclimate
- Weathering
- Ice sheets
Research Projects
Much of my research has focused on applying
radiogenic isotopes of neodymium (Nd) as a tracer for
mixing between water
masses in the past, in order to address the variability of past ocean
currents and their implications for global and regional climate
change. This work has been carried out using substrates from deep sea
sediment cores, such as reductive sediment
leachates, foraminifera and fish teeth.
Deep-sea corals are also emerging as a very promising
multi-proxy archive, and I have recently been using Nd isotopes measured on deep-sea corals from the
Southern Ocean in order to constrain deglacial and Holocene changes in ocean
circulation. This research is providing new constraints on
the ocean's role in atmospheric carbon dioxide changes on millennial and
sub-millennial timescales.
An alternative application of Nd isotopes is for tracing detrital
sediment provenance. In this way, I have been able to explore the
behaviour of the Antarctic ice sheet during past warm intervals, which
has implications for its future behaviour.
Another research focus
has been on lead (Pb) isotopes in the ocean, which provide unique
evidence on regional weathering inputs. I have conducted analytical
method development for high precision isotope measurements on small
quantitites of Pb in deep-sea corals, as well as applying Pb isotopes in
corals and ferromanganese oxides to reconstruct past changes in
continental weathering through glacial-interglacial cycles.
At
UCL, I am using a stable isotope system – lithium (Li) isotopes –
to explore continental weathering processes over a range of timescales and their role in the
Earth’s carbon cycle.
Teaching Summary
I am currently in a research role. However, I spent 2017-2018 as a senior teaching fellow at Imperial College London, with primary responsibilities including: Optical Mineralogy and Petrology (1st year), Igneous and Metamorphic Processes (1st year); Palaeoceanography (3rd/4th year); Earth Science Synthesis (3rd year); and Science Communication (4th year).
