28 Oct 2026 - Amy
What can a few microscopic shards of volcanic glass tell us about the history of the Arctic?
In 2026 I’m offering two Applied Study projects for students interested in getting hands-on experience of laboratory-based research into past climate change. Both involve searching sediment cores for cryptotephra: tiny particles of volcanic ash that are invisible to the naked eye.
The projects use sediments that are currently sitting in the fridges in the SEED Labs, waiting to be explored. One project will work on lake sediments from Greenland; the other will investigate marine sediments from the Arctic Ocean.
Lakes gradually accumulate sediment, building up archives of past environmental change. This particular lake, on Disko Island, records a fascinating history of sea-level rise and climate change during what we think is the Holocene. The problem is, we don’t know exactly when this sediment was deposited.
The good news is that the sediments may contain microscopic traces of volcanic eruptions which can be used to work out the age of the sequence.
This project will search for these cryptotephra layers. Finding them could provide valuable chronological markers within the lake record and, where the same tephra can be identified elsewhere, help us correlate environmental records from different locations, such as the Greenland ice core records.
The second project takes the same detective work offshore, searching for cryptotephra in marine sediment from the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean is an extremely important component of our global climate system, but marine sediments from this region are notoriously challenging to date!
Finding volcanic ash in these sediments could provide new chronological markers for Arctic marine records. Ultimately, identifying the same tephra in marine and terrestrial archives offers the possibility of directly linking records of environmental change from different parts of the Arctic.
Both projects will be predominantly laboratory based. You’ll work hands-on with the sediments and learn how to:
You don’t need previous experience of cryptotephra or specialist laboratory techniques. All training will be provided.
Along the way, you’ll gain practical experience of Quaternary sediment analysis, microscopy, careful laboratory working, data recording, and scientific interpretation.
Importantly, this is a real research problem rather than a practical with a predetermined answer: we don’t yet know what we’ll find.
There is an added incentive: if we find tephra, the project will include a funded research trip to the University of Cambridge to take the work to its next stage.
So, if you like the idea of working with real Arctic sediments, learning new laboratory skills and hunting for evidence of volcanic eruptions that may consist of only a handful of microscopic glass shards, either project could be for you.
Interested in hunting for cryptotephra? Get in touch by email to chat about either project. If you’d like to read a little before jumping in, I’d recommend this paper. I’m excited to hear from you!