James Scourse
Biographic Data
| ID | 4435715 |
|---|---|
| NAME | James Scourse |
| GIVEN NAMES | James |
| FAMILY NAME | Scourse |
| SIGNATURE | SCOURSE J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bangor University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2658-8730 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The enigmatic ‘Newall boulder’ excavated at Stonehenge in 1924: New data and correcting the record
Deep-sea mining poses an unjustifiable environmental risk
Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate of the monu…
A rhyolite boulder collected by R. S. Newall in 1924 from an excavation at Stonehenge has been pivotal to arguments concerning glacial versus human transport of the bluestones to Stonehenge. Initial studies suggested that the boulder came from north Wales, and hence was a probable glacial erratic. New petrographic and geochemical analyses however support it being from Craig Rhos‐y‐Felin in west Wales, the source of much debitage recovered from St…
A sclerochronological archive for Antarctic coastal waters based on the marine bivalve Yoldia eightsi (Jay, 1839) from the South Orkney Islands
The scarcity of long instrumental series from the Southern Ocean limits our understanding of key climate and environmental feedbacks within the Antarctic system. We present an assessment for the Antarctic mollusc bivalve Yoldia eightsi as an Antarctic coastal climatological archive, based on annually-resolved growth pattern of 20 live-collected specimens in 1988 from Factory Cove, Signy Island (South Orkney Islands). Two detrending methods were a…
A 30,000 yr Record of land-ocean interaction in the eastern gulf of Guinea
A 30,000 yr dinocyst and pollen record from the eastern equatorial Atlantic (off Cameroon) has been investigated in order to identify land–ocean linkages during the last deglacial transition. A strong correlation between the abundance of Brigantedinium spp. and the Ca/Fe ratio during the last glacial period suggests enhanced marine productivity in association with cool seawater temperatures and nutrient input linked to coastal upwelling and/or a …
The potential of the marine bivalve mollusc Glossus humanus (L.) as a sclerochronological archive
In order to assess its potential as a sclerochronological archive, we present statistical and geochemical analyses of internal growth increment series in shells of the heart cockle Glossus humanus (L.), a large marine bivalve. The investigated samples were collected from Loch Sunart and the Sound of Mull, Scotland, United Kingdom. High-resolution stable isotope (δ 18 O) analyses and radiocarbon ( 14 C) determinations indicated that G. humanus for…
Reconstructions of surface ocean conditions from the northeast Atlantic and Nordic seas during the last millennium
We undertake the first comprehensive effort to integrate North Atlantic marine climate records for the last millennium, highlighting some key components common within this system at a range of temporal and spatial scales. In such an approach, careful consideration needs to be given to the complexities inherent to the marine system. Composites therefore need to be hydrographically constrained and sensitive to both surface water mass variability an…
Megatides in the glacial North Atlantic and their role in rapid deglaciation
Persistent Positive North Atlantic Oscillation Mode Dominated the Medieval Climate Anomaly
The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) was the most recent pre-industrial era warm interval of European climate, yet its driving mechanisms remain uncertain. We present here a 947-year-long multidecadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reconstruction and find a persistent positive NAO during the MCA. Supplementary reconstructions based on climate model results and proxy data indicate a clear shift to weaker NAO conditions into the Little Ice Age (LIA…
Climatic instability in west equatorial Africa during the Mid- and Late Holocene
Mid-latitude shelf seas: A NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes
Pronounced seasonal variability, particularly in the surface ocean heat flux, imparts an important control that drives thermal stratification of the tide-dominated middle-and high-latitude shelf seas. Bottom water temperature and salinity data, resolved on a grid 20’ latitude by 30’ longitude, were combined with a regional synthesis of the salinity: δ 18 O relationship in order to generate a spatial and temporal understanding of oxygen isotopes i…
First cross-matched floating chronology from the marine fossil record: Data from growth lines of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica
Integrated understanding of phasings within the climate system over the last glacial cycle, and at higher frequencies, is inhibited because no absolute timescale for the marine environment currently exists. This precludes identification of forcings and feedbacks, accurate temporal calibration of the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect, and the application of radiocarbon as a proxy of short-timescale ocean ventilation. This has prompted a search f…
High-resolution last deglaciation record from the Congo fan reveals significance of mangrove pollen and biomarkers as indicators of shelf transgression
High abundances of mangrove pollen have been associated with transgressive cycles on tropical margins, but the detailed relations between systems tracts and the taphonomy of the pollen are unclear. We report here the occurrence and high abundance of Rhizophora pollen, in association with taraxerol, a Rhizophora -sourced biomarker, from a high-resolution Congo fan core covering the last deglaciation. An age model based on 14 C dates enables the te…
Stable isotopic analyses of modern benthic foraminifera from seasonally stratified shelf seas: Disequilibria and the 'seasonal effect
Previously published stable isotopic data on benthic foraminiferal species from a Holocene sequence in the Celtic Sea have been interpreted in terms of the progressive replacement of a tidally mixed by a stratified water mass. Offsets in the δ 18 O data between Ammonia batavus and Quinqueloculina seminulum were attributed to a ‘seasonal effect’ in which these two species were hypothesized to have calcified at different times of the year. The aims…
Holocene shelf-sea seasonal stratification dynamics: A dinoflagellate cyst record from the Celtic Sea, NW European shelf
Published records of the Holocene evolution of seasonal stratification in the Celtic Sea (NW European shelf) have been based on benthic proxies, notably benthic foraminifera and associated stable isotopic data. We have investigated organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from a well-dated Holocene sequence from the central Celtic Sea in order to assess the signal from this planktonic proxy and to reconstruct paired bottom-and surface-water…
First cross-matched floating chronology from the marine fossil record: Data from growth lines of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica
Integrated understanding of phasings within the climate system over the last glacial cycle, and at higher frequencies, is inhibited because no absolute timescale for the marine environment currently exists. This precludes identification of forcings and feedbacks, accurate temporal calibration of the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect, and the application of radiocarbon as a proxy of short-timescale ocean ventilation. This has prompted a search f…
Reconstructions of surface ocean conditions from the northeast Atlantic and Nordic seas during the last millennium
We undertake the first comprehensive effort to integrate North Atlantic marine climate records for the last millennium, highlighting some key components common within this system at a range of temporal and spatial scales. In such an approach, careful consideration needs to be given to the complexities inherent to the marine system. Composites therefore need to be hydrographically constrained and sensitive to both surface water mass variability an…
Mid-latitude shelf seas: A NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes
Pronounced seasonal variability, particularly in the surface ocean heat flux, imparts an important control that drives thermal stratification of the tide-dominated middle-and high-latitude shelf seas. Bottom water temperature and salinity data, resolved on a grid 20’ latitude by 30’ longitude, were combined with a regional synthesis of the salinity: δ 18 O relationship in order to generate a spatial and temporal understanding of oxygen isotopes i…
Deep-sea mining poses an unjustifiable environmental risk
Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate of the monu…
A rhyolite boulder collected by R. S. Newall in 1924 from an excavation at Stonehenge has been pivotal to arguments concerning glacial versus human transport of the bluestones to Stonehenge. Initial studies suggested that the boulder came from north Wales, and hence was a probable glacial erratic. New petrographic and geochemical analyses however support it being from Craig Rhos‐y‐Felin in west Wales, the source of much debitage recovered from St…
Stable isotopic analyses of modern benthic foraminifera from seasonally stratified shelf seas: Disequilibria and the 'seasonal effect
Previously published stable isotopic data on benthic foraminiferal species from a Holocene sequence in the Celtic Sea have been interpreted in terms of the progressive replacement of a tidally mixed by a stratified water mass. Offsets in the δ 18 O data between Ammonia batavus and Quinqueloculina seminulum were attributed to a ‘seasonal effect’ in which these two species were hypothesized to have calcified at different times of the year. The aims…
Holocene shelf-sea seasonal stratification dynamics: A dinoflagellate cyst record from the Celtic Sea, NW European shelf
Published records of the Holocene evolution of seasonal stratification in the Celtic Sea (NW European shelf) have been based on benthic proxies, notably benthic foraminifera and associated stable isotopic data. We have investigated organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from a well-dated Holocene sequence from the central Celtic Sea in order to assess the signal from this planktonic proxy and to reconstruct paired bottom-and surface-water…
High-resolution last deglaciation record from the Congo fan reveals significance of mangrove pollen and biomarkers as indicators of shelf transgression
High abundances of mangrove pollen have been associated with transgressive cycles on tropical margins, but the detailed relations between systems tracts and the taphonomy of the pollen are unclear. We report here the occurrence and high abundance of Rhizophora pollen, in association with taraxerol, a Rhizophora -sourced biomarker, from a high-resolution Congo fan core covering the last deglaciation. An age model based on 14 C dates enables the te…
Climatic instability in west equatorial Africa during the Mid- and Late Holocene
Mid-latitude shelf seas: A NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes
Pronounced seasonal variability, particularly in the surface ocean heat flux, imparts an important control that drives thermal stratification of the tide-dominated middle-and high-latitude shelf seas. Bottom water temperature and salinity data, resolved on a grid 20’ latitude by 30’ longitude, were combined with a regional synthesis of the salinity: δ 18 O relationship in order to generate a spatial and temporal understanding of oxygen isotopes i…
First cross-matched floating chronology from the marine fossil record: Data from growth lines of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica
Integrated understanding of phasings within the climate system over the last glacial cycle, and at higher frequencies, is inhibited because no absolute timescale for the marine environment currently exists. This precludes identification of forcings and feedbacks, accurate temporal calibration of the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect, and the application of radiocarbon as a proxy of short-timescale ocean ventilation. This has prompted a search f…
Persistent Positive North Atlantic Oscillation Mode Dominated the Medieval Climate Anomaly
The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) was the most recent pre-industrial era warm interval of European climate, yet its driving mechanisms remain uncertain. We present here a 947-year-long multidecadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reconstruction and find a persistent positive NAO during the MCA. Supplementary reconstructions based on climate model results and proxy data indicate a clear shift to weaker NAO conditions into the Little Ice Age (LIA…
Megatides in the glacial North Atlantic and their role in rapid deglaciation
A 30,000 yr Record of land-ocean interaction in the eastern gulf of Guinea
A 30,000 yr dinocyst and pollen record from the eastern equatorial Atlantic (off Cameroon) has been investigated in order to identify land–ocean linkages during the last deglacial transition. A strong correlation between the abundance of Brigantedinium spp. and the Ca/Fe ratio during the last glacial period suggests enhanced marine productivity in association with cool seawater temperatures and nutrient input linked to coastal upwelling and/or a …
The potential of the marine bivalve mollusc Glossus humanus (L.) as a sclerochronological archive
In order to assess its potential as a sclerochronological archive, we present statistical and geochemical analyses of internal growth increment series in shells of the heart cockle Glossus humanus (L.), a large marine bivalve. The investigated samples were collected from Loch Sunart and the Sound of Mull, Scotland, United Kingdom. High-resolution stable isotope (δ 18 O) analyses and radiocarbon ( 14 C) determinations indicated that G. humanus for…
Reconstructions of surface ocean conditions from the northeast Atlantic and Nordic seas during the last millennium
We undertake the first comprehensive effort to integrate North Atlantic marine climate records for the last millennium, highlighting some key components common within this system at a range of temporal and spatial scales. In such an approach, careful consideration needs to be given to the complexities inherent to the marine system. Composites therefore need to be hydrographically constrained and sensitive to both surface water mass variability an…
A sclerochronological archive for Antarctic coastal waters based on the marine bivalve Yoldia eightsi (Jay, 1839) from the South Orkney Islands
The scarcity of long instrumental series from the Southern Ocean limits our understanding of key climate and environmental feedbacks within the Antarctic system. We present an assessment for the Antarctic mollusc bivalve Yoldia eightsi as an Antarctic coastal climatological archive, based on annually-resolved growth pattern of 20 live-collected specimens in 1988 from Factory Cove, Signy Island (South Orkney Islands). Two detrending methods were a…
Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate of the monu…
A rhyolite boulder collected by R. S. Newall in 1924 from an excavation at Stonehenge has been pivotal to arguments concerning glacial versus human transport of the bluestones to Stonehenge. Initial studies suggested that the boulder came from north Wales, and hence was a probable glacial erratic. New petrographic and geochemical analyses however support it being from Craig Rhos‐y‐Felin in west Wales, the source of much debitage recovered from St…
Deep-sea mining poses an unjustifiable environmental risk
The enigmatic ‘Newall boulder’ excavated at Stonehenge in 1924: New data and correcting the record
Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (14 works) · Geology (12 works) · Oceanography (10 works) · Geography (7 works) · Climatology (6 works) · Holocene (6 works) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (6 works) · Paleontology (6 works) · Environmental Science (4 works) · Glacial period (4 works)