People

Dr Pete Talling (PI)

Pete’s recent work aims to understand very large submarine flows of sediment, single submarine flows can transport ten times the annual flux of sediment from all of the World’s rivers. Pete’s work on Miocene outcrops in Italy has produced the longest distance (120 km) correlations of individual ancient flow deposits. These unique bed correlations show how flows can comprise both turbidity current and linked debris flow. This work has been funded by a series of NERC grants, and the UK TAPS consortium comprising six major oil companies since 2001. As leader of this consortium, Pete has led numerous field and core workshops and been a consultant for submarine geohazards in many areas worldwide, including the Nile submarine fan. The second theme of his research agenda concerns submarine landslides, which can be more than an order of magnitude larger than the largest landslides seen on land. These landslides have the potential to generate hazardous tsunamis, but the magnitude of these tsunamis is the subject of vigorous debate. Pete lead a NERC funded cruise offshore Montserrat that collected the first detailed seismic surveys across such submarine volcanic flank collapse deposits. His third expanding area of research is on sedimentary processes and climate change. This currently involves collaborative projects on organic carbon sequestration in submarine fans, gas hydrates and slope stability, and the marine sedimentary record of glacial melt water floods and river discharge.

Dr James Hunt (Project Manager)

James' primary research is on submarine mass movements, including landslides and their associated turbidity currents, focusing on turbidites sourced from Canary Island and Northwest African submarine landslides. James is active in researching the geometry and facies distributions within sheet and fan turbidite systems, in particular working on the association of particular facies with depositional processes, including linked-debrites [hybrid flows] and fluid muds. Currently, James is managing knowledge exchange on the £2.3M NERC Arctic Landslide-Tsunami project and working on the the £5M EU FP7 ASTARTE project, both of which are aiming to assess landslide-tsunami recurrence and coastal resilience to inundation.


Dr Matthieu Cartigny

Matthieu works as a sedimentologist for the National Oceanography Centre. His research interest focuses on sediment transport by large ocean floor flows and the deposits that these flows leave behind.

David Long 

Dave Long has researched various Marine Geohazards, having mapped Quaternary deposits offshore the UK since 1977 with the British Geological Survey.  He utilizes this information to establish geological models for the foundation zone for an ever-growing variety of seabed users. Particular interests include submarine landslides and tsunamis, shallow gas and hydrate. He has also been involved in geomorphological mapping the seabed for habitat studies, and studied various cold water coral reefs. He has been a long standing member of the SUT Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics committee and The Geological Society’s Marine Studies Group. He is a member of the IODP Environment Protection and Safety Panel.

Dr Jennifer Stanford

Dr Jenny Stanford is a Palaeoceanographer from Swansea University.  Jenny investigates past rapid climate transitions, and in particular the role that freshwater injections had in modulating ocean currents.  She will be looking into the climatic forcings and feedbacks associated with the Northern Hemisphere cooling event that occurred around 8.2 thousand years ago, which roughly coincided with a large underwater landslide, the so-called 'Storegga Slide'.
Follow Jenny on twitter  @JennyDStanford


Professor David Tappin


Dave is a marine geologist with the BGS who studies tsunamis, mainly from submarine landslides, but also from volcanoes and earthquakes. On the Arctic project he is most interested in the age  of the submarine landslides and the sediments deposited when they flood onshore.                                                  

                                                                                                           

                                                                                               PhD Students

Josh Allin


Josh is a marine sedimentology PhD student at the National Oceanography Centre. His research focusses on turbidity current frequency within deep water canyon and abyssal plain settings.
Follow Josh on twitter @JoshRAllin








Alessandro Mozzato

Alessandro is a mathematician and ocean modeller investigating the effect of large submarine landslides on ocean circulation using the MITgcm. His work is currently focussed on modelling the transport pathway of the Storegga turbidite from 8.15 ka BP, and he is seeking to understand how a dense plume injected into the base of the Nordic Seas would affect the formation of deep water, and therefore its effect on the Meridonial Overturn. 

Ed Pope


Ed Pope is a glaciologist and environmental statistician from the University of Southampton. He is investigating the timing and frequency of large submarine landslides on glacially influenced margins. Principally this work seeks to understand the role of changing environmental factors such as sea level rise and successive glaciations triggering of these events. Previously his work has focussed primarily on remote sensing of glaciers and ice caps in Arctic and Alpine environments. 

Follow Ed on twitter @ed_pope1

Millie Watts

Millie is a marine palaeoclimatology PhD student focussing on the timing of large submarine landslides in the Northern North Atlantic. Millie's current research is focussed on the relationship between the 8.2 Ka BP climatic event and the Storegga Landslide, dated to 8.15 Ka BP and she will be using the cores gathered as part of this PE391 cruise to elucidate any connections between periods of rapid climate change and landslide frequency.  
Follow Millie on twitter @geomillie