Projects

Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) provide an unambiguous indication of environmental contamination from high temperature coal and oil combustion sources. Their records in a range of natural archives have been found to be of great stratigraphic utility and have therefore been used to provide chronological control (see 'SCP dating' page). Furthermore, when combined with an independent means of dating, such as varve counting or radiometric chronologies, SCPs can provide valuable information on the direction (i.e. improvement or deterioration), scale and importantly the rate of change of contaminant deposition and inputs to ecosystems.

 

As a consequence, SCPs have been used in a wide range of projects from monitoring the recovery from acid deposition to defining the proposed Anthropocene Epoch. A selection of these are summarised below. For more information, please contact Prof Neil Rose (n.rose@ucl.ac.uk)