Dr Craig Smeaton

Dr Craig Smeaton

Lecturer in Physical Geography

Researcher profile

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 4014
Email
cs244@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Research areas

My research is centred on the nexus between land and ocean systems and the interface between science and policy. I investigate the processes controlling carbon storage in coastal and marine sedimentary environments including saltmarshes, fjords, and continental‑shelf settings using field observations, geochemical analyses, and advanced spatial modelling.

Marine sediments and intertidal soils (saltmarsh, seagrass and mangroves) are capable of burying and storing globally significant quantities of carbon (sometimes referred to as Blue Carbon) away for thousands of years potentially providing a highly important climate mitigation service.

These sedimentary environments are recognised, as crucial components of the global carbon cycle, yet many unknowns remain hindering there inclusion in global climate models, national carbon accounting and greenhouse gas inventories.

To tackle this issue I bring together techniques from across the different geoscience disciplines (Geo- physics, chemistry, morphology, spatial analysis) to better understand:

  • The quantity of carbon held with marine and intertidal sediments.
  • The rate at which carbon is buried and locked away in these sedimentary environments.
  • The source of the carbon (terrestrial vs marine).
  • The natural and anthropogenic mechanisms that govern the preservation of carbon in these sedimentary systems.    

Geographically, my research is currently focused on the saltmarshes of the United Kingdom and continental shelf sediments in the North East Atlantic with particular focus on fjord sediments

PhD supervision

  • Lauren Carl
  • Aysegul Dogan
  • Alyssa Kovalski
  • Lucy Robinson
  • Lauren South

Selected publications

 

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