Mark Chapman

I studied Geology and Geography at the University of Exeter, followed by a M.Sc. in Micropalaeontology at University College London, and a Ph.D at the University of East Anglia and the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences. My doctoral research focused on the timing, and rates of evolution and extinction within planktonic foraminiferal faunas that resulted from the marked accentuation of glacial-interglacial climatic variability following the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation 2.5 million years. I then moved to the University of Cambridge, where I worked on several postdoctoral research contracts with Nick Shackleton investigating aspects of the Late Quaternary history of North Atlantic ocean circulation over various timescales. In 2000 I was appointed to a position in the School of Environmental Sciences. My principal research interests relate to micropalaeontology and the use of the microfossil record in palaeoceanographic studies of climate change. These issues are generally interdisciplinary in nature, involving aspects of climatology, ecology, micropalaeontology, geochemistry, oceanography, and sedimentology, and involve the examination of processes that range from seasonal to multidecadal to multimillennial.

Other PhD Positions

Click here for other current PhD opportunities in the School of Environmental Sciences. However, feel free to email me to discuss projects outside these areas and alternative sources of funding.

Palaeoclimatology; palaeoceanography; Quaternary chronology and stratigraphy; micropalaeontology and marine ecology; stable isotopes and trace geochemistry, statistical approaches to reconstruct past environments.

Significant Publications

• Ellison, C. R. W., Chapman, M. R. and Hall,I. R., (2006), Surface and deep ocean interactions during the cold climate event 8,200 years ago, Science, 312, 1929 – 1932. doi:10.1126/science.1127213
• Pflaumann, U., M. Sarnthein, M. Chapman, L. d'Abreu, B. Funnell, M. Huels, T. Kiefer, M. Maslin, H. Schulz, J. Swallow, S. van Kreveld, M. Vautravers, E. Vogelsang, and M. Weinelt, (2003), Glacial North Atlantic: Sea-surface conditions reconstructed by GLAMAP 2000, Paleoceanography, 18, 1065-1086.doi:10.1029/2002PA000774
• Shackleton, N. J., Chapman, M., Sanchez-Goni, M. F., Pailler, D. & Lancelot, Y., (2002), The classic Marine Isotope Substage 5e. Quaternary Research 58, 14-16. doi:10.1006/qres.2001.2312 
• de Abreu, L., Shackleton, N. J., Schonfeld, J., Hall, M. & Chapman, M., (2003) Millennial-scale oceanic climate variability off the Western Iberian margin during the last two glacial periods. Marine Geology 196, 1-20. doi:10.1016/S0025-3227(03)00046-X
• Marchal, O., Cacho, I, Stocker, T., Grimalt, J.O., Calvo, E., Martrat, B., Shackleton, N.J., Vautravers, M., Cortijo, E., van Kreveld, S., Andersson, C., Koc, N., Chapman, M.R., Sbaffi, L., Duplessy, J.-C., Sarnthein, M., Turon, J.-L., Duprat, J., Jansen, E., (2001), Apparent long term cooling of the sea surface in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean during the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 455-483.
• Chapman, M.R. and Shackleton, N.J., (2000), Evidence of 550 year and 1000 year cyclicities in North Atlantic circulation patterns during the Holocene. The Holocene, 10, p. 287-292.

Publications: EPrints Digital Repository

• Assessment Co-ordinator (Hons)