Professor Mark D Bateman
Professor in Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction
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Room number: | F5 |
| Telephone (internal): | 27929 | |
| Telephone (UK): | 0114 222 7929 | |
| Telephone (International): | +44 114 222 7929 | |
| Email: | M.D.Bateman@Sheffield.ac.uk |
Mark Bateman received a First Class BSc in Geography from the University of London in 1991 and a DPhil from Sussex University in 1995. In 1995 he joined the Sheffield Geography department as a PDRA to set up and run the luminescence laboratory for the Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research. In 1998 he was appointed Lecturer in Physical Geography, promoted to Senior Lecturer (2004), Reader in Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction (2006), and awarded a Chair in 2011.
Research interests
Quaternary palaeoenvironments, warm and cold-climate aeolian sands, luminescence dating.
Current research
My research is based under four broad areas but falls within one overarching theme of interactions of aeolian landscapes and palaeoclimates. As aeolian deposits, both arid zone and cold-climate, are widespread in the Quaternary sedimentary record they can provide key data for use in modelling previous palaeoenvironmental conditions. Several ongoing projects develop this theme:
- Within both the winter and summer rainfall zones of Southern Africa are a range of geomorphic features indicative of aeolian activity, many of which are not presently active. Establishing the timing and regional significance of phases of activity will inform debates about the timing and extent of major Late Quaternary rainfall zone shifts, coastline reconfigurations and environments associated with the emergence of modern humans.
- This research investigates fundamental processes of post-depositional disturbance of sedimentary sequences with a view to establishing a scientific protocol for differentiating between in-situ weathering and mixing processes from intact sediments which contain a palaeoclimate signal. Where sediments are sufficiently unaffected by bioturbation their age, depositional context and relationship to archaeological finds can be used to establish past changes in landscape sediment dynamics.
- Much of north-western Europe, is covered with aeolian sediments relating to the Last Glacial maximum through to the Holocene which hold key palaeoenvironmental information for areas which were not glaciated but subject to periglacial conditions.
- During much of the Quaternary, north-western Europe experienced cold, non-glacial conditions. A legacy of these periods are the periglacial structures found in the stratigraphic record, many of which contain wind-blown material. Recent progress in understanding contemporary features indicates that the cryostratigraphical record may hold key information on the rates of climatic amelioration. Investigations are being carried out to date and characterise such structures in Arctic Canada and relate them to relict evidence in north-western Europe.
Teaching
The undergraduate and postgraduate teaching I specialise in relates to understanding past changes in climate and environment which have shaped the landscape we live in. This covers the fields of geomorphology, sedimentology and Quaternary Science with the modules I contribute to trying to make inter-disciplinary linkages between these fields as well as giving student the skills required to understand the preserved record. I have particular interests in periglacial and desert environments and each year supervise students projects in these areas.
My teaching interests reflect my research interests so I can keep students up-to-date on current developments. The style of my teachng varies from teaching out and about on fieldclasses, in the laboratory and through lectures and small group tutorials.
Mark teaches on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses including:
GEO150 Practical Methods for Physical Geography
GEO154 Geoenvironmental Fieldwork Skills
GEO206 Environmental Change
GEO345 Glacial & Periglacial Geomorphology
GEO365 Drylands Environment Field ClassGEO6605 Unlocking the Sedimentary Archive
All staff also engage in personal supervision and tutoring of individual students at all three undergraduate levels in the following modules:
GEO163 (Information & Communication Skills for Geographers)
GEO263 or GEO264 (Research Design in Human or Physical Geography)
GEO356 (Geographical Research Project)
Key publications
- Bateman, M.D., Buckland, P.C., Whyte, M.A., Ashurst, R.A., Boulter, C., Panagiotakopulu, E. (2011, in press). Re-evaluation of the Last Glacial Maximum typesite at Dimlington, UK. Boreas.
doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.2011.00204.x - Bateman, M.D., Carr, A.S., Dunajko, A., Holmes, P.J., Roberts, D.L., McClaren, S.J., Bryant, R.G., Murray-Wallace, C.V., and Marker, M.E. (2011). The evolution of coastal barrier systems: A case study of the Middle-Late Pleistocene Wilderness barriers, South Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(1-2), 63-81.
doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.10.003 - Murton, J.B., Bateman, M.D., Dallimore, S.R., Teller, J.T. and Yang, Z. (2010). Mackenzie outburst flooding into the Arctic Ocean at the start of the Younger Dryas. Nature, 464, 740-743.
doi:10.1038/nature08954 - Bateman, M.D., Murton, J.B. and Boulter, C. (2010). The source of De variability in periglacial sand wedges: depositional processes versus measurement issues. Quaternary Geochronology, 5(2-3), 250-256.
doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.03.007 - Briant, R.M. and Bateman, M.D. (2009). Luminescence dating indicates radiocarbon age underestimation in Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits from eastern England. Journal of Quaternary Science, 24(8), 916-927.
doi:10.1002/jqs.1258 - Bateman, M.D., Boulter, C.H., Carr, A.S., Frederick, C.D., Peter, D. and Wilder, M. (2007). Detecting Post-depositional sediment disturbance in sandy deposits using optical luminescence. Quaternary Geochronology, 2(1-4), 57-64.
doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2006.05.004 - Bateman, M.D. and Godby, S.P. (2004). Late-Holocene Inland Dune Activity in the UK: A case study from Breckland East Anglia. The Holocene, 14, 579-588.
doi:10.1191/0959683604hl735rp
Other information
Mark Bateman helps manage the Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research (SCIDR) and oversees the luminescence dating facility in Sheffield.