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Dr Alastair Graham
Teams and roles for Alastair Graham
Overview
Dr. Graham is a marine scientist, studying the link between ice sheets and the geological record. His research interests are focused on uncovering the histories, mechanisms, and drivers of past glacial and environmental change as recorded by high-latitude ocean floors and marine sedimentary records, as well as improving knowledge of the physical processes that govern the evolution of glacial and marine environments. Working from the glacier front to the deep sea, Dr Graham’s current research agenda is motivated by a set of questions steered towards the grand challenges faced by environmental and Antarctic science in the 21st century: how quickly, by how much, through what processes, and in response to what triggers do ice sheets and glaciers change over timescales not captured by observational records? An ongoing major objective of his work is to produce records of past ice‐sheet change at the poles that are significantly longer than satellite observations, providing the critical centennial to millennial context for changes to our warming planet and rising seas. Another key aspect is to study the processes of glacial environments using underwater robotics, geophysical, and geological tools to provide insight into modern and future ice-sheet behaviour. Dr Graham works routinely with glaciologists, oceanographers, and biologists to connect modern and palaeo processes in ice-sheet settings and increasingly looks to bridge ancient and contemporary systems in his research.
Publication
2025
- Lehrmann, A. A. et al., 2025. Recent benthic foraminifera communities offshore of Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica: implications for interpretations of fossil assemblages. Journal of Micropalaeontology 44 (1), pp.79-105. (10.5194/jm-44-79-2025)
2024
- Mussett, M. E. et al., 2024. Analyzing archive transit multibeam data for nodule occurrences. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 12 (12) 2322. (10.3390/jmse12122322)
- Wåhlin, A. et al., 2024. Swirls and scoops: Ice base melt revealed by multibeam imagery of an Antarctic ice shelf. Science Advances 10 (31) eadn9188. (10.1126/sciadv.adn9188)
2023
- Hogan, K. A. et al., 2023. Towards modelling of corrugation ridges at ice-sheet grounding lines. The Cryosphere 17 (7), pp.2645–2664. (10.5194/tc-17-2645-2023)
2022
- Graham, A. G. C. et al. 2022. Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era. Nature Geoscience 15 (9), pp.706-713. (10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9)
2015
- Klages, J. P. et al., 2015. Palaeo-ice stream pathways and retreat style in the easternmost Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, revealed by combined multibeam bathymetric and seismic data. Geomorphology 245 , pp.207-222. (10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.05.020)
2014
- Bentley, M. J. et al., 2014. A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.1-9. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.025)
- Dickens, W. A. et al., 2014. A new bathymetric compilation for the South Orkney Islands region, Antarctic Peninsula (49°-39°W to 64°-59°S): Insights into the glacial development of the continental shelf. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 15 (6), pp.2494-2514. (10.1002/2014GC005323)
- Gales, J. A. et al., 2014. Large-scale submarine landslides, channel and gully systems on the southern Weddell Sea margin, Antarctica. Marine Geology 348 , pp.73-87. (10.1016/j.margeo.2013.12.002)
- Hillenbrand, C. et al., 2014. Reconstruction of changes in the Weddell Sea sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.111-136. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.020)
- Hodgson, D. A. et al., 2014. Glacial history of sub-Antarctic South Georgia based on the submarine geomorphology of its fjords. Quaternary Science Reviews 89 , pp.129-147. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.12.005)
- Klages, J. P. et al., 2014. Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from the western Amundsen Sea shelf at a pre- or early LGM stage. Quaternary Science Reviews 91 , pp.1-15. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.017)
- Larter, R. D. et al., 2014. Reconstruction of changes in the Amundsen Sea and Bellingshausen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.55-86. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.016)
- Römer, M. et al., 2014. First evidence of widespread active methane seepage in the Southern Ocean, off the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 403 , pp.166-177. (10.1016/j.epsl.2014.06.036)
- Smith, J. A. et al., 2014. New constraints on the timing of West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat in the eastern Amundsen Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum. Global and Planetary Change 122 , pp.224-237. (10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.015)
Articles
- Bentley, M. J. et al., 2014. A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.1-9. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.025)
- Dickens, W. A. et al., 2014. A new bathymetric compilation for the South Orkney Islands region, Antarctic Peninsula (49°-39°W to 64°-59°S): Insights into the glacial development of the continental shelf. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 15 (6), pp.2494-2514. (10.1002/2014GC005323)
- Gales, J. A. et al., 2014. Large-scale submarine landslides, channel and gully systems on the southern Weddell Sea margin, Antarctica. Marine Geology 348 , pp.73-87. (10.1016/j.margeo.2013.12.002)
- Graham, A. G. C. et al. 2022. Rapid retreat of Thwaites Glacier in the pre-satellite era. Nature Geoscience 15 (9), pp.706-713. (10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9)
- Hillenbrand, C. et al., 2014. Reconstruction of changes in the Weddell Sea sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.111-136. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.020)
- Hodgson, D. A. et al., 2014. Glacial history of sub-Antarctic South Georgia based on the submarine geomorphology of its fjords. Quaternary Science Reviews 89 , pp.129-147. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.12.005)
- Hogan, K. A. et al., 2023. Towards modelling of corrugation ridges at ice-sheet grounding lines. The Cryosphere 17 (7), pp.2645–2664. (10.5194/tc-17-2645-2023)
- Klages, J. P. et al., 2015. Palaeo-ice stream pathways and retreat style in the easternmost Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, revealed by combined multibeam bathymetric and seismic data. Geomorphology 245 , pp.207-222. (10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.05.020)
- Klages, J. P. et al., 2014. Retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from the western Amundsen Sea shelf at a pre- or early LGM stage. Quaternary Science Reviews 91 , pp.1-15. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.017)
- Larter, R. D. et al., 2014. Reconstruction of changes in the Amundsen Sea and Bellingshausen Sea sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 100 , pp.55-86. (10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.016)
- Lehrmann, A. A. et al., 2025. Recent benthic foraminifera communities offshore of Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica: implications for interpretations of fossil assemblages. Journal of Micropalaeontology 44 (1), pp.79-105. (10.5194/jm-44-79-2025)
- Mussett, M. E. et al., 2024. Analyzing archive transit multibeam data for nodule occurrences. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 12 (12) 2322. (10.3390/jmse12122322)
- Römer, M. et al., 2014. First evidence of widespread active methane seepage in the Southern Ocean, off the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 403 , pp.166-177. (10.1016/j.epsl.2014.06.036)
- Smith, J. A. et al., 2014. New constraints on the timing of West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat in the eastern Amundsen Sea since the Last Glacial Maximum. Global and Planetary Change 122 , pp.224-237. (10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.015)
- Wåhlin, A. et al., 2024. Swirls and scoops: Ice base melt revealed by multibeam imagery of an Antarctic ice shelf. Science Advances 10 (31) eadn9188. (10.1126/sciadv.adn9188)
Research
Current projects