Liz Thomas

PalaeoclimatologistIMP 3

Team

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Liz Thomas

PalaeoclimatologistIMP 3

Biography

I am a paleoclimatologist, specializing in Polar climate variability.

I am head of Ice core research at the British Antarctic Survey, leading a team of analytical chemists, PhD students, engineers and technicians to produce high resolution chemical and stable isotope records to investigate climate variability in the Polar Regions. I have led several expeditions to Antarctica, the Arctic (Greenland and Svalbard) and most recently an expedition to drill the first ever ice cores from the sub-Antarctic islands.

I am head of the National Capability “Ice core acquisition and analysis“, the UK’s only capability to recover and analyse ice cores (up to 1000 m).

Recent awards and Grants:

2025-2028: Principal Investigator – NERC: Exploring the Mid-Pleistocene Transition using Antarctica’s oldest ice core (MPT-ICE)

2025-2028: Co-Investigator (PIs: R Ivanovic, University of Leeds & David Thornalley, UCL) -VERIFY: Out Of Sample Testing For Early Warning Systems Using Past Climate

2025-2028: Co-Investigator (PI: C Giorio, University of Cambridge) – Leverhulme: Constraining the oxidising capacity of the Earth’s atmosphere of the past

2024-2027: Co-Investigator (PI: B Wouters, Delft University) – NWO/ Netherlands Polar Programme: Firn Capacity of Antarctic Ice Shelves via Satellites Observations (FIRN-CAISSO)

2023-2026: Co-Investigator (PI: A Burke, St Andrews) -UKRI-Norway: Figuring Out how to Reconstruct Common Era forcing of climate by VOLcanoes with novel data and modelling approaches (FORCE-VOL) [NE/Y001028/1/and NE/Y001044/1]

2023-2027: Co-Investigator (PI: O Marsh, BAS) – NERC: Rates of Ice Fracture and Timing of Tabular Iceberg Production (RIFT-TIP) [NE/X014991/1]

2021-2027: Principal Investigator – NERC: Sea Ice and Westerly winds during the Holocene in coastal Antarctica, to better constrain oceanic CO2 uptake (SIWHA_CO2) [NE/W001535/1]

2020-2024: Principal Investigator – Royal Society (FLIAR collaboration): Isotopes, ice cores, islands: Novel methods for tracking anthropogenic nitrogen deposition to coastal South African waters and remote marine ecosystems

2019: Principal Investigator- NERC: UK Relic Air Extraction and Gas Analysis System (UK RArE-GAS) [NE/T008911/1]

2019: National Geographic explorer

2018-2020: Principal Investigator- “Greenland Ice Core Expedition – Climate and sea Ice Past and present (GICE-CIPP)”. Reconstruct past climate and sea ice variability in the arctic using ice cores collected from coastal domes. Part of the international GreenLAnd Circumnavigation Expedition (GLACE).

2018: SCAR Weyprecht Lecture – POLAR2018 conference, Davos, Switzerland

2016-2018: Principal investigator, “Sub Antarctic Ice Coring Expedition (SUBICE)” Reconstructing past climate and the variability of the westerly winds using ice cores from the sub-Antarctic islands. Part of the international Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE).

2014: Laws prize, awarded annually to an outstanding BAS scientist who has proven aptitude for research and is likely to make a significant contribution in the future

2013-2017: Principal investigator – NERC: Reconstructing wind strength and atmospheric circulation in West Antarctica over the past 300 years Developing a novel proxy for past wind conditions based on diatoms preserved in ice cores. (NE/J020710/1)

2009: Certificate of appreciation from World Meteorological Organisation and International Council for Science (ICSU)

Research interests

My research focus is understanding past climate and environmental change over decadal to millennial timescales. I utilize novel and proven ice core proxies, observational records and model output to reconstruct past surface temperature, snow accumulation, sea ice variability and atmospheric circulation. My most significant scientific contribution was producing the first comprehensive record of Antarctic surface mass balance and quantifying the 20th century contribution to global sea levels.

Join the team:

Please get in touch if you are interested in joining my research team. I am currently supporting a number of international fellowships and visiting scientists and we are always happy to support new collaborations.

Take a tour of the labs:

Click here for a virtual tour of the labs and meet some of the team.

Learn more about our laboratory facilities here.

Collaborations

Leader of an international PAGES (Past Global Changes) project “Climate Variability in Antarctica and the Southern Hemisphere in the past 2000 years (CLIVASH2K)”

Link to recent PAGES2K seminar

Scientific steering committee – Near-term Variability and Prediction of the Antarctic Climate System (AntClimNow) – Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research https://www.scar.org/science/antclimnow/home/

Scientific steering committee – INStabilities & Thresholds in ANTarctica (INSTANT) – Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research https://www.scar.org/science/instant/home/

Co-leader for the PAGES Antarctica2k project (2010-2017). Antarctica2K

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2025

Wang, Yetang, Heil, Petra, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2025) A network of precipitation observations to improve Antarctic climate and ice sheet projections. Science Bulletin, (). pp. doi:10.1016/j.scib.2025.03.050

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Allen, Claire S. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Humby, Jack . (2025) Use of excess meltwater from continuous flow analysis systems for the analysis of low concentration insoluble microparticles in ice cores. Frontiers in Earth Science, 13 (). 12 pp. 10.3389/feart.2025.1530875

2024

Johnson, Siobhán , Smith, Roseanne , Thomas, Liz , Giorio, Chiara . (2024) Method for Quantification of Fatty Acids in Ice Cores and Sea-Ice Cores Using Liquid Chromatography High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry. ACS Measurement Science Au, (). 13 pp. 10.1021/acsmeasuresciau.4c00054

Hoffmann-Abdi, Kirstin, Meyer, Hanno, Fernandoy, Francisco, Freitag, Johannes, Shaw, Fyntan M., Werner, Martin, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , McConnell, Joseph R., Schneider, Christoph. (2024) Deciphering stable water isotope records of firn cores from a strongly maritime, high-accumulation site on the Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Glaciology, 69 (). 19 pp. 10.1017/jog.2023.79

Bushrod, Emilia E., Thomas, Liz , Zherebker, Alexander, Giorio, Chiara. (2024) Novel Method to Quantify Trace Amounts of Isoprene and Monoterpene Secondary Organic Aerosol-Markers in Antarctic Ice. Environmental Science & Technology, 58 (). pp. 10.1021/acs.est.4c09985

Thomas, Elizabeth Ruth , Tetzner, Dieter , Markle, Bradley, Pedro, Joel, Gacitúa, Guisella, Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Jackson, Sarah. (2024) The first firn core from Peter 1st Island – capturing climate variability across the Bellingshausen Sea. Climate of the Past, 20 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-20-2525-2024

Strawson, Ivo, Faïn, Xavier, Bauska, Thomas K. , Muschitiello, Francesco, Vladimirova, Diana O. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Humby, Jack , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Liu, Pengfei, Zhang, Bingqing, Grilli, Roberto, Rhodes, Rachael H.. (2024) Historical Southern Hemisphere biomass burning variability inferred from ice core carbon monoxide records. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121 (). pp. 10.1073/pnas.2402868121

Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Eichler, Anja, Wolff, Eric. (2024) Melt-Affected Ice Cores for Polar Research in a Warming World. The Cryosphere, 18 (). 28 pp. 10.5194/tc-18-2691-2024

Grieman, Mackenzie M., Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Hoffmann, Helene M., Bauska, Thomas K. , King, Amy C.F. , Mulvaney, Robert , Rhodes, Rachael H., Rowell, Isobel F., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Wolff, Eric W.. (2024) Abrupt Holocene ice loss due to thinning and ungrounding in the Weddell Sea Embayment. Nature Geoscience, 17 (). 9 pp. 10.1038/s41561-024-01375-8

Segato, Delia, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Tetzner, Dieter , Jackson, Sarah, Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Turetta, Clara, Fernandez, Rafael P., Saiz-Lopez, Alfonso, Pedro, Joel, Markle, Bradley, Spolaor, Andrea. (2024) Investigating halogens and MSA in the Southern Hemisphere: A spatial analysis. Atmospheric Environment, 319 (). 9 pp. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.120279

The Firn Symposium team, incl., Moser, Dorothea , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2024) Firn on ice sheets. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, (). 21 pp. 10.1038/s43017-023-00507-9

2023

Dalaiden, Quentin, Rezsohazy, Jeanne, Goosse, Hugues, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Vladimirova, Diana O. , Tetzner, Dieter . (2023) An unprecedented sea ice retreat in the Weddell Sea driving an overall decrease of the Antarctic sea-ice extent over the 20th century. Geophysical Research Letters, 50 (). 12 pp. 10.1029/2023GL104666

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Vladimirova, Diana O. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Chellman, Nathan, Dixon, Daniel A., Goosse, Hugues, Grieman, Mackenzie M., King, Amy C.F. , Sigl, Michael, Udy, Danielle G., Vance, Tessa R., Winski, Dominic A., Winton, V. Holly L., Bertler, Nancy A.N., Hori, Akira, Laluraj, Chavarukonam M., McConnell, Joseph R., Motizuki, Yuko, Takahashi, Kazuya, Motoyama, Hideaki, Nakai, Yoichi, Schwanck, Franciéle, Simões, Jefferson Cardia, Gaudie Ley Lindau, Filipe, Severi, Mirko, Traversi, Rita, Wauthy, Sarah, Xiao, Cunde, Yang, Jiao, Mosely-Thompson, Ellen, Khodzher, Tamara V., Golobokova, Ludmila P., Ekaykin, Alexey A.. (2023) Ice core chemistry database: an Antarctic compilation of sodium and sulfate records spanning the past 2000 years. Earth System Science Data, 15 (). pp. 10.5194/essd-15-2517-2023

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Renwick, James A., Bertler, Nancy A. N., Baisden, W. Troy, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2023) The role of large-scale drivers in the Amundsen Sea Low variability and associated changes in water isotopes from the Roosevelt Island ice core, Antarctica. Climate Dynamics, 60 (). pp. 10.1007/s00382-022-06568-8

Hartz, William F., Björnsdotter, Maria K., Yeung, Leo W.Y., Hodson, Andrew, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Humby, Jack D. , Day, Chris, Jogsten, Ingrid Ericson, Kärrman, Anna, Kallenborn, Roland. (2023) Levels and distribution profiles of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in a high Arctic Svalbard ice core. Science of the Total Environment, 871 (). 12 pp. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161830

Thomas, E.R. , Tetzner, D.R. , Roberts, S.L., Turner, S.D., Rose, N.L.. (2023) First evidence of industrial fly-ash in an Antarctic ice core. Scientific Reports, 13 (). 5 pp. 10.1038/s41598-023-33849-x

Thomas, Elizabeth R.. , Vladimirova, Diana O. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Emanuelsson, Daniel B. , Humby, Jack , Turner, Simon D., Rose, Neil L., Roberts, Sarah L., Gaca, Pawel, Cundy, Andrew B.. (2023) The Palmer ice core as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series. The Anthropocene Review, 10 (). 30 pp. 10.1177/20530196231155191

Brown, Joseph W., Moser, Dorothea E. , Emanuelsson, Daniel B. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2023) Visual Stratigraphy-Based Age Scale Developed for the Shallow Mount Siple Firn Core, Antarctica. Geosciences, 13 (). pp. 10.3390/geosciences13030085

Wang, Yetang, Zhang, Xueying, Ning, Wentao, Lazzara, Matthew A., Ding, Minghu, Reijmer, Carleen H., Smeets, Paul C.J.P., Grigioni, Paolo, Heil, Petra, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Mikolajczyk, David, Welhouse, Lee J., Keller, Linda M., Zhai, Zhaosheng, Sun, Yuqi, Hou, Shugui. (2023) The AntAWS dataset: a compilation of Antarctic automatic weather station observations. Earth System Science Data, 15 (). 19 pp. 10.5194/essd-15-411-2023

2022

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Humby, Jack D. , Vladimirova, Diana O. . (2022) Decadal Scale Variability of Larsen Ice Shelf Melt Captured by Antarctic Peninsula Ice Core. Geosciences, 12 (). 12 pp. 10.3390/geosciences12090344

Hoffmann, Helene M., Grieman, Mackenzie M., King, Amy C.F. , Epifanio, Jenna A., Martin, Kaden, Vladimirova, Diana, Pryer, Helena, Doyle, Emily, Schmidt, Axel, Humby, Jack D. , Rowell, Isobel F., Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Mulvaney, Robert , Wolff, Eric W.. (2022) The ST22 chronology for the Skytrain Ice Rise ice core – Part 1: A stratigraphic chronology of the last 2000 years. Climate of the Past, 18 (). 17 pp. 10.5194/cp-18-1831-2022

Jones, Richard S., Johnson, Joanne S. , Lin, Yucheng, Mackintosh, Andrew N., Sefton, Juliet P., Smith, James A. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Whitehouse, Pippa L.. (2022) Stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the pre-industrial Holocene. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 3 (). 16 pp. 10.1038/s43017-022-00309-5

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Grieman, Mackenzie M.. (2022) Regional validation of the use of diatoms in ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula as a Southern Hemisphere westerly wind proxy. Climate of the Past, 18 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-18-1709-2022

Turner, John , Holmes, Caroline , Caton Harrison, Thomas , Phillips, Tony , Jena, Babula, Reeves-Francois, Tylei, Fogt, Ryan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Bajish, C.C.. (2022) Record low Antarctic sea ice cover in February 2022. Geophysical Research Letters, 49 (). 11 pp. 10.1029/2022GL098904

Johnson, Joanne S. , Venturelli, Ryan A., Balco, Greg, Allen, Claire S. , Braddock, Scott, Campbell, Seth, Goehring, Brent M., Hall, Brenda L., Neff, Peter D., Nichols, Keir A., Rood, Dylan H., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Woodward, John. (2022) Existing and potential evidence for Holocene grounding line retreat and readvance in Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 16 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-16-1543-2022

Erhardt, T., Bigler, M., Federer, U., Gfeller, G., Leuenberger, D., Stowasser, O., Röthlisberger, R., Schüpbach, S., Ruth, U., Twarloh, B., Wegner, A., Goto-Azuma, K., Kuramoto, T., Kjær, H.A., Vallelonga, P.T., Siggaard-Andersen, M-L., Hansson, M.E., Benton, A.K., Fleet, L.G., Mulvaney, R. , Thomas, E.R. , Abram, N., Stocker, T.F., Fischer, H.. (2022) High-resolution aerosol concentration data from the Greenland NorthGRIP and NEEM deep ice cores. Earth System Science Data, 14 (). pp. 10.5194/essd-14-1215-2022

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Allen, Claire S. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2022) Regional variability of diatoms in ice cores from the Antarctic Peninsula and Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 16 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-16-779-2022

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Tetzner, Dieter R. , Humby, Jack D. , Vladimirova, Diana O. . (2022) Ice core chronologies from the Antarctic Peninsula: The Palmer, Jurassic, and Rendezvous age-scales. Geosciences, 12 (). pp. 10.3390/geosciences12020087

Grieman, Mackenzie M., Hoffmann, Helene M., Humby, Jack D. , Mulvaney, Robert , Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Rix, Julius , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Tuckwell, Rebecca , Wolff, Eric W.. (2022) Continuous flow analysis methods for sodium, magnesium and calcium detection in the Skytrain ice core. Journal of Glaciology, 68 (). pp. 10.1017/jog.2021.75

2021

Tetzner, Dieter R. , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Permattei, Alma. (2021) Evidence of recent active volcanism in the Balleny Islands (Antarctica) from ice core records. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126 (). 20 pp. 10.1029/2021JD035095

Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Rezsöhazy, Jeanne, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) Reconstructing atmospheric circulation and sea-ice extent in the West Antarctic over the past 200 years using data assimilation. Climate Dynamics, 57 (). pp. 10.1007/s00382-021-05879-6

Simms, Alexander R., Bentley, Michael J., Simkins, Lauren M., Zurbuchen, Julie, Reynolds, Laura C., DeWitt, Regina, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) Evidence for a “Little Ice Age” glacial advance within the Antarctic Peninsula – Examples from glacially-overrun raised beaches. Quaternary Science Reviews, 271 (). 16 pp. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107195

Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth , Jackson, Sarah, Kjær, Helle Astrid, Markle, Bradley, Ngoumtsa, Estelle, Pedro, Joel B., Segato, Delia, Spolaor, andrea, Tetzner, Dieter , Vallelonga, Paul, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2021) An age scale for the first shallow (sub-)Antarctic ice core from Young Island, Northwest Ross Sea. Geosciences, 11 (). 18 pp. 10.3390/geosciences11090368

Tetzner, Dieter , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Wolff, Eric W.. (2021) A refined method to analyse insoluble particulate matter in ice cores, and its application to diatom sampling in the Antarctic Peninsula. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9 (). 13 pp. 10.3389/feart.2021.617043

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Gacitúa, Guisella, Pedro, Joel B., King, Amy Constance Faith , Markle, Bradley, Potocki, Mariusz, Moser, Dorothea Elisabeth. (2021) Physical properties of shallow ice cores from Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. The Cryosphere, 15 (). 14 pp. 10.5194/tc-15-1173-2021

2020

Cavitte, Marie G. P., Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) Reconciling the surface temperature–surface mass balance relationship in models and ice cores in Antarctica over the last 2 centuries. The Cryosphere, 14 (). 20 pp. 10.5194/tc-14-4083-2020

Dalaiden, Quentin, Goosse, Hugues, Klein, François, Lenaerts, Jan T.M., Holloway, Max , Sime, Louise , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) How useful is snow accumulation in reconstructing surface air temperature in Antarctica? A study combining ice core records and climate models. The Cryosphere, 14 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-14-1187-2020

Hoffmann, Kirstin, Fernandoy, Francisco, Meyer, Hanno, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Aliaga, Marcelo, Tetzner, Dieter , Freitag, Johannes, Opel, Thomas, Arigony-Neto, Jorge, Göbel, Christian Florian, Jaña, Ricardo, Rodríguez Oroz, Delia, Tuckwell, Rebecca , Ludlow, Emily, McConnell, Joseph R., Schneider, Christoph. (2020) Stable water isotopes and accumulation rates in the Union Glacier region, Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica, over the last 35 years. The Cryosphere, 14 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-14-881-2020

Allen, Claire , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Blagbrough, Hilary , Tetzner, Dieter , Warren, Richard A., Ludlow, Emily C., Bracegirdle, Thomas J. . (2020) Preliminary evidence for the role played by south westerly wind strength on the marine diatom content of an Antarctic Peninsula ice core (1980–2010). Geosciences, 10 (). pp. 10.3390/geosciences10030087

Martinetto, Edoardo, Bertini, Adele, Bhandari, Sudarshan, Bruch, Angela A., Cerilli, Eugenio, Cherin, Marco, Field, Judith H., Gabrielyan, Ivan, Gianotti, Franco, Kern, Andrea K., Kienast, Frank, Lindsey, Emily L., Momohara, Arata, Ravazzi, Cesare, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2020) The last three millions of unequal spring thaws. In: Martinetto, E., Tschopp, E., Gastaldo, R. (eds.). Nature through Time, Cham, Springer, 53 pp. (Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment, ). 10.1007/978-3-030-35058-1_1

2019

Fourteau, Kévin, Martinerie, Patricia, Faïn, Xavier, Schaller, Christoph F., Tuckwell, Rebecca J., Löwe, Henning, Arnaud, Laurent, Magand, Olivier, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Freitag, Johannes, Mulvaney, Robert , Schneebeli, Martin. (2019) Multi-tracer study of gas trapping in an East Antarctic ice core. The Cryosphere, 13 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-13-3383-2019

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Allen, Claire S. , Etourneau, Johan, King, Amy C.F. , Severi, Mirko, Winton, Holly , Mueller, Juliane, Crosta, Xavier, Peck, Victoria L. . (2019) Antarctic sea ice proxies from marine and ice core archives suitable for reconstructing sea ice over the past 2000 years. Geosciences, 9 (). 33 pp. 10.3390/geosciences9120506

Khider, D., Emile‐Geay, J., McKay, N. P., Gil, Y., Garijo, D., Ratnakar, V., Alonso‐Garcia, M., Bertrand, S., Bothe, O., Brewer, P., Bunn, A., Chevalier, M., Comas‐Bru, L., Csank, A., Dassié, E., DeLong, K., Felis, T., Francus, P., Frappier, A., Gray, W., Goring, S., Jonkers, L., Kahle, M., Kaufman, D., Kehrwald, N. M., Martrat, B., McGregor, H., Richey, J., Schmittner, A., Scroxton, N., Sutherland, E., Thirumalai, K., Allen, K., Arnaud, F., Axford, Y., Barrows, T., Bazin, L., Pilaar Birch, S. E., Bradley, E., Bregy, J., Capron, E., Cartapanis, O., Chiang, H.‐W., Cobb, K. M., Debret, M., Dommain, R., Du, J., Dyez, K., Emerick, S., Erb, M. P., Falster, G., Finsinger, W., Fortier, D., Gauthier, Nicolas, George, S., Grimm, E., Hertzberg, J., Hibbert, F., Hillman, A., Hobbs, W., Huber, M., Hughes, A. L. C., Jaccard, S., Ruan, J., Kienast, M., Konecky, B., Le Roux, G., Lyubchich, V., Novello, V. F., Olaka, L., Partin, J. W., Pearce, C., Phipps, S. J., Pignol, C., Piotrowska, N., Poli, M.‐S., Prokopenko, A., Schwanck, F., Stepanek, C., Swann, G. E. A., Telford, R., Thomas, E. , Thomas, Z., Truebe, S., Gunten, L., Waite, A., Weitzel, N., Wilhelm, B., Williams, J., Winstrup, M., Zhao, N., Zhou, Y.. (2019) PaCTS 1.0: A Crowdsourced Reporting Standard for Paleoclimate Data. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 34 (). pp. 10.1029/2019PA003632

King, A.C.F. , Thomas, E.R. , Pedro, J.B., Markle, B., Potocki, M., Jackson, S.L. , Wolff, E., Kalberer, M.. (2019) Organic compounds in a sub-Antarctic ice core: A potential suite of sea-ice markers. Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (). pp. 10.1029/2019GL084249

Tetzner, Dieter , Thomas, Liz , Allen, Claire . (2019) A validation of ERA5 reanalysis data in the southern Antarctic Peninsula – Ellsworth Land region, and its implications for ice core studies. Geosciences, 9 (). pp. 10.3390/geosciences9070289

Bracegirdle, Thomas J. , Colleoni, Florence, Abram, Nerilie J., Bertler, Nancy A.N., Dixon, Daniel A., England, Mark, Favier, Vincent, Fogwill, Chris J., Fyfe, John C., Goodwin, Ian, Goose, Hugues, Hobbs, Will, Jones, Julie M., Keller, Elizabeth D., Khan, Alia L., Phipps, Steven J., Raphael, Marilyn N., Russell, Joellen, Sime, Louise , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , van den Broeke, Michiel R., Wainer, Ilana. (2019) Back to the Future: Using long-term observational and paleo-proxy reconstructions to improve model projections of Antarctic climate. Geosciences, 9 (). pp. 10.3390/geosciences9060255

Wang, Yetang, Huai, Baojuan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Broeke, Michiel R., Wessem, J. Melchior, Schlosser, Elisabeth. (2019) A new 200‐year spatial reconstruction of West Antarctic surface mass balance. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (). pp. 10.1029/2018JD029601

King, Amy , Giorio, Chiara, Wolff, Eric, Thomas, Liz , Roverso, Marco, Schwikowski, Margit, Tapparo, Andrea, Bogialli, Sara, Kalberer, Markus. (2019) Direct injection liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry for determination of primary and secondary terrestrial and marine biomarkers in ice cores. Analytical Chemistry, 91 (). pp. 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05224

Turner, John , Phillips, Tony , Thamban, Meloth, Rahaman, Waliur, Marshall, Gareth , Wille, Jonathan, Favier, Vincent, Winton, Holly , Thomas, Liz , Wang, Zhaomin, van den Broeke, Michiel, Hosking, Scott , Lachlan-Cope, Thomas . (2019) The dominant role of extreme precipitation events in Antarctic snowfall variability. Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (). pp. 10.1029/2018GL081517

King, Amy C.F. , Giorio, Chiara, Wolff, Eric, Thomas, Liz , Karroca, Ornela, Roverso, Marco, Schwikowski, Margit, Tapparo, Andrea, Gambaro, Andrea, Kalberer, Markus. (2019) A new method for the determination of primary and secondary terrestrial and marine biomarkers in ice cores using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. Talanta, 194 (). pp. 10.1016/j.talanta.2018.10.042

Medley, B., Thomas, E.R. . (2019) Increased snowfall over the Antarctic Ice Sheet mitigated twentieth-century sea-level rise. Nature Climate Change, 9 (). pp. 10.1038/s41558-018-0356-x

2018

Thomas, Liz R. , Tetzner, Dieter R. . (2018) The climate of the Antarctic Peninsula during the 20th century- evidence from ice cores. In: Kanao, Masaki (eds.). Antarctica - A Key To Global Change, , IntechOpen, pp. 10.5772/intechopen.81507

Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Ligtenberg, Stefan R. M., Medley, Brooke, Van de Berg, Willem Jan, Konrad, Hannes, Nicolas, Julien P., Van Wessem, J. Melchior, Trusel, Luke D., Mulvaney, Robert , Tuckwell, Rebecca J. , Hogg, Anna E., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2018) Climate and surface mass balance of coastal West Antarctica resolved by regional climate modelling. Annals of Glaciology, 59 (). pp. 10.1017/aog.2017.42

Johnson, Joanne S. , O'Donnell, John P., Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2018) In situ measurements of snow accumulation in the Amundsen Sea Embayment during 2016. Antarctic Science, 30 (). pp. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102018000068

Schüpbach, S., Fischer, H., Bigler, M., Erhardt, T., Gfeller, G., Leuenberger, D., Mini, O., Mulvaney, Robert , Abram, Nerilie J., Fleet, Louise, Frey, Markus M. , Thomas, E. , Svensson, A., Dahl-Jensen, D., Kettner, E., Kjaer, H., Seierstad, I., Steffensen, J. P., Rasmussen, S. O., Vallelonga, P., Winstrup, M., Wegner, A., Twarloh, B., Wolff, K., Schmidt, K., Goto-Azuma, K., Kuramoto, T., Hirabayashi, M., Uetake, J., Zheng, J., Bourgeois, J., Fisher, D., Zhiheng, D., Xiao, C., Legrand, M., Spolaor, A., Gabrieli, J., Barbante, C., Kang, J.-H., Hur, S. D., Hong, S. B., Hwang, H. J., Hong, S., Hansson, M., Iizuka, Y., Oyabu, I., Muscheler, R., Adolphi, F., Maselli, O., McConnell, J., Wolff, E. W.. (2018) Greenland records of aerosol source and atmospheric lifetime changes from the Eemian to the Holocene. Nature Communications, 9 (). pp. 10.1038/s41467-018-03924-3

Giorio, Chiara, Kehrwald, Natalie, Barbante, Carlo, Kalberer, Markus, King, Amy , Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Wolff, Eric W., Zennaro, Piero. (2018) Prospects for reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions from organic compounds in polar snow and ice. Quaternary Science Reviews, 183 (). pp. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.01.007

2017

Wang, Yetang, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Hou, Shugui, Huai, Baojuan, Wu, Shuangye, Sun, Weijun, Qi, Shanzhong, Ding, Minghu, Zhang, Yulun. (2017) Snow accumulation variability over the West Antarctic Ice Sheet since 1900: a comparison of ice core records with ERA-20C reanalysis. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (). pp. 10.1002/2017GL075135

Stenni, Barbara, Curran, Mark A. J., Abram, Nerilie J., Orsi, Anais, Goursaud, Sentia, Masson-Delmotte, Valerie, Neukom, Raphael, Goosse, Hugues, Divine, Dmitry, van Ommen, Tas, Steig, Eric J., Dixon, Daniel A., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Bertler, Nancy A. N., Isaksson, Elisabeth, Ekaykin, Alexey, Werner, Martin, Frezzotti, Massimo. (2017) Antarctic climate variability on regional and continental scales over the last 2000 years. Climate of the Past, 13 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-13-1609-2017

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , van Wessem, J. Melchior, Roberts, Jason, Isaksson, Elisabeth, Schlosser, Elisabeth, Fudge, Tyler J., Vallelonga, Paul, Medley, Brooke, Lenaerts, Jan, Bertler, Nancy, van den Broeke, Michiel R., Dixon, Daniel A., Frezzotti, Massimo, Stenni, Barbara, Curran, Mark, Ekaykin, Alexey A.. (2017) Regional Antarctic snow accumulation over the past 1000 years. Climate of the Past, 13 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-13-1491-2017

Hosking, J. Scott , Fogt, Ryan, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Moosavi, Vahid, Phillips, Tony , Coggins, Jack, Reusch, David. (2017) Accumulation in coastal West Antarctic ice core records and the role of cyclone activity. Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (). pp. 10.1002/2017GL074722

Severi, M., Becagli, S., Caiazzo, L., Ciardini, V., Colizza, E., Giardi, F., Mezgec, K., Scarchilli, C., Stenni, B., Thomas, E.R. , Traversi, R., Udisti, R.. (2017) Sea salt sodium record from Talos Dome (East Antarctica) as a potential proxy of the Antarctic past sea ice extent. Chemosphere, 177 (). pp. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.03.025

Turney, Chris S. M., Fogwill, Christopher J., Palmer, Jonathan G., van Sebille, Erik, Thomas, Zoë, McGlone, Matt, Richardson, Sarah, Wilmshurst, Janet M., Fenwick, Pavla, Zunz, Violette, Goosse, Hugues, Wilson, Kerry-Jayne, Carter, Lionel, Lipson, Mathew, Jones, Richard T., Harsch, Melanie, Clark, Graeme, Marzinelli, Ezequiel, Rogers, Tracey, Rainsley, Eleanor, Ciasto, Laura, Waterman, Stephanie, Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Visbeck, Martin. (2017) Tropical forcing of increased Southern Ocean climate variability revealed by a 140-year subantarctic temperate reconstruction. Climate of the Past, 13 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-13-231-2017

2016

Hobbs, Will, Curran, Mark, Abram, Nerilie, Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2016) Century-scale perspectives on observed and simulated Southern Ocean sea ice trends from proxy reconstructions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 121 (). pp. doi:10.1002/2016JC012111

Wang, Yetang, Ding, Minghu, van Wessem, J. M., Schlosser, E., Altnau, S., van den Broeke, Michiel R., Lenaerts, Jan T. M., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Isaksson, Elisabeth, Wang, Jianhui, Sun, Weijun. (2016) A comparison of Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance from atmospheric climate models and in situ observations. Journal of Climate, 29 (). pp. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0642.1

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Abram, Nerilie J.. (2016) Ice core reconstruction of sea ice change in the Amundsen-Ross Seas since 1702 A.D.. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 (). pp. 10.1002/2016GL068130

van Wessem, J. M., Ligtenberg, S. R. M., Reijmer, C. H., van de Berg, W. J., van den Broeke, M. R., Barrand, N. E., Thomas, E. R. , Turner, John , Wuite, J., Scambos, T. A., van Meijgaard, E.. (2016) The modelled surface mass balance of the Antarctic Peninsula at 5.5 km horizontal resolution. The Cryosphere, 10 (). pp. 10.5194/tc-10-271-2016

2015

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Hosking, J. Scott , Tuckwell, Rebecca R. , Ludlow, Emily C.. (2015) Twentieth century increase in snowfall in coastal West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 42 (). pp. 10.1002/2015GL065750

Thomas, Elizabeth R , Bracegirdle, Thomas J . (2015) Precipitation pathways for five new ice core sites in Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica. Climate Dynamics, 44 (). pp. 10.1007/s00382-014-2213-6

2014

McConnell, J.R., Maselli, O.J., Sigl, M., Vallelonga, P., Neumann, T., Anschutz, H., Bales, R.C., Curran, M.A.J., Das, S.B., Edwards, R., Kipfstuhl, S., Layman, L., Thomas, E. . (2014) Antarctic-wide array of high-resolution ice core records reveals pervasive lead pollution began in 1889 and persists today. Scientific Reports, 4 (). pp. 10.1038/srep05848

2013

Thomas, Elizabeth R , Bracegirdle, Thomas J , Turner, John , Wolff, Eric W. (2013) A 308-year record of climate variability in West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters, 40 (). pp. doi:10.1002/2013GL057782

Thomas, Liz , Allen, Claire . (2013) A climatic history of West Antarctica. International Innovation, October (). pp.

2012

Wheatley, J.J., Blackwell, P.G., Abram, N.J., McConnell, J.R., Thomas, E.R. , Wolff, E.W.. (2012) Automated ice-core layer-counting with strong univariate signals. Climate of the Past, 8 (). pp. 10.5194/cp-8-1869-2012

2011

Sime, Louise , Lang, Nicola, Thomas, Elizabeth , Benton, Ailsa, Mulvaney, Robert . (2011) On high-resolution sampling of short ice cores: dating and temperature information recovery from Antarctic Peninsula virtual cores. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116 (). 17 pp. 10.1029/2011JD015894

Daley, Timothy J., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Holmes, Jonathan A., Street-Perrott, F. Alayne, Chapman, Mark R., Tindall, Julia C., Valdes, Paul J., Loader, Neil J., Marshall, James D., Wolff, Eric, Hopley, Philip J., Atkinson, Tim, Barber, Keith E., Fisher, Elizabeth H., Robertson, Iain, Hughes, Paul.D.M., Roberts, C. Neil. (2011) The 8200 yr BP cold event in stable isotope records from the North Atlantic region. Global and Planetary Change, 79 (). pp. 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.03.006

2010

Abram, Nerilie J., Thomas, Elizabeth R. , McConnell, Joseph R., Mulvaney, Robert , Bracegirdle, Thomas J. , Sime, Louise C. , Aristarain, Alberto J.. (2010) Ice core evidence for a 20th century decline in sea ice in the Bellingshausen Sea, Antarctica. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115 (). 9 pp. 10.1029/2010JD014644

Arthern, Robert J. , Vaughan, David G. , Rankin, Andrew M., Mulvaney, Robert , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2010) In situ measurements of Antarctic snow compaction compared with predictions of models. Journal of Geophysical Research, 115 (). 12 pp. 10.1029/2009JF001306

Mahowald, N.M., Kloster, S., Engelstaedter, S., Moore, J.K., Mukhopadhyay, S., McConnell, J.R., Albani, S., Doney, S.C., Bhattacharya, A., Curran, M.A.J., Flanner, M.G., Hoffman, F.M., Lawrence, D.M., Lindsay, K., Mayewski, P.A., Neff, J., Rothenberg, D., Thomas, Liz , Thornton, P. E., Zender, C. S.. (2010) Observed 20th century desert dust variability: impact on climate and biogeochemistry. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10 (). pp. 10.5194/acp-10-10875-2010

2009

Thomas, E.R. , Dennis, P. F., Bracegirdle, T.J. , Franzke, C.. (2009) Ice core evidence for significant 100-year regional warming on the Antarctic Peninsula. Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (). 5 pp. 10.1029/2009GL040104

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Wolff, Eric W., Mulvaney, Robert , Johnsen, Sigfus J., Steffensen, Jorgen P., Arrowsmith, Carol. (2009) Anatomy of a Dansgaard-Oeschger warming transition: High-resolution analysis of the North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (). pp. 10.1029/2008JD011215

Sime, Louise C. , Marshall, Gareth J. , Mulvaney, Robert , Thomas, Elizabeth R. . (2009) Interpreting temperature information from ice cores along the Antarctic Peninsula: ERA40 analysis. Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (). 5 pp. 10.1029/2009GL038982

Thomas, E.R. , Bracegirdle, T.J. . (2009) Improving ice core interpretation using in situ and reanalysis data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114 (). 8 pp. 10.1029/2009JD012263

2008

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Baeseman, Jenny, Lantuit, Hugues, Xavier, Jose, Baker, Narelle. (2008) Professional development training for early career polar researchers. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 89 (). pp. 10.1029/2008EO440003

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Mulvaney, Robert , Wolff, Eric W.. (2008) A change in seasonality in Greenland during a Dansgaard–Oeschger warming. Annals of Glaciology, 48 (). pp. doi:10.3189/172756408784700590

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Marshall, Gareth J. , McConnell, Joseph R.. (2008) A doubling in snow accumulation in the western Antarctic Peninsula since 1850. Geophysical Research Letters, 35 (). 5 pp. doi:10.1029/2007GL032529

2007

Thomas, Elizabeth R. , Wolff, Eric W., Mulvaney, Robert , Steffensen, Jorgen P., Johnsen, Sigfus J., Arrowsmith, Carol, White, James W.C., Vaughn, Bruce, Popp, Trevor. (2007) The 8.2 ka event from Greenland ice cores. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26 (). pp. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.07.017

Defining the onset of the Anthropocene – an Antarctic ice core as a candidate GSSP site.

The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) are searching for the optimal site to define the Global boundary Stratigraphic Section and Point (GSSP), also known as the “golden spike”, for the proposed Anthropocene Epoch. This would define a new geological era.

The Palmer ice core, from the Antarctic Peninsula, is one of 12 candidate sites being evaluated from across the globe. A suite of proxies, including plutonium (thermonuclear bomb testing) and fly ash (high temperature coal and fuel oil combustion) have been analysed in the ice layers.

The AWG is co-ordinating the assessment of candidate GSSP sites in collaboration with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW, Berlin) and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG, Berlin).

You can read more about this project here.

You can watch a video presenting the Palmer ice core at the HKW here.

As some recent articles about our work in Orion magazine, Nature, and National Geographic.

Antarctic Circumpolar Expedition (ACE) – Sub Antarctic Ice Core Expedition (SUB-ICE)

The sub-Antarctic islands (SAI) are uniquely located to capture changes in the globally significant circumpolar westerly winds and the Antarctic circumpolar current, key to the mixing and ventilation of the world’s deep oceans. The Sub-Antarctic – ice coring expedition (SubICE) is an international collaboration to provide the first glaciological and palaeoclimate records from the remote and globally significant SAI’s, before glacial retreat and warming surface temperatures destroy this valuable palaeoclimate archive forever.

The experienced team drilled seven shallow ice cores (~20m), at both high and low elevations sites, at a number of glaciated SAI’s to improve our understanding of southern hemisphere climate dynamics. The sites include: Cape Hurley and Mertz Glacier (Adelie Coast, Antarctica), Young Island (the Balleny Islands), Peter 1st island, South Georgia (Nordenskjold Glacier and Heany Glacier) and Bouvet island (Bouvetøya).

More information about ACE here

BBC feature about Bouvet drilling here

Scientific highlights:

Antarctic surface mass balance and global mean sea levels:

I produced the most comprehensive record of past Antarctic snow accumulation (surface mass balance). You can download the full data here. The Antarctica 2k database revealed that snowfall in Antarctica has significantly increased since 1800 AD (Thomas et al., 2017), mitigating 20^th century sea levels by ~10 mm (Medley and Thomas, 2019).

Contribution to IPCC report https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter_09.pdf

See the BBC press coverage here

Link to my NASA GISS sea level seminar here

Antarctic sea ice variability

Producing and compiling sea ice proxy records from ice cores. Evidence that sea-ice area increase in the Ross Sea (Thomas and Abram, 2016) and the decrease of sea-ice area in the Bellingshausen Sea are part of longer centennial trends and exceed internal variability on multi-decadal time-scales (Thomas et al., 2019).

Contribution to IPCC report https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter_09.pdf

Fieldwork:

I have led several ice core drilling projects in the Antarctic Peninsula, West Antarctica and Svalbard and participated in international drilling projects in both the Antarctic and Greenland. I led the sub-Antarctic ice core drilling expedition, drilling the first ever ice cores on the Balleny Islands, Peter 1st Island and Bouvet Island (the most remote island in the world).

You can view the BBC feature about our work on Bouvet here

Media and outreach:

Watch my recent TED talk here

Channel 5 documentary “Ice age – the apocalypse” with Michaela Strachan and Steve Backshall

Documentary – “Anthropocene, the undeniable truth” Directed by Cédric Defert. Follows the Anthropocene Working Group project to define the onset of the Anthropocene.

A grown-up guide to Planet Earth (Episode 6 – The Human Earth)

ITV Anglia climate special

BBC breakfast (09/08/21)

National Geographic explorer classrooms link and youtube.

Channel 4 News pre-COP26 special

UK Live lesson aimed at KS2 children

Group Head, Ice cores
Lead, CLIVASH 2k

Research outputs

Liz Thomas

Team

General enquiries

Liz Thomas

Biography

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Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

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