Robert Larter

Work Package Manager

Robert Larter

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Robert Larter

Biography

Marine geophysicist working at British Antarctic Survey since 1987. Main research focus since 2004 has been on late Quaternary ice sheet history, glacial geomorphology and glacial/glacial-marine processes.  Also maintaining involvement in research on tectonic and palaeoenvironmental history of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean through the Cenozoic era. Technical specialisms include acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic reflection, marine magnetic, swath bathymetry and sidescan sonar data. Scope of theoretical knowledge and coding experience includes forward and inverse seismic modelling and tectonic plate fitting/rotation calculations.

 

Employment

2015-          Deputy Science Leader, Palaeoenvironments, Ice sheets and Climate Change (PICC)

2009-2015 Workpackage Manager, Palaeo-Ice Sheets, a component of the British Antarctic Survey’s Ice Sheets programme.

2005-2009 Project Leader, Quaternary West Antarctic Deglaciations (QWAD), a component project of the British Antarctic Survey’s Glacial Retreat in Antarctica and Deglaciation of the Earth System (GRADES) programme

1995-2002 Project Leader, Oceanic Active Plate Margins, which included the Sandwich Lithospheric and Crustal Experiment (SLICE) and was a component project of the British Antarctic Survey’s Active Plate Margins programme

1995-2000 Programme Manager, Active Plate Margins Programme

1992-1995 Project Leader, Antarctic Peninsula Cenozoic Subduction

1987-present Marine Geophysicist, British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge)

1983-1987 Research Associate, Antarctic Marine Group (University of Birmingham)

 

Degrees

1991 PhD Marine Geophysics, University of Birmingham

1984 MSc Petroleum Exploration Studies, University of Aberdeen

1982 BSc Geology, University of Durham

 

NERC and external appointments

• Member of Steering Committee of SCAR Past Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics programme 2013-

• Member of Geological Society of London Working Group on Climate Change 2010-

• ECORD alternate member of the International Ocean Discovery Program Science Evaluation Panel 2013-

• Technical Adviser (Science) to NERC New Polar Research Vessel Programme

• Member of NERC New Polar Research Vessel Associated Projects Working Group

Research interests

Application of marine geology and geophysics to understanding the tectonic and palaeoenvironmental history of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, with main focus on Quaternary ice sheet history, glacial geomorphology and glacial/glacial-marine processes.

At present I am working mainly on geological and geophysical data from the southernmost Pacific Ocean, the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea.

I have also carried out geophysical investigations in the Scotia Sea. I have participated in 18 Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research cruises and been Chief Scientist on eight cruises of RRS James Clark Ross.

 

Recent research cruises

RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR298, January-March 2015. Chief Scientist. NERC UK-IODP Programme Site Survey Investigation cruise in support of International Ocean Discovery Program proposal 732-Full2 “Sediment drifts off the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica”. Project involves Co-Investigators at University of Cambridge and University of Exeter, and Project Partners at University of Florida, Royal Holloway University of London, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Bremerhaven, Germany) and Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (Trieste, Italy). Further collaborations with research groups at University of Cambridge and University of Durham are funded by the NERC Collaborative Gearing Scheme, and a further collaboration with a researcher at University of Florida is funded by an Antarctic Science Bursary. Cruise summary report from BODC
Cruise blog by Carys Cook, University of Florida

RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR284, January 2014. Chief Scientist. BAS IceSheets Programme short cruise with aim of “Improving constraints on the deglacial history of the Antarctic Peninsula”. Involved collaborators from National Oceanography Centre (Southampton), Scott Polar Research Institute (Cambridge) and Alfred Wegener Institite for Polar and Marine Research (Bremerhaven, Germany). Cruise summary report from BODC

RRS James Clark Ross Cruise JR244, January-March 2011. Chief Scientist. BAS IceSheets Programme and Chemistry and Past Climate Programme cruise to investigate the late Quaternary glacial and palaeoceanographic history of the southern Weddell Sea. Cruise summary and final cruise report from BODC

Most recent publications

Most cited publications

 

Publications information from the NERC Open Research Archive (NORA)

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

2018

Hodgson, Dominic A., Hogan, Kelly, Smith, James M., Smith, James A., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Graham, Alistair G.C., Fretwell, Peter, Allen, Claire, Peck, Vicky, Arndt, Jan-Erik, Dorschel, Boris, Hübscher, Christian, Smith, Andy M., Larter, Robert. (2018) Deglaciation and future stability of the Coats Land ice margin, Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 12. 2383-2399. 10.5194/tc-12-2383-2018

Arndt, Jan Erik, Larter, Robert D., Friedl, Peter, Gohl, Karsten, Höppner, Kathrin. (2018) Bathymetric controls on calving processes at Pine Island Glacier. The Cryosphere, 12. 2039-2050. 10.5194/tc-2017-262

Gunn, K.L., White, N.J., Larter, R.D., Caulfield, C.P.. (2018) Calibrated seismic imaging of eddy-dominated warm-water transport across the Bellingshausen Sea, Southern Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 123. 3072-3099. 10.1029/2018JC013833

Larter, Robert. (2018) Book Review: Exploring the Last Continent – An Introduction to Antarctica Edited by Daniela Liggett, Bryan Storey, Yvonne Cook and Veronika Meduna. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 93. 29-30. 10.1086/696740

2017

Gohl, K., Freudenthal, T., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Klages, J., Larter, Robert, Bickert, T., Bohaty, S., Ehrmann, W., Esper, O., Frederichs, T., Gebhardt, C., Küssner, K., Kuhn, G., Pälike, H., Ronge, T., Simões Pereira, P., Smith, James, Uenzelmann-Neben, G., van de Flierdt, C.. (2017) MeBo70 Seabed Drilling on a Polar Continental Shelf: Operational Report and Lessons From Drilling in the Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 18. 4235-4250. 10.1002/2017GC007081

Wise, Matthew G., Dowdeswell, Julian A., Jakobsson, Martin, Larter, Robert D.. (2017) Evidence of marine ice-cliff instability in Pine Island Bay from iceberg-keel plough marks. Nature, 550. 506-510. 10.1038/nature24458

Hernandez-Molina, F. Javier, Larter, Robert D., Maldonado, Andres. (2017) Neogene to Quaternary stratigraphic evolution of the Antarctic Peninsula, Pacific Margin offshore of Adelaide Island: transitions from a non-glacial, through glacially-influenced to a fully glacial state. Global and Planetary Change, 156. 80-111. 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2017.07.002

Spagnolo, Matteo, Bartholomaus, Timothy C., Clark, Chris D., Stokes, Chris R., Atkinson, Nigel, Dowdeswell, Julian A., Ely, Jeremy C., Graham, Alistair G.C., Hogan, Kelly A., King, Edward C., Larter, Robert D., Livingstone, Stephen J., Pritchard, Hamish D.. (2017) The periodic topography of ice stream beds: insights from the Fourier spectra of mega-scale glacial lineations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122. 1355-1373. 10.1002/2016JF004154

Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Smith, James A., Hodell, David A., Greaves, Mervyn, Poole, Christopher R., Kender, Sev, Williams, Mark, Andersen, Thorbjorn Joest, Jernas, Patrycja E., Elderfield, Henry, Klages, Johann P., Roberts, Stephen, Gohl, Karsten, Larter, Robert D., Kuhn, Gerhard. (2017) West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat driven by Holocene warm water incursions. Nature, 547. 43-48. 10.1038/nature22995

2016

García, Marga, Dowdeswell, J.A., Noormets, R., Hogan, K.A., Evans, J., Ó Cofaigh, C., Larter, R.D.. (2016) Geomorphic and shallow-acoustic investigation of an Antarctic Peninsula fjord system using high-resolution ROV and shipboard geophysical observations: Ice dynamics and behaviour since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 153. 122-138. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.10.014

Leat, Philip T., Fretwell, Peter T., Tate, Alex J., Larter, Robert D., Martin, Tara J., Smellie, John L., Jokat, Wilfred, Bohrmann, Gerhard. (2016) Bathymetry and geological setting of the South Sandwich Islands volcanic arc. Antarctic Science, 28. 293-303. 10.1017/S0954102016000043

Gales, J.A., Larter, R.A., Leat, P.T.. (2016) Iceberg ploughmarks and associated sediment ridges on the southern Weddell Sea margin. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms : modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, UK, Geological Society of London, 289-290. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.11

Graham, A.G.C., Nitsche, F.O., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K.. (2016) Submarine landform assemblage produced beneath the Dotson-Getz palaeo-ice stream, West Antarctica. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 345-348. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.176

Klages, J.P., Kuhn, G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Graham, A.G.C., Smith, J.A., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K.. (2016) A glacial landform assemblage from an inter-ice stream setting in the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary, ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 349-352. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.147

Bohoyo, F., Larter, R.D., Galindo-Zaldivar, J., Leat, P.T., Maldonado, A., Tate, A.J., Gowland, E.J.M., Arndt, J.E., Dorschel, B., Kim, Y.D., Hong, J.K., Flexas, M.M., Lopez-Martinez, J., Maestro, A., Bermudez, O., Nitsche, F.O., Livermore, R.A., Riley, T.R.. (2016) Bathymetry and geological setting of the Drake Passage. BAS GEOMAP 2 Series. Cambridge, British Antarctic Survey.

Gales, J.A., Larter, R.D., Leat, P.T.. (2016) Submarine gullies on the southern Weddell Sea slope, Antarctica. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms : modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, UK, Geological Society of London, 383-384. (Geological Society Memoir, 46). doi:10.1144/M46.12

Gales, J.A., Larter, R.D., Leat, P.T., Jokat, W.. (2016) Components of an Antarctic trough-mouth fan: examples from the Crary Fan, Weddell Sea. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms : modern, Quaternary and ancient , London, UK, Geological Society of London, 377-378. (Geological Society Memoir, 46). 10.1144/M46.82

Graham, A.G.C., Jakobsson, M., Nitsche, F.O., Larter, R.D., Anderson, J.B., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Gohl, K., Klages, J.P., Smith, J.A., Jenkins, A.. (2016) Submarine glacial landform distribution across the West Antarctic margin, from grounding line to slope: the Pine Island-Thwaites ice stream system. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 493-500. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.173

Hogan, K.A., Dowdeswell, J.A., Larter, R.D., O Cofaigh, C., Bartholemew, I.. (2016) Subglacial meltwater channels in Marguerite Trough, western Antarctic Peninsula. In: Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 215-216. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.178

Jakobsson, M., Gyllencreutz, R., Mayer, L.A., Dowdeswell, J.A., Canals, M., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, E.K., Hogan, K.A., Larter, R.D.. (2016) Mapping submarine glacial landforms using acoustic methods. In: Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 17-40. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.182

Larter, R.D., Hogan, K.A., Dowdeswell, J.A.. (2016) Large sediment drifts on the upper continental rise west of the Antarctic Peninsula. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 401-402. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.132

Nitsche, F.O., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K., Graham, A.G.C., Kuhn, G.. (2016) Bedrock channels in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica. In: Atlas of Submarine Glacial Landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 217-218. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.1

Larter, R.D., Hogan, K.A., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Benetti, S.. (2016) Debris-flow deposits on the West Antarctic continental slope. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 375-376. (Geological Society Memoir, ). 10.1144/M46.155

Nitsche, F. O., Larter, R. D., Gohl, K., Graham, A. G. C., Kuhn, G.. (2016) Crag-and-tail features on the Amundsen Sea continental shelf, West Antarctica. In: Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, Quaternary and ancient, London, Geological Society of London, 199-200. (Geological Society Memoir, 46). doi:10.1144/M46.2

2015

Klages, J.P., Kuhn, G., Graham, A.G.C., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Smith, J.A., Nitsche, F.O., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K.. (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. 207-222. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.05.020

Lavoie, C, Domack, E.W., Pettit, E.C., Scambos, T.A., Larter, R.D., Schenke, H.-W., Yoo, K.C., Gutt, J., Wellner, J., Canals, M., Anderson, J.B., Amblas, D.. (2015) Configuration of the northern Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet at LGM based on a new synthesis of seabed imagery. The Cryosphere, 9. 613-629. 10.5194/tc-9-613-2015

2014

Smith, James A., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Kuhn, Gerard, Klages, Johann Phillip, Graham, Alastair C.G., Larter, Robert D., Ehrmann, Werner, Moreton, Steven G., Wiers, Steffen. (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. 224-237. 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.015

Bentley, Michael J., Ó Cofaigh, Colm, Anderson, John B., Conway, Howard, Davies, Bethan, Graham, Alastair G.C., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Hodgson, Dominic A., Jamieson, Stewart S.R., Larter, Robert D., Mackintosh, Andrew, Smith, James A., Verleyen, Elie, Ackert, Robert P., Bart, Philip J., Berg, Sonja, Brunstein, Daniel, Canals, Miquel, Colhoun, Eric A., Crosta, Xavier, Dickens, William A., Domack, Eugene, Dowdeswell, Julian A., Dunbar, Robert, Ehrmann, Werner, Evans, Jeffrey, Favier, Vincent, Fink, David, Fogwill, Christopher J., Glasser, Neil F., Gohl, Karsten, Golledge, Nicholas R., Goodwin, Ian, Gore, Damian B., Greenwood, Sarah L., Hall, Brenda L., Hall, Kevin, Hedding, David W., Hein, Andrew S., Hocking, Emma P., Jakobsson, Martin, Johnson, Joanne S., Jomelli, Vincent, Jones, R. Selwyn, Klages, Johann P., Kristoffersen, Yngve, Kuhn, Gerhard, Leventer, Amy, Licht, Kathy, Lilly, Katherine, Lindow, Julia, Livingstone, Stephen J., Massé, Guillaume, McGlone, Matt S., McKay, Robert M., Melles, Martin, Miura, Hideki, Mulvaney, Robert, Nel, Werner, Nitsche, Frank O., O'Brien, Philip E., Post, Alexandra L., Roberts, Stephen J., Saunders, Krystyna M., Selkirk, Patricia M., Simms, Alexander R., Spiegel, Cornelia, Stolldorf, Travis D., Sugden, David E., van der Putten, Nathalie, van Ommen, Tas, Verfaillie, Deborah, Vyverman, Wim, Wagner, Bernd, White, Duanne A., Witus, Alexandra E., Zwartz, Dan. (2014) A community-based geological reconstruction of Antarctic Ice Sheet deglaciation since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 100. 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.025

Larter, Robert D., Anderson, John B., Graham, Alastair G.C., Gohl, Karsten, Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Jakobsson, Martin, Johnson, Joanne S., Kuhn, Gerhard, Nitsche, Frank O., Smith, James A., Witus, Alexandra E., Bentley, Michael J., Dowdeswell, Julian A., Ehrmann, Werner, Klages, Johann P., Lindow, Julia, Cofaigh, Colm Ó, Spiegel, Cornelia. (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. 55-86. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.10.016

Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Bentley, Michael J., Stolldorf, Travis D., Hein, Andrew S., Kuhn, Gerhard, Graham, Alastair G.C., Fogwill, Christopher J., Kristofferson, Yngve, Smith, James A., Anderson, John B., Larter, Robert D., Melles, Martin, Hodgson, Dominic A., Mulvaney, Robert, Sugden, David E.. (2014) Reconstruction of changes in the Weddell Sea sector of the Antarctic Ice Sheet since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 100. 111-136. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.07.020

Ó Cofaigh, Colm, Davies, Bethan J., Livingstone, Stephen J., Smith, James A., Johnson, Joanne S., Hocking, Emma P., Hodgson, Dominic A., Anderson, John B., Bentley, Michael J., Canals, Miquel, Domack, Eugene, Dowdeswell, Julian A., Evans, Jeffrey, Glasser, Neil F., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Larter, Robert D., Roberts, Stephen J., Simms, Alexander R.. (2014) Reconstruction of ice-sheet changes in the Antarctic Peninsula since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, 100. 87-110. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.023

Dickens, William A., Graham, Alastair G. C., Smith, James A., Dowdeswell, Julian A., Larter, Robert D., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Trathan, Phil N., Arndt, Jan Erik, Kuhn, Gerard. (2014) A new bathymetric compilation for the South Orkney Islands, Antarctic Peninsula (49°-39°W to 64°-59°S): insights into the glacial development of the continental shelf. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 15. 2494-2514. 10.1002/2014GC005323

Klages, J.P., Kuhn, G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Graham, A.G.C., Smith, J.A., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K., Wacker, L.. (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. 1-15. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.02.017

Johnson, J.S., Bentley, M.J., Smith, J.A., Finkel, R.C., Rood, D.H., Gohl, H., Balco, G., Larter, R.D., Schaefer, J.M.. (2014) Rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier in the early Holocene. Science, 343. 999-1001. 10.1126/science.1247385

Leat, Philip T., Fretwell, Peter T., Tate, Alex J., Larter, Robert D., Martin, T.J., Smellie, J.K., Jokat, W., Bohrmann, G.. (2014) Bathymetry and geological setting of the South Sandwich Islands Volcanic Arc. BAS GEOMAP 2. Cambridge, British Antarctic Survey.

Gales, J.A., Leat, P.T., Larter, R.T., Kuhn, G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Graham, A.G.C., Mitchell, N.D., Tate, A.J., Buys, G.B., Jokat, W.. (2014) Large-scale submarine landslides, channel and gully systems on the southern Weddell Sea margin, Antarctica. Marine Geology, 348. 73-87. 10.1016/j.margeo.2013.12.002

2013

Summerhayes, C.P, Cann, J.R., Wolff, E.W., Larter, R., Lowe, J.J., McCave, I.N., Valdes, P.J., Cohen, A., Francis, J.E., Bilham, N.T.. Dowdeswell, J.A., Canals, M., Jakobsson, M., Todd, B.J., Dowdeswell, E.K., Hogan, K.A. (eds.). (2013) Addendum to the Geological Society’s “Statement on Climate Change: Evidence from the Geological Record”. Geological Society of London

Gohl, Karsten, Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele, Larter, Robert D., Hillenbrand, Claus-Dieter, Hochmuth, Katharina, Kalberg, Thomas, Weigelt, Estella, Davy, Bryan, Kuhn, Gerhard, Nitsche, Frank O.. (2013) Seismic stratigraphic record of the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf from pre-glacial to recent times: Evidence for a dynamic West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Marine Geology, 344. 115-131. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2013.06.011

Graham, Alastair G. C., Dutrieux, Pierre, Vaughan, David G., Nitsche, Frank O., Gyllencreutz, Richard, Greenwood, Sarah L., Larter, Robert D., Jenkins, Adrian. (2013) Sea-bed corrugations beneath an Antarctic ice shelf revealed by autonomous underwater vehicle survey: Origin and implications for the history of Pine Island Glacier. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 118. 1356-1366. doi:10.1002/jgrf.20087

Gales, J.A., Forwick, M., Laberg, J.S., Vorren, T.O., Larter, R.D., Graham, A.G.C., Baeten, N.J., Amundsen, H.B.. (2013) Arctic and Antarctic submarine gullies – a comparison of high latitude continental margins. Geomorphology, 201. 449-461. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.07.018

Gales, Jennifer A., Larter, Robert D., Mitchell, Neil C., Dowdeswell, Julian A.. (2013) Geomorphic signature of Antarctic submarine gullies: Implications for continental slope processes. Marine Geology, 337. 112-124. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2013.02.003

Nitsche, F.O., Gohl, K., Larter, R.D., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Kuhn, G., Smith, J.A., Jacobs, S., Anderson, J.B., Jakobsson, M.. (2013) Paleo ice flow and subglacial meltwater dynamics in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica. The Cryosphere, 7. 249-262. doi:10.5194/tc-7-249-2013

Klages, J.P., Kuhn, G., Hillenbrand, C.-D., Graham, A.G.C., Smith, J.A., Larter, R.D., Gohl, K.. (2013) First geomorphological record and glacial history of an inter-ice stream ridge on the West Antarctic continental shelf. Quaternary Science Reviews, 61. 47-61. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.11.007

1989

Larter, Robert D., Barker, Peter F.. (1989) Seismic stratigraphy of the Antarctic Peninsula Pacific margin: A record of Pliocene-Pleistocene ice volume and paleoclimate. Geology, 17. 731-734. 10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0731:SSOTAP>2.3.CO;2