Research interests

The overarching goal of my research is to use the climate and carbon cycle variability of the past to inform projections of the future. I reconstruct past changes in the carbon cycle by measuring the concentration and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases trapped in polar ice cores. More recently, I have been working on developing new methods for measuring the isotopes of water in hydrated minerals and fluid inclusions to understand past changes in the hydrological cycle.

Bubbles of ancient air trapped in a sample of Antarctic ice. Credit: Thomas Bauska

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. 10.1073/pnas.2402868121

Bauska, Thomas. (2024) Ice core records of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In: Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, 3rd Edition, Elsevier, (Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, ). 10.1016/B978-0-323-99931-1.00264-6 (download preprint here)

King, Amy C.F. , Bauska, Thomas K. , Brook, Edward J., Kalk, Mike, Nehrbass-Ahles, Christoph, Wolff, Eric W., Strawson, Ivo, Rhodes, Rachael H., Osman, Matthew B.. (2024) Reconciling ice core CO2 and land use change following New World-Old World contact. Nature Communications, 15. 9 pp. 10.1038/s41467-024-45894-9

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

2022

2021

Yu, Z., Joos, F., Bauska, T.K., Stocker, B.D., Fischer, H., Loisel, J., Brovkin, V., Hugelius, G., Nehrbass-Ahles, C., Kleinen, T., Schmitt, J. (2021) No support for carbon storage of >1,000 GtC in northern peatlands. Nature Geoscience. 14,465–467 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00769-2

Bauska, Thomas K. , Marcott, Shaun A., Brook, Edward J. (2021) Abrupt changes in the global carbon cycle during the last glacial period. Nature Geoscience, 14. 91-96. 10.1038/s41561-020-00680-2

2020

Gázquez, Fernando, Bauska, Thomas K. , Comas-Bru, Laia, Ghaleb, Bassam, Calaforra, José-María, Hodell, David A. (2020) The potential of gypsum speleothems for paleoclimatology: application to the Iberian Roman Humid Period. Scientific Reports, 10. 13 pp. 10.1038/s41598-020-71679-3

Dyonisius, M.N., Petrenko, V.V., Smith, A.M., Hua, Q., Yang, B., Schmitt, J., Beck, J., Seth, B., Bock, M., Hmiel, B., Vimont, I., Menking, J.A., Shackleton, S.A., Baggenstos, D., Bauska, T.K., Rhodes, R.H., Sperlich, P., Beaudette, R., Harth, C., Kalk, M., Brook, E.J., Fischer, H., Severinghaus, J.P., Weiss, R.F. (2020) Old carbon reservoirs were not important in the deglacial methane budget. Science. 367, 907. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0504

Shackleton, S., Baggenstos, D., Menking, J.A., Dyonisius, M.N., Bereiter, B., Bauska, T.K., Rhodes, R.H., Brook, E.J., Petrenko, V.V., McConnell, J.R., Kellerhals, T., Häberli, M., Schmitt, J., Fischer, H., Severinghaus, J.P. (2020) Global ocean heat content in the Last Interglacial. Nature Geoscience. 13, 77–81. doi:10.1038/s41561-019-0498-0

2019

Menking, J.A., Brook, E.J., Shackleton, S.A., Severinghaus, J.P., Dyonisius, M.N., Petrenko, V., McConnell, J.R., Rhodes, R.H., Bauska, T.K., Baggenstos, D., et al. (2019) Spatial pattern of accumulation at Taylor Dome during Marine Isotope Stage 4: stratigraphic constraints from Taylor Glacier. Climate of the Past 15, 1537–1556.

Shackleton, S., Bereiter, B., Baggenstos, D., Bauska, T. K., Brook, E. J., Marcott, S. A., & Severinghaus, J. P. (2019) Is the noble gas‐based rate of ocean warming during the Younger Dryas overestimated? Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 5928-5936. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082971

2018

Evans, N. P., Bauska, T. K., Gázquez-Sánchez, F., Brenner, M., Curtis, J. H., and Hodell, D. A. (2018) Quantification of drought during the collapse of the classic Maya civilization. Science, 361 (6401), 498-501. DOI: 10.1126/science.aas9871

Bauska, T. K., Brook, E. J., Marcott, S. A., Baggenstos, D., Shackleton, S., Severinghaus, J. P., & Petrenko, V. V. (2018) Controls on millennial‐scale atmospheric CO₂ variability during the last glacial period.  Geophysical Research Letters, 45. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL077881

Gázquez, F., Morellón, M., Bauska, T., Herwartz, D., Surma, J., Moreno, A., Staubwasser, M., Valero-Garcés, B., Delgado-Huertas, A., and Hodell, D.A. (2018) Triple oxygen and hydrogen isotopes of gypsum hydration water for quantitative paleo-humidity reconstruction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 481, 177-188.

2017

Bauska, T.K., Walters, G., Gázquez, F., Hodell, D.A. (2017) On-line Differential Thermal Isotope Analysis of Hydration Water in Minerals by Cavity Ring-down Laser Spectroscopy.  Analytical Chemistry, 2018, 90 (1), 752–759 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b03136

Petrenko, V.V., Smith, A.M., Schaefer, H., Riedel, K., Brook, E., Baggenstos, D., Harth, C., Hua, Q., Buizert, C., Schilt, A., Fain, X., Mitchell, L., Bauska, T.,Orsi, A., Weiss, R.F., Severinghaus, J.P. (2017) Minimal geological methane emissions during the Younger Dryas–Preboreal abrupt warming event. Nature 548, 443–446.

Baggenstos, D., Bauska, T.K., Severinghaus, J.P., Lee, J.E., Schaefer, H., Buizert, C., Brook, E.J., Shackleton, S., and Petrenko, V.V. (2017) Atmospheric gas records from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, reveal ancient ice with ages spanning the entire last glacial cycle. Climate of the Past 13, 943–958.

2016

Bauska, T.K., Baggenstos, D., Brook, E.J., Mix, A.C., Marcott, S.A., Petrenko, V.V., Schaefer, H., Severinghaus, J.P., and Lee, J.E. (2016) Carbon isotopes characterize rapid changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide during the last deglaciation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1513868113

Petrenko, V.V., Severinghaus, J.P., Schaefer, H., Smith, A.M., Kuhl, T., Baggenstos, D., Hua, Q., Brook, E.J., Rose, P., Kulin, R., Bauska, T.K., et al. (2016) Measurements of ¹⁴C in ancient ice from Taylor Glacier, Antarctica constrain in situ cosmogenic ¹⁴CH₄ and¹⁴CO production rates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 177, 62-77.

2015

WAIS Divide Project Members (lead author: Christo Buizert) (2015) Precise interpolar phasing of abrupt climate change during the last ice age. Nature,520, 661–665.

Bauska, T.K., Joos, F., Mix, A.C., Roth, R., Ahn, J., and Brook, E.J. (2015) Links between atmospheric carbon dioxide, the land carbon reservoir and climate over the past millennium. Nature Geoscience, 8, 383–387.

2014

Schilt, A., Brook, E.J., Bauska, T.K., Baggenstos, D., Fischer, H., Joos, F., Petrenko, V.V., Schaefer, H., Schmitt, J., Severinghaus, J.P., et al. (2014) Isotopic constraints on marine and terrestrial N₂O emissions during the last deglaciation. Nature, 516, 234–237.

Marcott, S.A., Bauska, T.K., Buizert, C., Steig, E.J., Rosen, J.L., Cuffey, K.M., Fudge, T., Severinghaus, J.P., Ahn, J., Kalk, M.L., et al. (2014) Centennial-scale changes in the global carbon cycle during the last deglaciation. Nature, 514, 616–619

Bauska, T.K., Brook, E., Mix, A., and Ross, A. (2014) High-precision dual-inlet IRMS measurements of the stable isotopes of CO₂ and the N₂O / CO₂ ratio from polar ice core samples. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 7, 3825–3837.

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

1. How Antarctic winds shaped CO₂

   SIWHA investigates how westerly winds and sea ice have influenced CO2 uptake and release in the Southern Ocean.

   Read more of: How Antarctic winds shaped CO₂

   

Grants

Funded (Total Externally Funded Research to BAS: £2,230k awarded)

• Schmidt Futures (VESRI Climate Fund) “FETCH4: Fate, Emissions, and Transport of CH4 in past and modern atmospheres”. ~$10 million total in a large international collaboration.
• Royal Society URF Renewal “Developing an earth system toolkit for interpreting the oldest ice core records”, University Research Fellowships Renewals (~£600k)
• NERC Standard Grant Exploring the Frontiers “Continuous-depth analysis of soluble greenhouse gases in ice cores”. ~£100k. Lead PI: Dr. Rachael Rhodes, University of Cambridge. PDRA to work at BAS in my laboratory.
• Royal Society Research Fellows Enhanced Research Expenses 2021. ~£160k. Lead PI: Dr Thomas Bauska
• NERC Standard Grant: “Sea Ice and Westerly winds during the Holocene in coastal Antarctica, to better constrain oceanic CO2 uptake”. PI: Liz Thomas. Co-Is: Bauska, Rhodes, Martin. (~£800k)
• Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2018-2023): Probing the deepest ice cores for new modes of carbon cycle variability with a novel, ultra-high-resolution CO2 method (PI: Bauska with £650k to BAS)
• Royal Society Research Fellows’ Enhancement Award (2018-2021): Augmenting ice core records with continuous histories of CO2, CH4 and N2O (PI: Bauska with £200k BAS)
• NERC Capital Call 2019: UK Relic Air Extraction and Gas Analysis System – UK RArE-GAS (lead co-I with £300k to BAS)
• NERC Capital Call 2020: LASER-ENVI – A LASER spectrometer-based ENVIronmental Gas and Gas- Isotope Facility (co-I, £940k to University of Cambridge involving the BAS/Cambridge ice core gas lab

Postdoctoral Supervision

• Dr. Amy King (2019-2024). Currently postdoctoral  research scientist – British Antarctic Survey.
• Dr. Isobel Rowell (2023-present). Currently at International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.

Student Supervision

Ph.D. Student Supervision (primary)

• Peisong Zheng, University of Cambridge (2023-present) Ph.D.: “Developing causal network models to untangle the mechanisms behind past large-scale climate reorganizations”

Ph.D. Student Supervision (served on committee or mentored)

• Ivo Strawson, BAS/University of Cambridge (2021-2024)
• Dorothea Moser, BAS/University of Cambridge (2021-present)
• Etienne Legrain, University of Grenoble (2021-2023)
• Sarah Jackson, Australia National University
• Brittany Ward, University of Waikato, New Zealand

MASt/MSci Thesis Supervisor, University of Cambridge (2017-present)

• Lizzie Galloway, Part III (4th Year) Project: “Augmenting ice core records of past climate change: First applications of 17O-excess in coastal West Antarctica”
• Korina Chapman, Part III (4th Year) Project: “Constraining the timing of ice sheet retreat across the Weddell Sea during the Early Holocene using ice core total air content
• Naomi Driver, Part III (4th Year) Project: “Tracking moisture source changes during an ice shelf collapse using ice core water isotopes”

Outreach

We do all kinds of outreach activities ranging from big public events (like the Royal Society Summer of Science pictured below) to tailored courses with the Sutton Trust to public-facing web material on ice cores.

Ice cores on display at the Royal Society Summer of Science

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1. Listen to ancient air escaping from polar ice cores at Royal Society

   Climate scientists from University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, showcasing how they are using Antarctic ice cores to unlock the past and uncover clues to our planet’s future.

   Read more of: Listen to ancient air escaping from polar ice cores at Royal Society

   

2. Hold polar ice at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   British Antarctic Survey, in partnership with the University of Cambridge, will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, showcasing how, using Antarctic ice cores to unlock the past, we can understand more about the future of our planet in a changing climate.

   Read more of: Hold polar ice at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   

3. Ice on show at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge will be at the 2024 Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, talking all about how we’re unlocking the past using ice cores from […]

   Read more of: Ice on show at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

   

4. Antarctic ice explains dip in CO2 levels

   Small bubbles of air from ice in Antarctica resolve a long-standing debate about why there was a decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) during the 16th and 17th centuries.

   Read more of: Antarctic ice explains dip in CO2 levels

   

5. Ice Core Gas Lab

   Specialist ice core facility to measure concentration and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases

   Read more of: Ice Core Gas Lab

   

6. Ice core aquisition and analysis

   UK national facility and capability

   Read more of: Ice core aquisition and analysis