Prof Gideon Henderson

Professor of Earth Sciences

Research Theme
Environment, oceans and climate

Research Area
Isotopes and Climate

Telephone	Search the directory
Email:	gideon.henderson@earth.ox.ac.uk
Homepage:
http://climotope.earth.ox.ac.uk/
Web Link:
Climate Science at Oxford

Research Profile

I am a geochemist researching climate change and the carbon cycle.

Paleoclimate: I develop and refine geochemical proxies to understand the history of the past environment. These include radioactive isotopes to study rates of processes such as ocean circulation, and stable-isotopes to understand variables such as past rainfall or weathering. I also construct timescales for these proxy-records, and I run a leading U-series-chronology lab dating the history of sea level and of high-resolution climate records in stalagmites. I collaborate with ocean modellers to better understand and apply paleoclimate proxies, particularly those based on U-series nuclides. The unifying goal of this work is to use paleoclimate to better understand the processes controlling climate change. A particular recent interest in this area is to understand the influence of seasonality through very high resolution paleoclimate records. This complements long-standing interests in the response of the climate system at orbital and millennial timescales.

Ocean chemistry: My interest in ocean chemistry links to paleoclimate because it provides critical information about the proxies used for paleoclimate, and also because the oceans play such a critical role in driving climate via the carbon cycle. By making appropriate measurements in the water column and underlying core-top sediments, I assess the calibration, limitations and uncertainty on paleoproxies such as 230Th normalization, Si isotopes, and Mg/Ca. I also research the iron cycle in the oceans – so important for its role as a limiting nutrient - assessing the fluxes of Fe into the ocean from atmosphere, land and sediment. More recently, though collaboration with ocean modellers at Oxford, I have started to pursue work on the inorganic carbon system in the oceans, including the sensitivity of future ocean carbon uptake and the appropriateness of some ocean geoengineeering schemes.

Selected Publications (Extended Publications)

Thomas, AL, Henderson, GM, Deschamps, P, Yokoyama, Y, Mason, AJ, Bard, E, Hamelin, B, Durand, N, Camoin, G, (2009) 'Penultimate deglacial sea-level timing from uranium/thorium dating of Tahitian corals.', Science. pp. 1186-1189 doi: 10.1126/science.1168754
Hu, CY, Henderson, GM, Huang, JH, Xie, S, Sun, Y, Johnson, KR, (2008) 'Quantification of Holocene Asian monsoon rainfall from spatially separated cave records', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 221-232 doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.10.015
Ferguson, JE, Henderson, GM, Kucera, M, Rickaby, REM, (2008) 'Systematic change of foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios across a strong salinity gradient', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 153-166 doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.10.011
Knudsen, MF, Henderson, GM, Mac Niocaill, C, West, AJ, (2007) 'Seven thousand year duration for a geomagnetic excursion constrained by Th-230(xs)', GEOPHYS RES LETT. pp. doi: 10.1029/2007GL031090
Thomas, AL, Henderson, GM, McCave, IN, (2007) 'Constant bottom water flow into the Indian Ocean for the past 140 ka indicated by sediment Pa-231/Th-230 ratios', PALEOCEANOGRAPHY. pp. doi: 10.1029/2007PA001415
Johnson, KR, Hu, CY, Belshaw, NS, Henderson, GM, (2006) 'Seasonal trace-element and stable-isotope variations in a Chinese speleothem: The potential for high-resolution paleomonsoon reconstruction', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 394-407 doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.01.064
Siddall, M, Henderson, GM, Edwards, NR, Frank, M, Muller, SA, Stocker, TF, Joos, F, (2005) 'Pa-231/Th-210 fractionation by ocean transport, biogenic particle flux and particle type', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 135-155 doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.05.031
Pistiner, JS, Henderson, GM, (2003) 'Lithium-isotope fractionation during continental weathering processes', EARTH PLANET SC LETT. pp. 327-339 doi: 10.1016/S0012-821X%2803%2900348-0