![Dr Alexander Brasier Dr Alexander Brasier](/img/200x200/staffpages/uploads/s10ab4/avatar/fjkHGt86NwTZEgk7o9VYniHk8ELwkJ6BVG8K5O1A.png)
Senior Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- a.brasier@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273449
- School/Department
- School of Geosciences
Biography
Senior Lecturer in Geology, University of Aberdeen, 2018 -
Lecturer in Geology, University of Aberdeen, 2014 - 2018
Tenure track postdoc, VU University Amsterdam, 2012 - 2014
Postdoc, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre / Glasgow University, 2009 - 2012
Stratigrapher, Neftex, 2007 - 2009
PhD, University of East Anglia School of Environmental Sciences, 2003 - 2007
International Exchange student, Queens University Ontario, Canada, 2001 - 2002
BSc Geology, University of Edinburgh, 1999 - 2003
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
-
Honorary Museum Curator for Geology collections, University of Aberdeen
Examinations Officer for Geology 2018 - 2023
Academic Lead for Aberdeen Centre for Electron Microscopy, Analysis and Characterisation (ACEMAC): https://www.abdn.ac.uk/business-info/facilities-and-expertise/acemac-nano-scale-electron-microscopy-and-analysis-facility-846.php
Member of the Core Facilities / Research Facilities Working Group (2017 - )
Member of the Space Enhanced Teaching Working Group (2018); several Science Teaching Hub working groups (2019 onwards); Reimagining our Campus - Research and Innovation Working Group (2023 - ).
- External Memberships
-
Chief Editor, Sedimentology (2021 - )
Member of the Bureau / Council of Management, International Association of Sedimentologists (2021 - )
Chair of the Organising Committee, 37th International Meeting of Sedimentology, IAS Aberdeen 2024 (2017 - 2024)
Associate Editor, Sedimentology (2017 - 2020)
External examiner for PhD theses, including Hannes Claes (KU Leuven, 2015), Matthew Warke (University of Manchester, 2017) and Ying Shields-Zhou (UCL, 2017); MRes thesis Stefania Schania (UEA, 2023).
Member of the board of the Scottish Microscopy Society (2021 - )
Prizes and Awards
2020 - 2021 - Funniest Lecturer Award (Aberdeen University Students Association / University of Aberdeen)
2018 - 2019 - Most Inspiring Lecturer Award (Aberdeen University Students Association / University of Aberdeen)
2020 Sun Shu Prize (International), International Association of Sedimentologists
- Research
-
Current Research
Stable isotope and elemental geochemistry combined with petrography (optical and electron microscopy) of carbonate rocks and sediments for palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, exploring connections between climate, biosphere and tectonics through all of Earth history, from the Quaternary to the Archaean.
Astrobiology and geobiology, including processes of microbe fossilisation and identification of ancient microbial fossils (see for example http://theconversation.com/the-hunt-for-life-on-mars-new-findings-on-rock-chimneys-could-hold-key-to-success-97998 and https://www.newscientist.com/article/2172262-these-eerie-rock-towers-may-have-been-built-by-microorganisms).
Diagenesis, particularly of carbonate rocks and sediments, distinguishing original from secondary (alteration) features.
Examining deposition and diagenesis of non-marine carbonates (microbial tufas, hot-spring travertines, soil calcretes and cave speleothems), including the impact of the arrival and diversification of vascular plants on these terrestrial carbonates, and on muddy Palaeozoic reefs. I do this using a combination of field techniques, petrography and (isotope and elemental) geochemistry. This work has both applied and academic relevance.
Collaborations
Numerous collaborators, including (but certainly not limited to):
Peir Pufahl (Queen's University, Ontario)
John Reijmer and Hubert Vonhof (VU University, Amsterdam / MPI Mainz)
Enrico Capezzuoli (University of Florence)
Mike Rogerson (Northumbria University)
Tony Fallick (SUERC), Tony Prave (St Andrews), Victor Melezhik (NGU), Dan Condon (BGS)
Anneleen Foubert and Eva de Boever (Universite de Fribourg, Switzerland)
Supervision
Supervisees
- MR CIAN MCAULEY
- MISS LUCY KERR
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Undergraduate Teaching:
GL1005 The Earth through Geological Time (Palaeontology and Stratigraphy)
GL1505 Earth's Materials (Sedimentology)
GL2017 Earth's Life, Environments and Climate through Time (Course Coordinator)
GL2510 Introduction to Field Geology (Arran fieldtrip)
GL4031 Geochemistry and Geofluids (Thurso fieldtrip)
GL4033 Planetary Geology / Applied Geological Synthesis (Course Coordinator)
GL4532 Integrative Geology through Fieldwork
MSc Teaching:
GL5561 Earth and Planetary Surface and Internal Processes
GL5563 Astrobiology for Explorers (Course Coordinator)
GL5044 Applied sedimentology and structural geology
- Publications
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Page 3 of 3 Results 51 to 62 of 62
The Imandra/Varzuga Greenstone Belt
Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation: The Core Archive of the Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project. Melezhik, V., Prave, A. R., Hanski, E. J., Fallick, A. E., Lepland, A., Kump, L. R., Strauss, H. (eds.). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 505-590, 86 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29659-8_2
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
The Palaeoproterozoic Perturbation of the Global Carbon Cycle: The Lomagundi-Jatuli Isotopic Event
Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation: Global Events and the Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project. Melezhik, V. A., Prave, A. R., Hanski, E. J., Fallick, A. E., Lepland, A., Kump, L. R., Strauss, H. (eds.). Springer Verlag, pp. 1111-1150, 40 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29670-3_3
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Tulomozero formation: FAR-DEEP holes 10A and 10B
Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation: The Core Archive of the Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project. Melezhik, V., Prave, A. R., Hanksi, E. J., Fallick, A. E., Lepland, A., Kump, L. R., Strauss, H. (eds.). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 773-888, 116 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29659-8_4
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Isotopic evidence for massive oxidation of organic matter following the Great Oxidation Event
Science, vol. 334, no. 6063, pp. 1694-1696Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213999
Coastal sabkha dolomites and calcitised sulphates preserving the Lomagundi-Jatuli carbon isotope signal
Precambrian Research, vol. 189, no. 1-2, pp. 193-211Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2011.05.011
Diagenesis or dire genesis? The origin of columnar spar in tufa stromatolites of central Greece and the role of chironomid larvae
Sedimentology, vol. 58, no. 5, pp. 1283-1302Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2010.01208.x
Searching for travertines, calcretes and speleothems in deep time: Processes, appearances, predictions and the impact of plants
Earth Science Reviews, vol. 104, no. 4, pp. 213-239Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.10.007
Earth’s oldest putative fossil assemblage from the ~3.5 Ga Apex chert, Chinaman Creek, Western Australia: a field and petrographic guide
Perth, Australia: Geological Survey of Western Australia. 60 pagesBooks and Reports: Other ReportsCarbon and nitrogen cycling pursuant to the great oxidation event: evidence from the paleoproterozoic of fennoscandia
Journal of earth science, vol. 21, no. S1, pp. 4-5Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-010-0153-6
Depositional continuity of seasonally laminated tufas: implications for delta O-18 based palaeotemperatures
Global and Planetary Change, vol. 71, no. 3-4, pp. 160-167Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2009.03.022
Late-Pliocene timing of Corinth (Greece) rift-margin fault migration
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 274, no. 1-2, pp. 132-141Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.07.006
Seasonal records of climatic change in annually laminated tufas: short review and future prospects
Journal of Quaternary Science, vol. 20, pp. 411-421Contributions to Journals: Articles