Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
Prof of Environmental Chemistry, Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, UK.
Environmental science
66%
Geography
17%
How is carbon stored in salt marshes? Great fieldwork on the Solway Firth with postgrad Jinny. Always good to find a buried soil horizon. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Changes in chlorophyll-a in English rivers over the last 49 years
Ongoing anthropogenically-driven environmental change in rivers (e.g. increasing air temperature, changing river flow extremes, increases in some key …
www.sciencedirect.com
Most English rivers are seeing fewer eutrophication events www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... however, some are getting worse and there is no one reason for those worsening trends. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Oct 6
What will be the impact of decarbonisation and the adoption of hydrogen power on water demand? New study by us and colleagues from Durham Engineering link.springer.com/article/10.1... @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Oct 3
We have grown a squash outside in the north east of England - he is called Pascal. Pascal is a magic squash plant as we have never ever planted any squash plants.
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 30
Never been in to The Royal Institution before. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 29
The Impact of Sewage Treatment Plant Discharges on the Water Quality of Receiving Rivers
With increasing human populations, the need for sustainable management of wastewater becomes an ever-increasing issue, yet studies that consider the impact of the final effluent on the receiving rive....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Hanna's (Zihan Yang) first paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
paired data on 317 sewage works and 232 control reaches for 22 years to find out what impact of sewage has. What was getting worse or what was getting better with time and why? @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @jlaknapp.bsky.social
paired data on 317 sewage works and 232 control reaches for 22 years to find out what impact of sewage has. What was getting worse or what was getting better with time and why? @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @jlaknapp.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 22
For a peat to form you don't just need wet conditions you also need stagnant conditions
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Our new study follows the thermodynamic profiles to show how fens and bogs significantly differ in when they become closed. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Our new study follows the thermodynamic profiles to show how fens and bogs significantly differ in when they become closed. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 16
When we say sphagnum carpet I am not sure that you are supposed to be able to pick it up and fold it. This year's Sphagnum pioneers at Hatfield form a mat that dries out and detaches in ephemeral ponds. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 15
The initiation of peat formation – The relative importance of self-weight compaction and decomposition
The early stages of peat formation have been assumed to be marked by: rapid loss of porosity, increasing bulk density, and decreasing permeability lea…
www.sciencedirect.com
How do peats form? Our experiments compares how self-weight compaction compares degradation processes.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Spoiler - degradation is more important @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Spoiler - degradation is more important @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Sep 10
The World Peatland project team at Leicester Science Park having just finished our today workshop @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Jun 22
Great to be back on nerd camp #grc #catchment GRC catchment science conference @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· May 1
Thanks to Michel Bechtold @michelbechtold.bsky.social for including our data from Hatfield Moors in this study to trial satellite methods for monitoring peat water tables @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Apr 30
I have discovered that at egu #EGU20×5 you can have your evening beers out on the balcony
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Apr 29
Proper EGU #egu2025. Vegan schnitzel, vegan beer and coding
Reposted by Fred Worrall
Annabelle Foster
@geologytalk.bsky.social
· Apr 25
Reposted by Yadvinder Malhi, Fred Worrall, Elizabeth Tingle
Spring reminder, as people start to think about gardening: NEVER buy compost with peat it in (inexplicably still on sale). If it does not say "peat free" in big letters, do not buy it. Peat is incredibly valuable in peat bogs, for rare biodiversity and as a carbon store. Don't put it on your garden!
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Mar 25
OLIGOTREND, towards a global database of multi-decadal chlorophyll-a and water quality timeseries for rivers, lakes and estuaries
Abstract. Reversed eutrophication, called oligotrophication, has widely been documented globally over the last 30 years in rivers, lakes, and estuaries. However, the absence of a comprehensive and har...
essd.copernicus.org
Reversing eutrophication - we contributed the long UK records to the global database on chlorophyll-a for freshwaters
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Thanks to Camille Minaudo and Xavier Benito of University of Barcelona for inviting me to join in. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Thanks to Camille Minaudo and Xavier Benito of University of Barcelona for inviting me to join in. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Mar 17
Teaching soil science I have never liked the possible acronyms for the factors controlling soil formation and so I invented my own - the claret carrot - could not find find a claret coloured carrot or a carrot toasting with claret. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Mar 11
Peatland restoration not keeping up - our new method for mapping peat health
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... British peats have seen revegetation (increased albedo), but not as fast as we should expect given controls and climate change. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... British peats have seen revegetation (increased albedo), but not as fast as we should expect given controls and climate change. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Mar 10
Using earth observation to develop a health index for peatlands
Globally peatlands are laterally extensive and represent important stores and sinks of atmospheric carbon. The cold humid island hypothesis proposes t…
www.sciencedirect.com
69% of British peatlands are on a downward trajectory and have been since 2001. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
We surveyed all British peatlands and applied the cold humid island hypothesis @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social
We surveyed all British peatlands and applied the cold humid island hypothesis @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Feb 25
Climate change limits progress on cleaning up the River Thames: study | Water Institute | University of Waterloo
Climate change mitigates progress on cleaning up the River Thames: study
uwaterloo.ca
Our new research @durhamearthsci.bsky.social @uwaterloo.ca @bristoluni.bsky.social on the World's longest water quality record shows that despite success decreasing phosphorus the potential for algal growth uwaterloo.ca/water-instit...
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Feb 20
Doing fieldwork on bogs of the Pennines you expect to get wet and cold, but you don't expect to become a cat rescuer. Found abandoned on the Pennine Way - we named her Marsden - now with RSPCA vet. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Feb 6
Thank you to Andrea Kelly from Broads Authority for making it possible for us to go peat coring in the Broads today. @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Jan 8
Flooded, frozen-over stream - let me just check the field site risk assessment - nope, no mention of flooded frozen streams on that form and so must be safe to wade in.
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Jan 7
I had planned for snow and ice but not for the thaw. Under there is reported to be the earthly remains of a raised bog @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Reposted by Fred Worrall
Craig Smeaton
@coastalcarbon.bsky.social
· Dec 16
📣New Competition Funded @iapetusdtp.bsky.social PhD Opportunity
Deadline: 3rd of January 2025
The project will be co-supervised by myself, @fredworrall.bsky.social and Jessica Elise (Natural England).
Project Outline: tinyurl.com/7nvsmc53
How to apply: iapetus2.ac.uk/how-to-apply/
Deadline: 3rd of January 2025
The project will be co-supervised by myself, @fredworrall.bsky.social and Jessica Elise (Natural England).
Project Outline: tinyurl.com/7nvsmc53
How to apply: iapetus2.ac.uk/how-to-apply/
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Dec 12
So what does change down a peat profile? Only consistent change across 13 locations was change in degree of unsaturation - formation of double bonds
bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Peat soils move from biomass composition to lignin-like composition @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Peat soils move from biomass composition to lignin-like composition @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Dec 11
How do peats form? Compaction, degradation leading to higher water tables and greater bulk density - right? No bsssjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 22 cores and never saw bulk density increase with depth: density profiles reflect contemporary conditions @durhamearthsci.bsky.social
Fred Worrall
@fredworrall.bsky.social
· Dec 10
Thank you to AGU convention centre #agu2024 for providing washrooms specifically for Englishmen, i.e. those of us wearing a tie and carrying a cricket bat