Lead Applicant: Dr Gordon Bromley| Host: National University of Ireland, Galway
Project Title: What lies beneath: Deciphering the genesis and palaeoclimatic potential of Irish cave sediments
Project description: Ireland’s iconic glacio-karst landscapes reflect the interplay between Carboniferous limestone and Quaternary climate. While the evolution of karst has been studied extensively, the significance of Ireland’s subterranean sedimentary record is virtually untouched. Nonetheless, expansive sequences of finely laminated clays and silts bear testimony to environmental conditions starkly different from today, prompting the questions: Which physical processes led to the transport and deposition of these sediments? What environmental conditions do they represent, below and above ground? What palaeoclimatic datasets might they contain? Our international team of terrestrial geoscientists will address all three questions.
Our preliminary surveys of Burren caves revealed numerous instances of laminated, varve-like sediments, often metres in thickness. While previous researchers have speculated that similar deposits in Europe and North America are linked to glaciation, their genesis remains inconclusive; their presence in Ireland is practically unknown. We will evaluate the physical-chemical characteristics and age of cave sediments to resolve their origin, transport, and environmental significance. These data will quantify the evolution of Ireland’s subterranean sedimentology and provide a new dimension to climate-geomorphology dynamics. Further, this project will fuel new research on the Irish Quaternary, test a novel sedimentologic methodology, and foster local geoheritage directly via public education and geotourism.
Lead Applicant: Dr Aaron Lim| Host: University College Cork
Project Title: Towards Irelands First Offshore Magnetometry Map
Project description: Over the past 20 years, INFOMAR and the INSS have undertaken a worldclass and ambitious plan to map the entirety of Irelands seafloor territory. The most prolific output from these projects is the ‘Real Map of Ireland’, an extensive IHO-standard bathymetric dataset that has underpinned Irelands Marine Spatial Plan and supported cutting edge research as well as various economy-supporting industries. While the INFOMAR project has also acquired other datasets such as sub-bottom profiler during the same period that have had considerable national impact, one dataset has remained untouched: magnetometry. Magnetometry data acquisition and processing have not been part of the Irish Geoscience curriculum until 2023 at UCC and likely plays a role in why these INFOMAR data are not used. Here, we propose to develop an open-source GUI software that can pre-process INFOMAR magnetometry data and export magnetic anomaly grids and shapefiles. The software corrects for diurnal magnetic effects as well as depth normalisation based of the acquired bathymetry. This will standardise the data given that they are surface acquired. Subsequently, anomalies can be contextualised and compared. The software will complete a demonstrate on the South coast of Ireland and North Celtic Sea and a pilot of the software's capabilities to key stakeholders.
Lead Applicant: Professor David Chew| Host: Trinity College Dublin
Project Title: U-Pb geochronology of calcite vein systems in southern Ireland: constraining the Variscan and post-Variscan tectonic evolution
Determining the Variscan to post-Variscan evolution of the Irish mainland is challenging because deformation markers (younger sedimentary rocks and igneous intrusions) are typically absent. Recent work by the lead applicant’s research group has, however, shown that calcite vein systems and associated infills within the Mississippian limestones of southern Ireland can be dated by U-Pb LA-ICP-MS, a powerful method for timing crustal deformation. This technique has, for the first time, shown late Eocene (Alpine) fold reactivation in the Dublin Basin and Paleocene (Pyrenean) tightening of Variscan folds followed by development of N-S trending, vertical vein sets in north Kerry and the Burren. These events are supported by recent structural geology research by the coapplicant, which document an even broader range of Cenozoic structures, including pervasive NNW-trending dextral strike-slip faults and sinistral reactivated normal faults, which have profound implications for modelling of groundwater flow, mineral prospectivity and carbon capture studies.
This proposal seeks to hire a research assistant for 6 months (a recently submitted PhD student) to undertake U-Pb LA-ICP-MS dating work to better constrain the spatio-temporal evolution of Ireland’s Cenozoic deformation, for a broader range of structures over a wider area, including SE Ireland, Central Midlands and the Burren.
Lead Applicant: Dr Raymond Flynn| Host: Queen's University Belfast
Project Title: Peatland Hydrogeological Assessment for Slope Stability Evaluation
Project description: Peat covers over one sixth of Ireland, yet groundwater flow through it remains poorly understood. This knowledge gap limits confidence in quantifying how bogs respond to loading and artificial drainage, as experienced during installation of wind energy facilities, and how these activities can influence landslide risk. In-situ quantification of hydrogeological properties provides key information about how peat can influence groundwater flow, pore water pressure and slope stability. While its high compressibility hinders determination of hydraulic conductivity (K) using conventional techniques, recent research shows groundwater can flow through peat considerably faster than previously assumed1,2; this allows application of alternative methods to investigate groundwater regimes in bogs.
This proof-of-concept project will combine established artificial tracer testing techniques and geophysical methods to track groundwater flow at an existing blanket bog research site. Investigations will employ contrasts in tracer and bog groundwater electrical conductivity to track flow trajectories using geoelectrical techniques. Monitoring flow paths and hydraulic gradients will allow independent determination of hydrogeological properties for comparison with more widely used methods. Improved knowledge of peat hydrogeology will inform development of GSI Landslide Hazard Mapping, while also supporting a joint SFI/UKRI application to investigate blanket bog hydrogeology, further advancing current understanding of peat slope failure.
Lead Applicant: Dr Conor Cahalane| Host: Maynooth University
Project Title: Creating a cloud-based App for deriving bathymetry from satellite data
Project description: Coastal zones are under continuous environmental and anthroponomic pressures. Maintaining detailed and updated information under these circumstances requires efficient technologies that can register these continuous and dynamic changes. Satellite derived bathymetry offers great advantages, but it requires sufficient images, specific algorithms, highly skilled personnel and robust computing power, with the latter being particularly critical for temporal analyses. These requirements can create barriers to access and limit the use of this technology by a broad range of stakeholders. Cloud-based platforms like Google Earth Engine (GEE) have emerged as a promising alternative, offering a way to analyse satellite data accurately, quickly, cost-effectively, and with frequent updates. In this context, this project aims: 1) to evaluate and refine local semi-empirical methods for satellite-derived bathymetry, already developed by the applicants, for its use at Ireland´s national scale using GEE and 2) to develop an open-access application in GEE (Earth Engine
App) that allow a wide audience of users to derive bathymetric data from optical satellite missions such as Sentinel-2 and Landsat. These Satellite derived bathymetric and coastal mapping products, and more importantly their repeatability over time, can offer efficient solutions for coastal zone management in a global change context.
Lead Applicant: Associated Professor Zili Li| Host: University College Cork
Project Title: Visualising the Underground Using Quantum Sensing
In both built environment and natural landscapes, underground subsurface domain comprises intricate geological features such as sinkholes, tunnels, karst caves, and gas reservoirs, which are not readily visible. Characterizing and visualizing these features are crucial for underground space development and mineral resources exploitation. Currently, wave-based methods are commonly used for subsurface characterization, but with notable limitations in measuring resolution, depth, accuracy, portability, and adaptability to environmental conditions.
To address these challenges, this proposal aims to develop a “blue sky” quantum gravimeter tailored for subsurface scenarios and applications, based on superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). Leveraging SQUID’s sensitivity and compactness, the proposed device aims to surpass the capabilities of current gravity measuring technologies. The objective is to achieve a sensitivity of up to 10-10 m/s2, enabling the detection of smaller and deeper underground features with unprecedented precision, essential for geophysical and geoengineering applications. Moreover, the proposed prototype will tackle challenges related to device portability and operational cost, critical for field applications. The project will first miniaturize the prototype, followed by testing and validating its performance. By achieving these objectives, the prototype aims to significantly enhance the scope and efficiency of underground visualization, revolutionizing geoengineering practices
while advancing understanding of subsurface features.
Lead Applicant: Dr Sarah Brown| Host: Carraig Nua Geoscience
Project Title: Digital 3-D outcrop geoconservation and preservation of important geoheritage sites in north County Donegal
Outcrops and rock samples have always had key roles in the understanding of geological principles,
educating geologists, and informing and creating interest with the public. Over time, outcrops and important sites can be lost, destroyed or damaged by many factors including: sea cliff erosion, rock falls, sea level change, vegetation overgrowth, infrastructure construction and lost documentation. Locations can be remote and costly to see in person and not available to all who may benefit from their examination. Over the last 15 to 20 years the ability to create digitized 2.5D and 3D expressions of outcrop surfaces and samples have improved immensely where we can now create realistic models that can not only be used to visualize and collect data, but preserve changing landscapes and bring them to a much wider audience. This not only allows the preservation of these surfaces and objects over time, but can allow a larger reach for data use by making it available online and increasing interest in geotourism.
Lead Applicant: Dr Nannan Li| Host: Maynooth University
Project Title: Developing a Proxy for Past Hydroclimate Change in Ireland (HydroProx-I): Modern Peat Moss Cellulose-based Calibration and Its Applications
Project description: The cellulose oxygen isotopes (d18Ocellulose) found within plant tissues in peat preserve valuable information concerning precipitation and its climatic context. Consequently, they possess significant potential for deducing rainout history, evapotranspiration, and atmospheric circulation patterns from the past. Nonetheless, the absence or scarcity of contemporary transect-based calibration has hindered consensus on interpreting the signals of d18Ocellulose in peat, resulting in contentious and equivocal reconstruction outcomes.
The blanket bogs of Ireland offer an opportune avenue to tackle this issue. These bogs develop under varied climatic conditions, furnishing an ideal transect for calibrating the relationship between d18Ocellulose and environmental parameters.
This project aims to enhance our comprehension of the hydroclimate implications of d18Ocellulose in peat. Initially, analysis will be conducted on d18Ocellulose within modern living moss, correlating it with contemporary climate parameters, to establish their interrelationships. Subsequently, this relationship will be extrapolated to a 14C-dated peat profile, enabling the inference of past hydroclimate history for Ireland. The development and calibration of this new proxy promise more precise and accurate reconstructions of historical hydroclimate conditions, thereby facilitating the resolution of contemporary challenges pertaining to water resources, agriculture, and natural disaster management.
Lead Applicant: Dr Duygu Kiyan| Host: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Project Title: Study of the Leinster Granite using 3-D joint inversion of gravity, wide-angle seismic and magnetotelluric data
Building on tested and validated geophysical methods and the diverse datasets from previous and on-going successful projects (i.e., LEGS-99, IRETHERM, SWEMDI, Hi-RES), the overarching objective of the project is to constrain subsurface geometry and the distribution of the physical properties of the Irish granite intrusions in a priority area for Enhanced Geothermal System potential. 3-D joint geophysical models of the Leinster granites, which is one of the largest batholiths in the Caledonian Orogen and situated in SE Ireland, will be constructed using wide-angle seismic, magnetotelluric and land gravity data. Not only will the inverted models bring a new level of understanding of the Leinster granite geometry, but also will help identify new site locations for the expansion of the magnetotelluric station network in the practice area. Additionally, the joint inversion workflow proposed to be advanced in this project can be exported to other survey localities in Ireland and elsewhere.
Lead Applicant: Dr Hilde Koch| Host: Trinity College Dublin
Project Title: Critical Raw Material Prospectivity Mapping in the north of Ireland
The European Commission has identified Platinum Group Elements (PGEs) as critical raw materials due to their importance in emerging green and digital technologies but high geopolitical risk to supply. In 2023, the European Union passed a Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act which requires member states to increase research/exploration for PGEs and other CRMs. Mineral prospectivity mapping can play a crucial role in supporting CRM exploration/research by integrating multiple data streams to identify areas with a high probability of particular type of mineralisation. This project will create such a regional prospectivity map for mafic/ultramafic sulphide Ni-Cu-(Au)-PGE mineralisation in the north of Ireland where Palaeogene-aged igneous intrusions have been identified as one of the most prospective regions of PGE mineralisation in Europe. This will utilise geochemical and geophysical datasets from the GSI/GSNI Tellus survey, industry data, and other academic/grey literature. Further, in two areas of particularly high prospectivity, the project will undertake high-density soil and stream sediment surveys, following the Tellus protocol and supplementing existing data, but with a 0.25 km2 sample density. These areas will be chosen based on the regional prospectivity mapping. The high spatial-resolution geochemical datasets will be used to precisely identify areas for targeted future CRM exploration/research.