Geography, Geology and the Environment

My interest in ocean science began as a child with a map of the ocean bathymetry – the unexplored depths!  I went on to study Geological Oceanography at Bangor University (BSc Hons), where I developed an interest in palaeoceanography (the study of past ocean conditions)and consequently went onto do the MSc in Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway University.  I gained my PhD in Physical Geography from the University of St Andrews, where I studied the ‘Modern and Late-Holocene Marine Environments of Loch Sunart, NW Scotland’ with Dr William Austin.

I stayed on at the University of St Andrews to carry out postdoctoral research primarily on the EU FP6-funded project ‘Millennium’, where I generated high-resolution multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental data from Loch Sunart (a fjord) on the NW coast of Scotland. 

During 2010, I worked as a Lecturer in Physical Geography and Manchester Metropolitan University and I started at Keele as a Lecturer in Physical Geography and Environmental Science in January 2011.

My research interests lie in high-resolution (centennial to millennial-scale) shelf-sea palaeoceanography, marine palaeoecology and geochronology during the Holocene (last ~ 11,500 years) and late-Holocene (last ~ 2,000 years).  Shelf-sea and marginal marine environments can provide an important link between deep ocean and terrestrial records and could help us understand land-ocean interactions and how our climate is modulated by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. 

I use both the chemical (stable isotope geochemistry) and biological (assemblage compositions) of benthic foraminifera (microscopic marine protists) to reconstruct past ocean climate.  I’m interested in improving our understanding of how modern marine processes influence palaeoceanographic proxies, particularly examining the biological response of modern benthic foraminifera to environmental variables and how those environmental signals are recorded in their  shell geochemistry.  Such steps are important in improving the quality of data used in palaeoceanographic reconstructions and gaining a handle on realistic interpretations of palaeoclimatic records, which in turn can be used to help us predict future climate change.

I was awarded a NERC Small Grant (as a Research Co-Investigator) to study the ‘Holocene tephra constraints on the timing of millennial-scale variability in the subpolar North Atlantic’ with Dr. Siwan Davies (University of Wales, Swansea) and Dr William  Austin (St Andrews) and I’m continuing this research whilst at Keele.

I am a member of the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM).

• Cage, A.G. & Austin, W.E.N.  2010.  Marine climate variability during the last millennium: The Loch Sunart record, Scotland, UK.  Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 1633-1647.
• Austin, W.E.N. & Cage, A.G.  2010.  High benthic foraminiferal species counts in Clyde Sea maerl beds, western Scotland.  In: Howe, J., Austin, W.E.N., Forwick, M. & Paetzel, M. (eds) Fjord Systems and Archives. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 344, 83-88.
• Howe, J.A., Austin, W.E.N., Forwick, M., Paetzel., M., Harland, R. & Cage, A.G.  2010.  Fjord systems and archives: a review.   In: Howe, J., Austin, W.E.N., Forwick, M. & Paetzel, M. (eds) Fjord Systems and Archives. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 344, 5-15.
• Stott^, K.J., Austin, W.E.N., Sayer, M.D.J. Sayer, Weidman, C.R., Cage, A.G. & Wilson, R.J.S.  2010.  The potential of Arctica islandica growth records to reconstruct coastal climate in North West Scotland, UK.  Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 1602-1613.
• Cage, A.G. & Austin, W.E.N.  2008.  Seasonal dynamics of coastal water masses in a Scottish fjord and their potential influence on benthic foraminiferal shell geochemistry. Austin, W.E.N. & James, R. H. (eds) Biogeochemical Controls on Palaeoceanographic Proxies.  Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 155-172.
• Austin, W.E.N., Cage, A.G. & Scourse, J.D.  2006.  Mid-latitude shelf seas: A NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes.  The Holocene, 16(7): 937-947.
• Eiríksson, J., Bára Bartels-Jónsdóttir, H., Cage, A.G., Gudmundsdóttir, E.R., Klitgaard-Kristensen, D., Marret, F., Rodrigues, T., Abrantes, F., Austin, W.E.N., Jiang, H., Knudsen,K-L., & Sejrup, H.P.  2006.  Variability of the North Atlantic Current during the last 2000 years based on shelf bottom water and sea surface temperatures along an open ocean shallow marine transect in western Europe.  The Holocene, 16(7): 1017-1029.
• Cage, A.G., Heinemeier, J. & Austin, W.E.N.  2006.  Marine radiocarbon reservoir ages in Scottish coastal and fjordic waters.  Radiocarbon, 48 (1): 31-43.
• Gillibrand, P., Cage, A.G. & Austin, W.E.N.  2005.  A preliminary investigation of bottom water response to climate forcing in a Scottish fjord: Evaluating the influence of the NAO.  Continental Shelf Research, 25 (5-6): 571-587.

Foundation Year

• ESC-00005 Global Warming or a new Ice Age?

Year One

• ESC-10032 Global Warming or a new Ice Age?
• ESC-10035 Geographical Skills    
• ESC-10051 Introduction to Environmental Science, NXU (Module Leader)

Year Two

• GEG-20018 Concepts and Debates
• ESC-20029 Practical Physical Geography
• ESC-20030 Regional Landsystems
• ESC-20033 Research Skills in Environment and Sustainability (Module Leader)
• ESC-20051 Work Placement Module (Module Leader)

Year Three

• GEG-30006 Geography Double Dissertation
• GEG-30008 Geography Single Dissertation
• ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change
• ESC-30019 Applied Environmental Studies (single) Independent Research Project (Module Leader)
• ESC-30035 Applied Environmental Studies (double) Independent Research Project (Module Leader)
• ESC-30031 Environment and Sustainability Independent Research Project (Module Leader)