| Post: | Head of Department |
| Other posts: | Reader in Physical Geography |
| Location: | Chichester 1 CI134A |
| Email: | J.B.Murton@sussex.ac.uk |
| Telephone numbers | |
| Internal: | 8293 or 7238 |
| UK: | (01273) 678293 or (01273) 877238 |
| International: | +44 1273 678293 or +44 1273 877238 |
Biography
Julian MURTON BSc Geograpy & Geology (London 1988) PhD Geology (Ottawa 1993)
Biography
Julian trained as a geologist in the UK and Canada, joining Sussex in 1996. From 1994-96 he was a University of Wales Research Fellow in Cardiff Earth Sciences working on physical modelling of cryogenic processes. Between 1988 and 1994 he carried out PhD and postdoctoral research at Ottawa and Carleton universities (Canada) studying permafrost and glacial geology.
Julian is Associate Editor of the journal Permafrost and Periglacial Processes and is on the editorial board of and Quaternary Science Reviews. From 2006-9 he was Associate Editor for Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. He serves as the UK representative on the Council of the International Permafrost Association (IPA). He is Chair of the IPA Task Force on Glacier-Permafrost Interactions, and Co-Chair of the IPA Working Group on Periglacial Landforms, Processes and Climate. He is a member of the NERC Arctic Research Programme Advisory Group (2010-2015).
Research
Julian studies permafrost and Quaternary geology. In laboratory cold rooms he carries out physical modelling experiments to test hypotheses about cryogenic processes in rock and soil. This is complemented by geological fieldwork in Arctic Canada, Siberia and the UK to reconstruct Quaternary permafrost environments. The aims of his research are to elucidate:
(1) the geological processes and products of ground-ice formation and melt;
(2) interactions between permafrost, ice sheets and aeolian systems; and
(3) climate and environmental change in Pleistocene permafrost and periglacial regions.
His research has produced several important lead-author papers, including:
- modelling of bedrock fracture by ice segregation (Science 2006),
- identification of the Younger Dryas mega-flood path from Lake Agassiz to the Arctic Ocean (Nature 2010, in press), and
- 2 papers on Canadian permafrost reproduced in a benchmark volume on periglacial geomorphology (2004).
Currently Julian's research focuses on:
(1) developing a model for river incision and terrace formation on frost-susceptible bedrocks;
(2) reconstructing Marine Isotope Stage 5e to 2 environmental conditions at the Beringian type site, Duvanny Yar, in NE Siberia; and
(3) applying innovative technologies to image and monitor freeze-thaw conditions in porous media.
His research has been supported by the Polar Continental Shelf Project (Canada), the Inuvik Research Centre (Canada), the Geological Survey of Canada, the CNRS Centre de Géomorphologie (Caen, France) and the Cardiff Geotechnical Centrifuge Centre. Funding for some of the research has been provided by The Natural Environmental Research Council (4 grants), The Royal Society (2 grants), The Leverhulme Trust, The Geological Society and the Quaternary Research Association. In 2006, the University of Sussex funded the development of a permafrost test chamber for carrying out large-scale experiments on cryogenic processes with a state-of-the-art electronic monitoring system. This facility is unique in the world.
Teaching
2009-10:Research Skills in Physical Geography (year 2; convenor)Polar Regions and Environmental Change (year 3; convenor)
Natural Environment (year 1; convenor)
Publications
Permafrost processes
Matsuoka N, Murton JB. 2008 Frost weathering: recent advances and future directions. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 19: 195-210. DOI: 10.1002/ppp.620
Murton JB, Peterson R, Ozouf J-C. 2006. Bedrock fracture by ice segregation in cold regions. Science, 314, 1127-1129. DOI: 10.1126/science.1132127
Abstract: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5802/1127?ijkey=MG6UBlLGrQwQI&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
Full Text: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5802/1127?ijkey=MG6UBlLGrQwQI&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
Harris C, Murton JB, Davies MCR. 2005. An analysis of mechanisms of ice-wedge casting based on geotechnical centrifuge modelling. Geomorphology, 71, 328-343.
Murton JB, Coutard J-P, Ozouf J-C, Lautridou J-P, Robinson DA, Williams RBG, Guillemet G, Simmons P. 2000. Experimental design for a pilot study on bedrock weathering near the permafrost table. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 25, 1281-1294.
Harris C, Murton JB and Davies MCR. 2000. Soft-sediment deformation during thawing of ice-rich frozen soils: results of scaled centrifuge modelling experiments. Sedimentology, 47, 687-700.
Cryostratigraphy of ice-rich permafrost
Murton JB. 2001. Thermokarst sediments and sedimentary structures, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Arctic Canada. Global and Planetary Change, 28, 175-192.
Murton JB. 1996. Thermokarst-lake-basin sediments, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Arctic Canada. Sedimentology, 43, 737-760.
Two of Julian's papers are included in a new 'benchmark' volume on Periglacial Geomorphology.
"This collection makes available, in one place, key published material on each of seven areas of geomorphology, and constitutes an instant archive of essential benchmark papers." (Routledge)
French, H.M. (editor) 2004. Periglacial Geomorphology. Geomorphology: Critical Concepts in Geography. Volume 5. Evans, D.J.A. (series editor). Routledge.
Murton JB and French HM. 1994. Cryostructures in permafrost, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Arctic Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 31, 737-747.
Murton JB. and French HM. 1993. Thermokarst involutions, Summer Island, Pleistocene Mackenzie Delta, western Canadian Arctic. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 4, 217-229.
Glacier-permafrost interactions
Waller R, Murton J, Whiteman C. (2008, in press). Submarginal glaciotectonic deformation of Pleistocene permafrost. Proceedings of the 9th International Permafrost Conference, Fairbanks, Alaska 2008.
Harris C, Murton JB. (eds.) 2005. Cryospheric Systems: Glaciers and Permafrost. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 242, 161 pp.
Murton JB. 2005. Ground-ice stratigraphy and formation at North Head, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada: a product of glacier-permafrost interactions. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 16 (1), 31-50.
Murton JB, Whiteman CA, Waller RI, Pollard WH, Clark ID, Dallimore SR. 2005. Basal ice facies and supraglacial melt-out till of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24, 681-708.
Murton JB, Waller RI, Hart JK, Whiteman CA, Pollard WH, Clark ID. 2004. Stratigraphy and glaciotectonic structures of permafrost deformed beneath the northwest margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Canada. Journal of Glaciology, vol. 49, No. 170, 399-412.
Murton JB, French HM and Lamothe M. 1997. Late Wisconsinan erosion and eolian deposition, Summer Island area, Pleistocene Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories: optical dating and implications for glacial chronology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 34, 190-199.
Arctic aeolian systems
Murton JB, Bateman MD. 2007. Syngenetic sand veins and anti-syngenetic sand wedges, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, western Arctic Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 18, 33-47. DOI: 10.1002/ppp.577
Bateman MD, Murton JB. 2006. Late Pleistocene glacial and periglacial aeolian activity in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, NWT, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25, 2552-2568.
Murton JB, Worsley P, Gozdzik J. 2000. Sand veins and wedges in cold aeolian environments. Quaternary Science Reviews, 19, 899-922.
Murton JB. 1996. Morphology and paleoenvironmental significance of Quaternary sand veins, sand wedges, and composite wedges, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Arctic Canada. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 66, 17-25.
Reconstructing mid-latitude Pleistocene periglacial environments
Murton JB, Bateman MD, Baker CA, Knox R, Whiteman CA. 2003. The Devensian periglacial record on Thanet, Kent, UK. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 14, 217-246.
Murton JB, Kolstrup, E. 2003. Ice-wedge casts as indicators of palaeotemperatures: precise proxy or wishful thinking? Progress in Physical Geography, 27, 155-170.
Murton JB, Baker A, Bowen DQ, Caseldine CJ, Coope GR, Currant AP, Evans JG, Field MH, Green CP, Hatton J, Ito M, Jones RL, Keen DH, Kerney MP, McEwan R, McGregor DFM, Parish D, Robinson JE, Schreve DC, Smart PL. 2001. A late Middle Pleistocene temperate-periglacial-temperate sequence (oxygen isotope stages 7-5e) near Marsworth, Buckinghamshire, UK. Quaternary Science Reviews, 20, 1787-1825.
Bateman MD, Murton JB, Crowe W. 2000. Reconstruction of the depositional environments associated with the Late Devensian and Holocene coversand around Caistor, north Lincolnshire, UK. Boreas, 29, 1-15.
Murton JB. 1996. Near-surface brecciation of Chalk, Isle of Thanet, southeast England: a comparison with ice-rich brecciated bedrocks in Canada and Spitsbergen. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 7, 153-164.