Ian Nicholas McCave (born 3 February 1941) is a British geologist, who was the

Woodwardian Professor of Geology The Woodwardian Professor of Geology is a professorship held in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. It was founded by John Woodward in 1728 under the title of Professor of Fossils. Woodward's will left to the University ...

at the

University of Cambridge Department of Earth Sciences The Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge is the University of Cambridge's Earth Sciences department. First formed around 1731, the department incorporates the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. History The department's history can be traced ...

from 1985 to 2008 and a fellow of St John's College from 1986 to present . His current research topic is "The Sediment Record of the Deep-Sea Circulation" in the area of "Environmental change and marine geochemistry". He is primarily a marine sedimentologist.

Education

He was educated at

Elizabeth College, Guernsey The Royal College of Elizabeth, better known as Elizabeth College, is a co-educational independent school in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. One of the earliest members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), it is a public school ...

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...

and Brown University (PhD).‘McCAVE, Prof. (Ian) Nicholas’, Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017

Research Summary

Seventy percent of the Earth is covered by water, so information about the marine environment is vital in understanding how the Earth's surface system works. Nick McCave's research looks at perturbations in the deep oceans, using evidence from micro-fossils combined with carbon dating, to obtain information on pre-historical

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. It is important to understand the normal cycles of climate change, in order to assess the degree to which the

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

we are experiencing now is caused by man, and the likely consequences by analysis of past analogues. One problem is the interaction between atmospheric climate change and the observed changes in the

ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours ...

s. There is a 'chicken and egg' question: are the perturbations seen in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations forced by the vigour of the deep ocean currents, or vice versa? McCave uses monitoring points in the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

to study how the Earth’s meridional heat flux is distributed by warm surface-ocean currents and cold deep-ocean currents.

Research Groups

* Glaciology and Quaternary Science research cluster * Godwin Laboratory for Palaeoclimate Research

Selected Biography

* 1969 - 1985: Lecturer (until 1976), Reader (until 1985) at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

School of Environmental Sciences * 1978 - 1999: Adjunct Scientist (until 1987), Guest Investigator (1999) at

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering. Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it ...

* 1988 - 1998: Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge * 1985 - 2008:

, University of Cambridge

Other Professional Activities

* 1992 -1996: President of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) of the International Council for Science (ICSU). * 2003 - 05: Member of the Steering Committee for NERC's Rapid Climate Change programme * 2001 and 2008: Member of the UK Research Assessment Exercise panels for Earth and Environmental Sciences

References

External links

Personal web page at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCave, Nick 1941 births Living people People educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Brown University alumni British geologists Academics of the University of East Anglia Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Lyell Medal winners Woodwardian Professors of Geology