Event Details

Distinguished Visitor and Lancaster University Alumnus Prof. Lee Slater is currently the Henry Rutgers Professor of Geophysics and a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, USA. In this seminar he describes how geophysical, chamber and gas trap measurements yield new insights into both the importance of ebullition fluxes and the mechanisms of gas transport/release in peatlands.

Release of biogenic gases from peatlands occurs by diffusion, transport through vascular plants, and episodic ebullition events. Oxidation of dissolved methane reduces the release of methane by diffusion, but the transit time of bubbles released via ebullition is too short for extensive oxidation to occur, i.e. ebullition releases effectively increase the greenhouse gas potential of peatlands. Ebullition remains poorly quantified experimentally and inadequately represented by quantitative models. Ebullition exhibits high spatiotemporal variability such that sudden episodic events are difficult to quantify. I will describe how geophysical, chamber and gas trap measurements yield new insights into both the importance of ebullition fluxes and the mechanisms of gas transport/release in peatlands.

Biography: Prof. Lee Slater obtained his PhD degree in Environmental Science (specialising in Hydrogeophysics) from Lancaster University in 1997. His academic career has since been in the United States. He is currently the Henry Rutgers Professor of Geophysics and a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University (Newark, New Jersey, USA). Lee is internationally recognised as an expert in near surface geophysics and hydrogeophysics. He has also performed extensive research on gaseous phase methane dynamics in peatlands. Lee has published extensively, including 145 papers in peer reviewed international journals of hydrogeology and geophysics. He was the recipient of the 2013 Harold B. Mooney award of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).

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