Prof Nick Pearce

BSc in Geology with Geochemistry (University of Manchester) PhD (University of Durham)

Profile

Professor Nick Pearce graduated with a BSc in Geology with Geochemistry from the University of Manchester, and followed this with a PhD at the University of Durham on the petrogenesis of the mid Proterozoic alkaline Gardar dyke swarm from South Greenland. He worked in Aberystwyth as a temporary lecturer in geology in the late 1980s and early 1990s before a brief spell as Senior Geologist at the Countryside Council for Wales. He returned permanently to a lecturing post Aberystwyth in 1994 and has since perused research interests in the trace element analysis and correlation of tephra deposits. Nick has worked on the development of laser ablation ICP-MS methods for the analysis of tiny fragments of volcanic glass, and has applied this to studies of tephra from around the worls, including particularly the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Iceland, Santorini, Indonesia and most recently Chile. Nick also has research interests in metal mine remediation and environmental geochemistry.

Research

Research Interests

Tephra studies in the eastern Mediterranean, New Zealand, Indonesia (Toba), Western USA (Yellowstone, Mt St Helens), Yukon/Alaska and Southern Chile. Development of laser ablation ICP-MS methods for tephra analysis. Mine drainage remediation. Environmental geochemistry.

Current PhD Students

  • Svenja Riedesel

Publications

Bevins, RE, Pearce, NJG, Pirrie, D, Ixer, RA, Hillier, S, Turner, P & Power, M 2023, 'Assessing the authenticity of a sample taken from the Altar Stone at Stonehenge in 1844 using portable XRF and automated SEM-EDS', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 49, 103973. 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103973
Bevins, R, Ixer, RA, Pearce, N, Scourse, J & Daw, T 2023, 'Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate of the monument’s bluestone megaliths', Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 771-785. 10.1002/gea.21971
Bevins, RE, Pearce, NJG, Ixer, RA, Pirrie, D, Andò, S, Hillier, S, Turner, P & Power, M 2023, 'The Stonehenge Altar Stone was probably not sourced from the Old Red Sandstone of the Anglo-Welsh Basin: Time to broaden our geographic and stratigraphic horizons?', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 51, 104215. 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104215
van den Bergh, GD, Alloway, BV, Storey, M, Setiawan, R, Yurnaldi, D, Kurniawan, I, Moore, MW, Jatmiko, Brumm, A, Flude, S, Sutikna, T, Setiyabudi, E, Prasetyo, UW, Puspaningrum, MR, Yoga, I, Insani, H, Meijer, HJM, Kohn, B, Pillans, B, Sutisna, I, Dosseto, A, Hayes, S, Westgate, JA, Pearce, NJG, Aziz, F, Due, RA & Morwood, MJ 2022, 'An integrative geochronological framework for the pleistocene So'a basin (Flores, Indonesia), and its implications for faunal turnover and hominin arrival', Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 294, 107721. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107721
Bevins, RE, Pearce, NJG, Pearson, MP & Ixer, RA 2022, 'Identification of the source of dolerites used at the Waun Mawn stone circle in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales and implications for the proposed link with Stonehenge', Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 45, 103556. 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103556
More publications on the Research Portal