The Ancient Biomolecules Initiative is a Natural Environment Research Council programme exploring the biomolecular record of past life which is entombed in archaeological and geological deposits. The findings have applications in archaeology, anthropology, forensic science, research into the past climates and oil exploration. This resource consists of a series of leaflets in PDF format which describe the key findings of the Ancient Biomolecules Initiative.

This dataset describes hourly time series of discharge and suspended sediment flux at four sites in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (Chau Doc, Tan Chau, Can Tho and My Thaun) for the period 2005 – 2015. This data was calculated from historic Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (aDcp)data obtained as part of routine flood monitoring conducted by the Vietnamese Hydrological Agency. The data were collated by the authors. The data were processed to back out sediment fluxes through the delta through calibration of the acoustic backscatter signal to suspended sediment concentrations collected in Chau Doc (May 2017) and Can Tho (September 2017). For each aDcp instrument acoustic backscatter signal was calibrated to observed suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs). These concentrations values were then matched to measured acoustic backscatter values (dB) from the depth at which each sample was taken to generate power law calibration curves. To generate daily fluxes, the point specific ADCP fluxes were used to generate sediment ratings curves between sediment flux (kg/s) and discharge (m3/s). These ratings curves were then propagated over recorded daily discharge values measured by the Vietnamese hydrological agency to provide daily fluxes over the period of record. The work was funded through NERC grant reference NE/P008100/1 - Deciphering the dominant drivers of contemporary relative sea-level change: Analysing sediment deposition and subsidence in a vulnerable mega-delta. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/ac5b28ca-e087-4aec-974a-5a9f84b06595

Bed level data are presented from transects at the Tollesbury Managed Realignment site, after the managed breaching of the sea wall in August 1995. Twenty measurements were taken at fixed positions along transects relative to an aluminium bar placed across a pair of permanent wooden posts at either end of each transect. Measurements were made to the nearest millimetre using a ruler. All measurements were made by the data author. Data from the original transects were collected monthly from September 1995 to 1998, bimonthly up to 2000 and then in April and September to 2007. Extra transects were added in April 1999 and data collected at the same frequency. The data were collected investigate if the exposure of the agricultural land to seawater would result in the accumulation of silt. The work was funded by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) under the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) contract C00356 Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f9513ece-a913-4774-8808-273dcf7ed0be

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is one of the ten instruments on board the Envisat satellite launched on the 28th of February 2002 from Kourou (French Guyana) and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). MERIS is a 68.5 deg field-of-view nadir-pointing imaging spectrometer which measures the solar radiation reflected by the Earth in 15 spectral bands (visible and near-infrared). It obtains a global coverage of the Earth in 3 days. Its main objective is to measure the sea colour and quantify the ocean chlorophyll content and sediment, thus providing information on the ocean carbon cycle and thermal regime. It is also used to derive the cloud top height, cloud optical thickness, aerosol and water vapour column. The ground spatial resolution of the instrument is 260 m x 290 m. Only reduced resolution data (1.04 km x 1.16 km) are archived at the NEODC. This dataset contains Level 1B reprocessed radiances MERIS product.

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is one of the ten instruments on board the Envisat satellite launched on the 28th of February 2002 from Kourou (French Guyana) and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). MERIS is a 68.5 deg field-of-view nadir-pointing imaging spectrometer which measures the solar radiation reflected by the Earth in 15 spectral bands (visible and near-infrared). It obtains a global coverage of the Earth in 3 days. Its main objective is to measure the sea colour and quantify the ocean chlorophyll content and sediment, thus providing information on the ocean carbon cycle and thermal regime. It is also used to derive the cloud top height, cloud optical thickness, aerosol and water vapour column. The ground spatial resolution of the instrument is 260 m x 290 m. Only reduced resolution data (1.04 km x 1.16 km) are archived at the NEODC. This dataset contains Level 2 retrieved parameters MERIS product.

The Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) is one of the ten instruments on board the Envisat satellite launched on the 28th of February 2002 from Kourou (French Guyana) and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). MERIS is a 68.5 deg field-of-view nadir-pointing imaging spectrometer which measures the solar radiation reflected by the Earth in 15 spectral bands (visible and near-infrared). It obtains a global coverage of the Earth in 3 days. Its main objective is to measure the sea colour and quantify the ocean chlorophyll content and sediment, thus providing information on the ocean carbon cycle and thermal regime. It is also used to derive the cloud top height, cloud optical thickness, aerosol and water vapour column. The ground spatial resolution of the instrument is 260 m x 290 m. Only reduced resolution data (1.04 km x 1.16 km) are archived at the NEODC. This dataset collection contains Level 1B radiances and Level 2 retrieved parameters products from 2002-2012.

The data set contains grain size distributions, organic matter (OM) contents and trace metals distribution metal distribution (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb) of seven (7) shallow cores of sediments from the Notwane Dam (southern Botswana). The cores have been collected with a push corer using PVC pipes of 5 cm diameter by a team from BIUST led by Dr. Franchi between November 2017 and February 2018. The data were collected as part of the PULA project, which aimed at understanding the immediate effect of heavy rainfall and floods on water resources in arid Botswana and their transitional hydrologic readjustment towards the dry period, and the role of these events in supporting either or both resources replenishment and contamination. Grain size profiles of the cores have been obtained by analyzing wet sediments with a laser diffraction particle size analyzer. The OM content of the sediments was obtained by measuring the loss on ignition (LOI) of bulk sediments after calcination in a muffle furnace. The sediments have been analyzed for trace metal distribution using a Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer (MP-AES). The grain size distribution has allowed to pinpoint the presence of flood couplets, characterized by coarse lags followed by fine grained materials. The trace metal distribution profiles have been compared with the flood couplets to assess the entity of metal mobilization during floods and subsequent droughts. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/022b3fff-55d7-46f5-b11f-2f7366e508b0

This dataset contains anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and denitrification activity of riverine sediments in the Hampshire Avon catchment (UK). Nine rivers within sub-catchments of contrasting geology (clay, sand, chalk) were investigated. Data were obtained via laboratory incubations (potential data) and direct, field-based measurements (in situ data) in summer 2013. Also included are chemical parameters determined in porewaters prior to in situ rate measurements. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d1b08279-68a8-4d93-afa2-576e903cc04d

The dataset contains denitrification, anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and nitrification activity of riverine sediments in the Hampshire Avon catchment (UK). Six rivers within sub-catchments of contrasting geology (clay, sand, chalk) were investigated. Data were obtained via direct, field-based measurements in seasonal campaigns conducted between spring 2013 and winter 2014. Also included are chemical parameters determined in porewaters prior to in situ rate measurements. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/9d17d85d-eae2-4056-ad77-f1bc1c368b56

We present here the land cover classification across West Antarctica and the McMurdo Dry Valley produced from Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images of six proglacial regions of Antarctica at 30 m resolution, with an overall accuracy of 77.0 % for proglacial land classes. We conducted this classification using an unsupervised K-means clustering approach, which circumvented the need for training data and was highly effective at picking up key land classes, such as vegetation, water, and different sedimentary surfaces. This work is supported by the Leeds-York-Hull Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) Panorama under grant NE/S007458/1. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic project VAN 1/2022 and the Czech Antarctic Foundation funded fieldwork that contributed to part of this work.