Background

Personal Profile

2016-             Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Newcastle University

2012-2016      Lecturer in Physical Geography, Newcastle University

2011-2012      C3W Lecturer in Quaternary Environmental Change, Aberystwyth University

2008-2011      SAGES Lecturer in Geosciences, University of Glasgow

2007-2008      Lecturer in Quaternary Environmental Change, Aberystwyth University

2004-2007      Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2000-2004      Ph.D. Physical Geography, University College London

1998-1999      M.Res. Environmental Sciences, University College London

1995-1998      B.Sc. (Hons) Natural Sciences, Durham University

Roles and responsibilities

Head of Physical Geography (2016-)

Member, NERC Isotope Geoscience Facilities Steering Committee (2014- )

Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports (2014- )

Member, School of GPS Research Committee (2014 -)

Member, NERC Peer Review College and Panel A (2012- )

Research

I am a Physical Geographer who works at the interface of chemical, ecological and geological sciences, and my research aims to understand the patterns and mechanisms of climate change by using the ‘natural climate experiments of the past’ archived in lake and ocean sediments. In particular, much of my research has focussed on understanding Holocene Asian monsoon variability, (sub) arctic climate evolution and equatorial Pacific climate variability. To decipher past changes in climate I use the stable isotope and geochemical composition of a range of minerals, including carbonates, diatom silica and/or specific molecules (biomarkers). More recently, I have been looking towards ‘deeper time’ to capture the full range of natural climate variability capable in the Earth system, and have started to work on late Cenozoic sequences recovered from the Japan Sea on IODP Expedition 346. 

Research Students

At Newcastle:

Miss Sonja Felder 

Ph.D. Title: Mid-Pleistocene transition in the Asian monsoon

Funded by a NERC IAPETUS Studentship, CASE with BGS

Teaching

Undergraduate teaching

GEO2037: Ireland Field Trip 

GEO2127: Key methods in Physical Geography

GEO3099: Dissertation (Mentor)

GEO3147: Palaeoclimates (Module Leader) 

Publications

• Barr C, Tibby J, Leng MJ, Tyler JJ, Henderson ACG, Overpeck JT, Simpson GL, Cole JE, Phipps SJ, Marshall JC, McGregor GB, Hua Q, McRobie FH. Holocene El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability reflected in subtropical Australian precipitation. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 1627.
• Andrae JW, McInerney FA, Tibby J, Henderson ACG, Hall PA, Marshall JC, McGregor GB, Barr C, Greenway M. Variation in leaf wax n-alkane characteristics with climate in the broad-leaved paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia). Organic Geochemistry 2019, 130, 33-42.
• Crone A, Cavers G, Allison E, Davies K, Hamilton D, Henderson ACG, Mackay H, McLaren D, Robertson J, Roy J, Whitehouse N. Nasty, Brutish and Short? The life cycle of an Iron Age roundhouse at Black Loch of Myrton, SW Scotland. Journal of Wetland Archaeology 2019, 18(2).
• Ratcliffe JL, Payne RJ, Sloan TJ, Smith B, Waldron S, Mauquoy D, Newton A, Anderson AR, Henderson A, Andersen R. Holocene carbon accumulation in the peatlands of northern Scotland. Mires and Peat 2018, 23(3), 1-30.
• Plancq J, McColl JL, Bendle JA, Seki O, Couto JM, Henderson ACG, Yamashita Y, Kimitaka K, Toney JL. Genomic identification of the long-chain alkenone producer in freshwater Lake Toyoni, Japan: implications for temperature reconstructions. Organic Geochemistry 2018, 125, 189-195.
• van Hardenbroek M, Chakraborty A, Davies KL, Harding P, Heiri O, Henderson ACG, Holmes JA, Lasher GE, Leng MJ, Panizzo VN, Roberts L, Schilder J, Trueman CN, Wooller MJ. The stable isotope composition of organic and inorganic fossils in lake sediment records: Current understanding, challenges, and future directions. Quaternary Science Reviews 2018, 196, 154-176.
• Gallagher SJ, Sagawa T, Henderson ACG, Saavedra-Pellitero M, deVleeschouwer D, Black H, Itak T, Toucanne S, Bassetti MA, Clemens S, Anderson W, Alvarez-Zarikian CA, Tada R. East Asian monsoon history and pale oceanography of the Japan Sea over the last 460,000 years. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 2018, 33(7), 683-702.
• Tada R, Irino T, Ikehara K, Karasuda A, Sugisaki S, Xuan C, Sagawa T, Itaki T, Kubota Y, Lu S, Seki A, Murray RW, Alvarez-Zarikian CA, Anderson WT, Bassetti M-A, Brace BJ, Clemens SC, da Costa Gurgel MH, Dickens GR, Dunlea AG, Gallagher SJ, Giosan L, Henderson ACG, Holbourn AE, Kinsley CW, Lee GS, Lee KE, Lofi J, Lopes CICD, Saavedra-Pellitero M, Peterson LC, Singh RK, Toucanne S, Wan S, Zheng HB, Ziegler M. High-resolution and high-precision correlation of dark and light layers in the Quaternary hemipelagic sediments of the Japan Sea recovered during IODP Expedition 346. Progress in Earth and Planetary Sciences 2018, 5, 19.
• Bailey HL, Kaufman DS, Sloane HJ, Hubbard AL, Henderson ACG, Leng MJ, Meyer H, Welker JM. Holocene atmospheric circulation in the central North Pacific: A new terrestrial diatom and δ¹⁸O dataset from the Aleutian Islands. Quaternary Science Reviews 2018, 194, 27-38.
• Zander PD, Kaufman DS, McKay NP, Kuehn SC, Henderson ACG. Using correlated tephras to refine radiocarbon-based age models, upper and lower Whitshed Lakes, south-central Alaska. Quaternary Geochronology 2018, 45, 9-22.
• Schmidt M, Fuchs M, Henderson ACG, Kossler A, Leng MJ, Mackay AW, Shemang E, Riedel F. Paleolimnological features of a mega-lake phase in the Makgadikgadi Basin (Kalahari, Botswana) during Marine Isotope Stage 5 inferred from diatoms. Journal of Paleolimnology 2017, 58(3), 373-390.
• Kaufman DS, Axford YL, Henderson ACG, McKay NP, Oswald WW, Saenger C, Anderson RS, Bailey HL, Clegg B, Gajewski K, Hu FS, Jones MC, Massa C, Routson CC, Werner A, Wooller MJ, Yu ZC. Holocene climate changes in eastern Beringia (NW North America) – A systematic review of multi-proxy evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews 2015, 147, 312-339.
• Tibby J, Barr C, McInerney FA, Henderson ACG, Leng MJ, Greenway M, Marshall JC, McGregor GB, Tyler JJ, McNeil V. Carbon isotope discrimination in leaves of the broad-leaved paperbark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia, as a tool for quantifying past tropical and subtropical rainfall. Global Change Biology 2016, 22(10), 3474-3486.
• Zhang J, Ma XY, Qiang M, Huang XZ, Li S, Guo XY, Henderson ACG, Holmes JA, Chen FH. Developing inorganic carbon-based radiocarbon chronologies for Holocene lake sediments in arid NW China. Quaternary Science Reviews 2016, 144, 66-82.
• Bailey HL, Kaufman DS, Henderson ACG, Leng MJ. Synoptic-scale controls on the δ¹⁸0 in precipitation across Beringia. Geophysical Research Letters 2015, 42(11), 4608-4616.
• Riedel F, Henderson ACG, Heussner KU, Kaufmann G, Kossler A, Leipe C, Shemang E, Taft L. Dynamics of a Kalahari long-lived mega-lake system: hydromorphological and limnological changes in the Makgadikgadi Basin (Botswana) during the terminal 50 ka. Hydrobiologia 2014, 739(1), 25-53.
• Bailey HL, Henderson ACG, Sloane HJ, Snelling A, Leng MJ, Kaufman DS. The effect of species on lacustrine δ¹⁸O_diatom and its implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Journal of Quaternary Science 2014, 29(4), 393-400.
• Liu X, Colman SM, Brown ET, Henderson ACG, Werne JP, Holmes JA. Abrupt deglaciation on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: evidence from Lake Qinghai. Journal of Paleolimnology 2014, 51(2), 223-240.
• Leng MJ, Henderson ACG. Recent advances in isotopes as palaeolimnological proxies. Journal of Paleolimnology 2013, 49(3), 481-496.
• Gavin DG, Henderson ACG, Westover KS, Fritz SC, Walker IR, Leng MJ, Hu FS. Abrupt Holocene climate change and anti-phased response to solar forcing in western Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 2011, 30(9-10), 1243-1255.
• Rao ZG, Wu Y, Zhu ZY, Jia GD, Henderson A. Is the maximum carbon number of long-chain n-alkanes an indicator of grassland or forest? Evidence from surface soils and modern plants. Chinese Science Bulletin 2011, 56(16), 1714-1720.
• Henderson ACG, Holmes JA, Leng MJ. Late Holocene isotope hydrology of Lake Qinghai, NE Tibetan Plateau: effective moisture variability and atmospheric circulation changes. Quaternary Science Reviews 2010, 29(17-18), 2215-2223.
• Rao Z, Zhu Z, Jia G, Henderson ACG, Wu Y, Xue Q, Wang S. Compound specific δD of long-chain n-alkanes derived from terrestrial higher plants are indicative of the δD of meteoric waters: Evidence from surface soils in eastern China. Organic Geochemistry 2009, 40(8), 922-930.
• Henderson ACG, Holmes JA. Palaeolimnological evidence for environmental change over the past millennium from Lake Qinghai sediments: a review and future research prospective. Quaternary International 2009, 194(1-2), 134-147.
• Liu ZH, Henderson ACG, Huang YS. Regional moisture source changes inferred from late Holocene stable isotope records. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences 2008, 25(6), 1021-1028.
• Colman SM, Yu SY, An Z, Shen J, Henderson ACG. Late Cenozoic climate changes in China’s western interior: A review of research on Lake Qinghai and comparison with other records. Quaternary Science Reviews 2007, 26(17-18), 2281-2300.
• Liu ZH, Henderson ACG, Huang YS. Alkenone-based reconstruction of late Holocene surface temperature and salinity changes in Lake Qinghai, China. Geophysical Research Letters 2006, 33(9), L09707.
• Sayer CD, Hoare DJ, Simpson GL, Henderson ACG, Liptrot EL, Jackson ML, Appleby PG, Boyle JF, Jones JI, Waldock MJ. TBT causes ecosystem collapse in freshwater lakes. Environment, Science and Technology 2006, 40(17), 5269-5275.
• Henderson ACG, Holmes JA, Zhang JW, Leng MJ, Carvalho LR. A carbon- and oxygen-isotope record of recent environmental change from Qinghai Lake, NE Tibetan Plateau. Chinese Science Bulletin 2003, 48(14), 1463-1468.
• Zhang JW, Min J, Chen FH, Battarbee RW, Henderson ACG. High-resolution precipitation variations in the Northeast Tibetan Plateau over the last 800 years documented by sediment cores from Qinghai Lake. Chinese Science Bulletin 2003, 48(14), 1451-1456.