Employee information:
| Name: | David Chivall |
| Department: | Marine Organic Biogeochemistry (BGC) |
| Email: | David.Chivall(at)nioz.nl |
| Telephone: | +31 (0)222 369 410 |
About:
Dr. David Chivall
NIOZ ROYAL NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR SEA RESEARCH
Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry
Postal address:
P.O. Box 59
NL-1790 AB Den Burg (Texel)
The Netherlands
Visiting address:
Landsdiep 4
NL-1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel)
The Netherlands
Room: D00-01
Direct telephone: (+31) (0)222-369409
Email: david.chivall(at)nioz.nl
Research interests
The development and application of proxies to understand past environments utilizing the compound-specific stable hydrogen isotope analysis of organic molecules.
Current project
Compound-specific hydrogen isotopes: a new tool for reconstructing paleo sea surface salinities
In this project we are investigating the hydrogen isotopic composition of specific algal lipids as a proxy for reconstructing paleosalinity. Recently it has been shown that the hydrogen isotopic composition of long-chain alkenones, which are produced exclusively by haptophyte algae, depends on the salinity of the water in which the algae are grown. As such, the hydrogen isotopic composition of alkenones recovered from ocean sediments may be a promising tool for reconstructing past sea surface salinities.
We are currently investigating the effects of other factors apart from salinity on the hydrogen isotopic composition of alkenones and are further developing the paleosalinity proxy to extend it to other algal and, potentially, more general phototroph lipids.
People involved: Dr. David Chivall (Postdoc), Prof. Dr. Stefan Schouten, Dr. Marcel T.J. van der Meer
Funding: NWO Earth and Life Sciences Open Programme
Duration: 2011-2013
Professional career
|
2011 – Present |
Postdoc at the Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, Royal NIOZ |
|
2008 – 2009 |
Staff Chemist at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, UK |
|
2003 – 2007 |
PhD student at the Organic Geochemistry Unit, University of Bristol, UK “Compound-specific stable hydrogen isotope analysis of animal fatty acids for paleodietary reconstruction.” |
|
1999 – 2003 |
MSci Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK |
Recent presentations
Chivall, D., M’Boule, D., Sinke, D., Schouten, S., Sinninghe Damsté, J. S., van der Meer, M. T. J. Towards an organic palaeosalinity proxy. NIOZ colloquium, NIOZ Texel. 18 April 2013.
Chivall, D., M’Boule, D., Sinke, D., Schouten, S., Sinninghe Damsté, J. S., van der Meer, M. T. J. Towards an organic palaeosalinity proxy: the effect of salinity, growth rate and growth phase on the hydrogen isotopic composition of alkenones produced by haptophyte algae. Application of stable isotopes in Biogeosciences (BG1.2/IG10) session, EGU 2013, Vienna, Austria. 9th April 2013 [Abstract]
Publications
Chivall, D., Berstan, R., Bull, I. D., Evershed, R. P. (2012) Isotope effects associated with the preparation and methylation of fatty acids by boron trifluoride in methanol for compound-specific stable hydrogen isotope analysis via gas chromatography/thermal conversion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 26 (10), 1232-1240 doi/10.1002/rcm.6188 [pdf]