Dr Mark Stevenson

I am focused on developing and refining methods for compound-specific radiocarbon dating within the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and these to key archaeological, earth science and palaeoclimate questions.

Compound-specific approaches in radiocarbon dating offer the potential to improve dating accuracy as typically the source of a specific compound can be better known, relative to a conventional sample. Compound-specific approaches can also facilitate a reliable date where one has been difficult to obtain using standard techniques.

Compound-specific radiocarbon has the potential to solve critical questions in archaeology, help improve chronologies for palaeoclimate and better understand the source and pathways of carbon in earth sciences.

I have a background in environmental biogeochemistry, having previously worked on palaeoclimate and carbon cycle studies using samples from the Arctic, Antarctic and temperate regions using a range of terrestrial, lake and marine deposits.

Publications

1. Stevenson, M. A., Hodgson, D. A., Bentley, M. J., Gröcke, D. R., Tunstall, N., Longley, C., Graham, A., and McClymont, E. L.: Mid-Holocene sea-ice dynamics and climate in the northeastern Weddell Sea inferred from an Antarctic snow petrel stomach oil deposit. 2025. EGUsphere [preprint]
2. Saitta, E.T., Vinther, J., Crisp, M.K., Abbott, G.D., Kaye, T.G., Pittman, M., Bull, I., Fletcher, I., Chen, X., Collins, M.J., Sakalauskaite, J., Mackie, M., Dal Bello, F., Dickinson, M.R., Stevenson, M.A., Donohoe, P., Heck, P.R., Demarchi, B. and Penkman, K.E.H. Non-avian dinosaur eggshell calcite contains ancient, endogenous amino acids. (2024) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.365: 1-20
3. Stevenson M.A., Airs, R. and Abbott, G.D. (2023). Unprecedented sea ice minima enhances algal production measured at the ocean seafloor. Environmental Research Letters. 18: 114046
4. McClymont, E.L., Mackay, H., Stevenson, M.A., Damm-Johnsen, T., Honan, E.M., Penny, C.E., Cole, Y.A. (2023). Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change. Journal of Quaternary Science 38 (7), 991-1024.
5. Faust, J.C., Ascough, P., Hilton, R.G., Stevenson, M.A., Hendry, K.R., März, C. (2022). New evidence for preservation of contemporary marine organic carbon by iron in Arctic shelf sediments. Environmental Research Letters 18 (1): 014006.
6. Chen, X., Liang, J., Zeng, L., Cao, Y and Stevenson, M.A. (2022). Heterogeneity in diatom diversity response to decadal scale eutrophication in floodplain lakes of the middle Yangtze reaches. Journal of Environmental Management 322: 116164.
7. März, C., Freitas, F.S., Faust, J.C., Godbold, J.A., Henley, S.F., Tessin, A.C., Abbott, G.D., Airs, R., Arndt, S., Barnes, D.K.A., Grange, L.J., Gray, N.D., Head, I.M., Hendry, K.R., Hilton, R.G., Reed, A.J., Rühl, S., Solan, M., Souster, T.A., Stevenson, M.A., Tait, K., Ward, J. & Widdicombe, S. (2022). Biogeochemical consequences of a changing Arctic shelf seafloor ecosystem. Ambio 51: 370-382.
8. Stevenson, M.A., McGowan, S., Pearson, E.J., Swann, G.E.A., Leng, M.J., Jones, V.J., Bailey, J.J., Huang, X. & Whiteford, E. (2021). Anthropocene climate warming enhances autochthonous carbon cycling in an upland Arctic lake, Disko Island, West Greenland. Biogeosciences 18(8): 2465.
9. Liang, J., Lupien, R.L., Xie, H., Vachula, R.S., Stevenson, M.A., Han, B.P., Lin, Q., He, Y., Wang, M., Liang, P., Huang, Y., McGowan, S., Hou, J. & Russell, J.M. (2021). Lake ecosystem on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau severely altered by climatic warming and human activity. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 576: 110509.
10. Chen X., McGowan, S., Qin B., Huang, X., Stevenson, M.A., Zhang, Z., Zeng, L. & Bai, X. (2021). Effects of climate change on a subtropical montane peatland over the last two centuries: Evidence from diatom records. The Holocene. 31(7): 1112.
11. Stevenson, M.A., Faust, J.C., Andrade L.l., Freitas, F.S., Gray, N.D., Tait, K., Hendry, K.R., Hilton, R.G., Henley, S.F., Tessin, A., Leary, P., Papadaki, S., Ford, A., März, C., Abbott, G.D. 2020. Coupled organic, inorganic and microbial cycling at the redox interface in sediments of the Arctic Barents Sea. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 378 (2181).
12. Freitas, F.S., Hendry, K.R., Henley, S.F., Faust, J.C., Tessin, A.C., Stevenson, M.A., Abbott, G.A., März, C., Arndt, S. 2020. Benthic-pelagic coupling in the Barents Sea: an integrated data-model framework. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 378 (2181).
13. Faust, J.C., Stevenson, M.A., Abbott, G.D., Knies, J., Tessin, A., Mannion, I., Ford, A., Hilton, R., Peakall, J., März, C. 2020. Does Arctic warming reduce preservation of organic matter in Barents Sea sediments? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 378 (2181).
14. Liang J. Huang, C. Stevenson, M.A., Qiao, Q., Zeng, L. and Chen X. 2020. Changes in summer diatom composition and water quality in urban lakes within a metropolitan area in central China. International Review of Hydrobiology. 105, 94-105.
15. Stevenson, M.A., and Abbott, G.D. 2019. Exploring the composition of macromolecular organic matter in Arctic Ocean sediments under a changing sea ice gradient. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 140, 102-111.
16. Chen X., Qiao, Q., McGowan, S., Zeng, L., Stevenson, M.A., Xu, L., Huang, C., Liang, J., and Cao, Y. 2019. Determination of geochronology and sedimentation rates of shallow lakes in the middle Yangtze reaches using 210Pb, 137Cs and spheroidal carbonaceous particles. CATENA 174, 546-556.
17. Chen, X., McGowan, S., Xiao, X., Stevenson, M.A., Yang, X., Li, Y. and Zhang, E. 2018. Direct and indirect effects of Holocene climate variations on catchment and lake processes of a treeline lake, SW China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 502, 119-129.
18. Chen, X., Stevenson, M.A., Zeng, L. and Qiao, Q. 2017. Diatom distribution in an alpine basin (central China) in relation to environmental factors and substrata. Diatom Research. 32 (3), 251-262.
19. Stevenson, M.A., McGowan, S., Anderson, N.J., Leavitt, P.R., Engstrom, D.R., McElarney, Y.R. and Foy, R.H. 2016. Impacts of forestry planting on primary production in upland lakes from north-west Ireland. Global Change Biology. 22 (4), 1490-1504.
20. Chen, X., Bu, Z. Stevenson, M.A., Cao, Y., Zeng, L., Qin, B. 2016. Variations in diatom communities at genus and species levels in peatlands (central China) linked to microhabitats and environmental factors. Science of the Total Environment. 568, 137- 146.
21. McGowan, S., Stevenson, M.A., Whiteford, E. & Pearson, E.J. Carbon processing in Arctic lakes when vegetation changes on land. 2015. Ed. Callaghan, T. & Savela, H. INTERACT Stories of Arctic Science.
22. Taranu, Z.E., Gregory-Eaves, I., Leavitt, R.R., Bunting,L., Buchaca, T., Catalan, J. Domaizon, I., Guilizzoni, P., Lami, A., McGowan, S., Moorhouse, H., Morabito, G., Pick, F. Stevenson, M.A., Thompson, P.L. and Vinebrooke, R.D. 2015. Acceleration of cyanobacterial dominance in north temperate-subarctic lakes during the Anthropocene. Ecology Letters. 18, 375–384.
23. Stevenson, M.A. Arctic carbon cycling in an upland lake: preliminary results from Disko Island, west Greenland. February 2015. Quaternary Newsletter, 135, pp 28-30. Quaternary Research Association.
24. Chen, X., Qin, Y., Stevenson, M.A. and McGowan, S., 2014. Diatom communities along pH and water level gradients in three montane mires, central China. Ecological Indicators. 45, 123-129.