Ian Snowball
Professor in Quaternary Geology at Department of Earth Sciences; Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 36 57
- Mobile phone:
- +46 70 425 07 67
- E-mail:
- Ian.Snowball@geo.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Villavägen 16
75236 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Villavägen 16
75236 Uppsala
- Academic merits:
- Docent
- CV:
- Download CV
Short presentation
Professor of Quaternary Geology
Member of BOREAS editorial board.
Research interests: Geo/paleomagnetism, contaminated sediments.
Teaching foci: Geomorphology, Quaternary geology, palaeomagnetism
Biography
Ian graduated from Loughborough University of Technology (England) in 1984 with a BSc in Geography and Ecology. Between 1985 and 1989 he worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Geophysics at Edinburgh University (Scotland). He completed his PhD in Quaternary Geology at Lund University, Sweden in 1995 and spent a postdoctoral year at the Geological Survey of Finland (Espoo), returning to Lund in 1997. He became professor in Quaternary geology in 2008. He moved to Uppsala University in 2012. He served as director of the research program 'Natural Resources and Sustainable Development' between 2014 and 2019, and was Head of the Department of Earth Sciences between July 2019 and June 2025.
Ian maintains a multidisciplinary interest in global change, palaeomagnetism and human impact on the environment.

Publications
Recent publications
Part of Geophysical Journal International, 2025
- DOI for Magnetosomal Greigite as the source of intermediate and inverse magnetic fabrics at IODP site M0061 (Baltic Sea)
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Exceptional secular variation recorded in Neolithic hearths, Orkney and Swedish lake sediments
Part of Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2025
- DOI for Exceptional secular variation recorded in Neolithic hearths, Orkney and Swedish lake sediments
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Part of Chemical Geology, 2024
Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
Part of Boreas, p. 125-138, 2024
- DOI for Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
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Part of Catena (Cremlingen. Print), 2023
All publications
Articles in journal
Part of Geophysical Journal International, 2025
- DOI for Magnetosomal Greigite as the source of intermediate and inverse magnetic fabrics at IODP site M0061 (Baltic Sea)
- Download full text (pdf) of Magnetosomal Greigite as the source of intermediate and inverse magnetic fabrics at IODP site M0061 (Baltic Sea)
Exceptional secular variation recorded in Neolithic hearths, Orkney and Swedish lake sediments
Part of Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 2025
- DOI for Exceptional secular variation recorded in Neolithic hearths, Orkney and Swedish lake sediments
- Download full text (pdf) of Exceptional secular variation recorded in Neolithic hearths, Orkney and Swedish lake sediments
Part of Chemical Geology, 2024
Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
Part of Boreas, p. 125-138, 2024
- DOI for Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
- Download full text (pdf) of Giant saltwater inflow in AD 1951 triggered Baltic Sea hypoxia
Part of Catena (Cremlingen. Print), 2023
Part of Environmental Pollution, 2023
- DOI for Capping fiberbank sediments to reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) fluxes: A large-scale laboratory column experiment
- Download full text (pdf) of Capping fiberbank sediments to reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) fluxes: A large-scale laboratory column experiment
Late Holocene Paleomagnetic Secular Variation in the Chukchi Sea, Arctic Ocean
Part of Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 2022
- DOI for Late Holocene Paleomagnetic Secular Variation in the Chukchi Sea, Arctic Ocean
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A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA
Part of Nature, p. 283-291, 2022
- DOI for A 2-million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland uncovered by environmental DNA
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Part of Quaternary Research, p. 49-73, 2021
- DOI for Enviromagnetic study of Late Quaternary environmental evolution in Lower Volga loess sequences, Russia
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Assessing the Risk of Contaminant Dispersion From Fibrous Sediments of Industrial Origin
Part of Frontiers in Marine Science, 2021
- DOI for Assessing the Risk of Contaminant Dispersion From Fibrous Sediments of Industrial Origin
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Part of Boreas, p. 351-368, 2021
Part of Science of the Total Environment, 2021
- DOI for Extreme gas production in anthropogenic fibrous sediments: An overlooked biogenic source of greenhouse gas emissions
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Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 107057, 2021
Part of Near Surface Geophysics, p. 699-715, 2021
- DOI for Geotechnical site characterization using multichannel analysis of surface waves: A case study of an area prone to quick-clay landslides in southwest Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Geotechnical site characterization using multichannel analysis of surface waves: A case study of an area prone to quick-clay landslides in southwest Sweden
Part of Journal of Soils and Sediments, p. 1852-1865, 2021
- DOI for Dispersal of persistent organic pollutants from fiber-contaminated sediments: biotic and abiotic pathways
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Part of Engineering Geology, 2021
- DOI for Challenges in slope stability assessment of contaminated fibrous sediments along the northern Baltic coast of Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Challenges in slope stability assessment of contaminated fibrous sediments along the northern Baltic coast of Sweden
Part of Frontiers in Earth Science, 2020
- DOI for The Arctic Ocean Manganese Cycle, an Overlooked Mechanism in the Anomalous Palaeomagnetic Sedimentary Record
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Part of Environmental Pollution, 2020
Magnetic susceptibility parameters as proxies for desert sediment provenance
Part of Aeolian Research, 2020
- DOI for Magnetic susceptibility parameters as proxies for desert sediment provenance
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Part of Quaternary International, p. 55-65, 2020
Part of Journal of Soils and Sediments, p. 2619-2629, 2020
- DOI for Status of contaminated marine sediments in four Nordic countries: assessments, regulations, and remediation approaches
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Less metal fluxes than expected from fibrous marine sediments
Part of Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2020
- DOI for Less metal fluxes than expected from fibrous marine sediments
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Part of Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, p. 3289-3310, 2019
Part of Scientific Reports, 2019
- DOI for Southwest Greenland shelf glaciation during MIS 4 more extensive than during the Last Glacial Maximum
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Distribution and dispersal of metals in contaminated fibrous sediments of industrial origin
Part of Chemosphere, p. 470-481, 2019
- DOI for Distribution and dispersal of metals in contaminated fibrous sediments of industrial origin
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Part of Geophysical Journal International, p. 1089-1107, 2019
- DOI for Coring induced sediment fabrics at IODP Expedition 347 Sites M0061 and M0062 identified by anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS): criteria for accepting palaeomagnetic data
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Part of Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland, p. 221-235, 2019
- DOI for Biases in radiocarbon dating of organic fractions in sediments from meromictic and seasonally hypoxic lakes
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Part of Solid Earth, p. 1685-1705, 2019
- DOI for Subsurface Characterization of a Quick-Clay Vulnerable Area Using Near-Surface Geophysics and Hydrological Modelling
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Part of Boreas, p. 967-968, 2018
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 93-108, 2018
Part of Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, p. 858-871, 2017
Holocene stratigraphy of the Ångermanälven River estuary, Bothnian Sea
Part of Geo-Marine Letters, p. 273-288, 2017
Part of Boreas, p. 129-142, 2017
Bulk sediment C-14 dating in an estuarine environment: How accurate can it be?
Part of Paleoceanography, p. 123-131, 2017
Magma transport in sheet intrusions of the Alnö carbonatite complex, central Sweden
Part of Scientific Reports, 2016
- DOI for Magma transport in sheet intrusions of the Alnö carbonatite complex, central Sweden
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Part of Landslides, p. 905-923, 2016
Part of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, p. 186-196, 2015
Part of Havsutsikt, p. 18-20, 2015
Pa leo-environment and flooding of the Limpopo River-plain, Mozambique, between c. AD 1200-2000
Part of Catena (Cremlingen. Print), p. 105-116, 2015
Part of Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, p. 1-9, 2015
Part of Havsutsikt, p. 18-20, 2015
Late Quaternary vegetation dynamics and hydro-climate in the Drakensberg, South Africa
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 48-65, 2014
A 30,000-year pollen record from Mire Kupena, Western Rhodopes Mountains (south Bulgaria)
Part of Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, p. 41-51, 2014
Echoes from the Past: A Healthy Baltic Sea Requires More Effort
Part of Ambio, p. 60-68, 2014
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 155-166, 2014
Part of Geosphere, p. 510-520, 2013
Radiocarbon wiggle-matching of bulk sediments - how accurate can it be?
Part of Radiocarbon, p. 1173-1186, 2013
Large spatial variations in coastal C-14 reservoir age a case study from the Baltic Sea
Part of Climate of the Past, p. 1015-1028, 2013
- DOI for Large spatial variations in coastal C-14 reservoir age a case study from the Baltic Sea
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19. Mire Kupena, Western Rhodopes Mountains (South Bulgaria)
Part of Grana, p. 238-240, 2013
Part of Global and Planetary Change, p. 264-277, 2013
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 480-489, 2013
Magnetic enhancement of Baltic Sea sapropels by greigite magnetofossils
Part of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, p. 137-150, 2013
- DOI for Magnetic enhancement of Baltic Sea sapropels by greigite magnetofossils
- Download full text (pdf) of Magnetic enhancement of Baltic Sea sapropels by greigite magnetofossils
Part of Comptes Rendus de l'Academie Bulgare des Sciences / Proceedings of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, p. 1405-1410, 2012
Part of Holocene, p. 862-876, 2004
Distribution and dispersal of metals in contaminated fibrous sediments of industrial origin
Part of Chemosphere
Chapters in book
Geomagnetic and mineral magnetic characterization of the Anthropocene
Part of Stratigraphical Basis for the Anthropocene, p. 119-141, Geological Society of London, 2014
Conference papers
2016
2014
2013