Dr Jaco Baas

Reader in Ocean Sciences

Contact info

Position: Reader

Room: 305 Craig Mair

Phone: 01248 382894

E-mail: j.baas@bangor.ac.uk

Web: Google Scholar, ResearchGate

I am Reader in Fine Particle Dynamics in the School of Ocean Sciences, and specialise in the erosion, transport, and deposition of fine, cohesive sediment. I graduated from the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) with a combined BSc/MSc in Sedimentary Geology in 1988. At the same university, I completed my PhD in Bedform Dynamics in 1993. Subsequently, I was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Geomar Research Centre in Kiel, Germany (studying Late-Pleistocene climate signals in slope sediments from the North-Atlantic continental margin), at the University of Rouen, France (on resuspension processes in the Seine estuary and gravel mining in the English Channel), and at the University of Bergen, Norway (investigating grain orientations in turbidite deposits).

In 1998, I moved to the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, where I started as a Marie Curie Research Fellow and then became a Senior Research Fellow. My research in Leeds included the physical properties of particulate density currents and their deposits and the dynamics of turbulence-modulated flows carrying cohesive clay particles. I took up my present post in Bangor in January 2007.

I am a process sedimentologist with more than 25 years of experience in sediment transport in fluvial, shallow marine, and deep-marine environments. My main fundamental and applied research interests include physical and biological cohesion in fine-grained sediment, the dynamics of sedimentary bedforms, and sediment gravity flows in the deep ocean, but my expertise also stretches to hydraulic engineering, palaeoclimatology, and mathematical modelling. I combine experimental research with field work to answer timely research questions, taking a blue-skies approach as well as collaborating with industry.

Research Area

Sediment Dynamics and Morphology

  1. Published

    Coupling flow and deposit properties of partly cohesive high-density turbidity currents: An experimental approach.

    Manica, R., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Maestri, R. D. & Borges, A. O., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  2. Published

    Non-cohesive, mixed and cohesive high-density turbidity currents: Flow and deposit properties inferred from laboratory experiments.

    Manica, R., Baas, J. H., De Oliveira Borges, A. L., Maestri, R. D., Peakall, J. & McCaffrey, W. D., 1 Jan 2006.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  3. Published

    The pervasive role of biological cohesion in bedform development

    Malarkey, J., Baas, J. H., Hope, J. A., Aspenden, R. J., Parsons, D. R., Peakall, J., Peterson, D. M., Schindler, R. J., Ye, L., Lichtman, I. D., Bass, S. J., Davies, A. G., Manning, A. J. & Thorne, P. D., 6 Feb 2015, In: Nature Communications. 6, 6257

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  4. Published

    Bedform migration in a mixed sand and cohesive clay intertidal environment and implications for bed material transport predictions

    Lichtman, I. D., Baas, J. H., Amoudry, L. O., Thorne, P. D., Malarkey, J., Hope, J. A., Peakall, J., Paterson, D. M., Bass, S. J., Cooke, R. D., Manning, A. J., Davies, A. G., Parsons, D. R. & Ye, L., 15 Aug 2018, In: Geomorphology. 315, p. 17-32 66 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. Published

    Bedforms in high concentration flows – Preliminary results of laboratory experiments.

    Kellman, P., Best, J. L., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J. & Parsons, D., 1 Jan 2006.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  6. Published

    Experimental passive fill of U-shaped burrows.

    Kellman, P., Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Uchman, A., 1 Jan 2005.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  7. Published

    Passive sediment filling of U-shaped animal burrows.

    Kellman, P., Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Uchman, A., 1 Jan 2004.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  8. Published

    Interactions between sediment microbial ecology and physical dynamics drive heterogeneity in contextually similar depositional systems

    Hope, J. A., Malarkey, J., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Parsons, D., Manning, A. J., Bass, S., Lichtman, I., Thorne, P., Ye, L. & Paterson, D. M., Oct 2020, In: Limnology and Oceanography. 65, 10, p. 2403-2419

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Dynamics and deposition of sediment-bearing multi-pulsed flows and geological implication

    Ho, V. L., Dorrell, R. M., Keevil, G., Thomas, R. E., Burns, A. D., Baas, J. H. & McCaffrey, W. D., Nov 2019, In: Journal of Sedimentary Research. 89, 11, p. 1127-1139

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. Published

    Biomediation of submarine sediment gravity flow dynamics

    Craig, M., Baas, J. H., Amos, K. J., Strachan, L. J., Manning, A. J., Paterson, D. M., Hope, J. A., Nodder, S. D. & Baker, M. L., Jan 2020, In: Geology. 48, 1, p. 72-76

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  11. Published

    Comparison of spatio-temporal evolution of experimental particulate gravity flows at two different initial concentrations, based on velocity, grain size and density data.

    Choux, C. M., Baas, J. H., McCaffrey, W. D. & Haughton, P. D., 1 Aug 2005, In: Sedimentary Geology. 179, 1-2, p. 49-69

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  12. Published
  13. Published

    Suspended and bedload dynamics in a tidally influenced river: the river Dyfi, Wales, UK.

    Brewer, P., Vericat, D., Baas, J. H., Jago, C. F., Brasington, J., Wheaton, J. M. & Causer, F., 1 Jan 2007.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  14. Published

    Critical parameters for cross-fault flow within deep marine clastic reservoirs: An integrated 3D stratigraphic and structural approach.

    Bradbury, P. W., Freeman, S. R., Harris, S. D., Knipe, R. J., McCaffrey, W. D. & Baas, J. H., 1 Jan 2004.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  15. Published

    Enhanced fault seal evaluation of turbidite systems in mature basins: Examples from around the globe.

    Bradbury, P. W., Freeman, S. R., Harris, S. D., Knipe, R. J., McCaffrey, W. D., Baas, J. H. & Lewis, G., 1 Jan 2005.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  16. Published

    Comparing flume and computer simulated turbidite flows – Implications for sediment deposition patterns and reservoir quality.

    Bond, C. E., Baas, J. H., Vinnels, J., McCaffrey, W., Waltham, D. & McClean, S., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  17. Published

    Temporal flow structure of an experimental particulate density current linked to textural variation of the resultant flume deposit.

    Barker, S., McCaffrey, B., Haughton, P., Baas, J. H. & Choux, C., 1 Jan 2004.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  18. Published

    Does sand promote or hinder the mobility of cohesive sediment gravity flows?

    Baker, M. L. & Baas, J., Feb 2023, In: Sedimentology. 70, 4, p. 1110-1130 21 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  19. Published

    The Effect of Clay Type on the Properties of Cohesive Sediment Gravity Flows and their Deposits

    Baker, M. L., Baas, J. H., Malarkey, J., Silva Jacinto, R., Craig, M. J., Kane, I. A. & Barker, S., 2017, In: Journal of Sedimentary Research. 87, 11, p. 1176-1195 59 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  20. Published

    Mixed Sand—Mud Bedforms Produced by Transient Turbulent Flows in the Fringe of Submarine Fans: Indicators of Flow Transformation

    Baker, M. L. & Baas, J. H., Aug 2020, In: Sedimentology. 67, 5, p. 2645-2671 27 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  21. Published

    Thresholds of intrabed flow and other interactions of turbidity currents with soft muddy substrates

    Baas, J., Manica, R., Puhl, E. & Borges, A. L. D. O., 1 Dec 2016, In: Sedimentology. 63, 7, p. 2002-2036

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  22. Published

    Comparing the transitional behaviour of kaolinite and bentonite suspension flows

    Baas, J., Best, J. L. & Peakall, J., Oct 2016, In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 41, 13, p. 1911-1921

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  23. Published

    Blood, lead and spheres: a hindered settling equation for sedimentologists based on metadata analysis

    Baas, J. H., Baker, M. L., Buffon, P., Strachan, L. J., Bostock, H. C., Hodgson, D. M., Eggenhuisen, J. T. & Spychala, Y. T., Jun 2022, In: The Depositional Record. 8, 2, p. 603-615 13 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  24. Published

    Integrating field and laboratory approaches for ripple development in mixed sand-clay-EPS

    Baas, J. H., Baker, M., Malarkey, J., Bass, S. J., Manning, A. J., Hope, J. A., Peakall, J., Lichtman, I., Ye, L., Davies, A., Parsons, D. R., Paterson, D. M. & Thorne, P. D., Dec 2019, In: Sedimentology. 66, 7, p. 2749-2768 20 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  25. Published

    Rapid gravity flow transformation revealed in a single climbing ripple

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. & Peakall, J., 1 May 2021, In: Geology. 49, 5, p. 493-497

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review