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. 2016
  2. Published

    Predicting bedforms and primary current stratification in cohesive mixtures of mud and sand

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Peakall, J., Jan 2016, In: Journal of the Geological Society. 173, 1, p. 12-45

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. 2015
  4. Published

    Sticky stuff: Redefining bedform prediction in modern and ancient environments

    Schindler, R. J., Parsons, D. R., Ye, L., Hope, J. A., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Manning, A. J., Aspden, R. J., Malarkey, J., Simmons, S., Paterson, D. M., Lichtman, I. D., Davies, A. G., Thorne, P. D. & Bass, S. J., 27 Mar 2015, In: Geology.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  5. 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

  6. 2014
  7. Published

    Sediment Composition Influences Spatial Variation in the Abundance of Human Pathogen Indicator Bacteria within an Estuarine Environment

    Perkins, T. L., Clements, K., Baas, J. H., Jago, C. F., Jones, D. L., Malham, S. K. & McDonald, J. E., 14 Nov 2014, In: PLoS ONE. 9, 11

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  8. Published

    Wave ripples in mixtures of cohesive clay and cohesionless sand: Preliminary results

    Baas, J. H., Westlake, A., Eggenhuisen, J., Amoudry, L., Cartigny, M., Coultish, N., McLelland, S., Mouazé, D., Murphy, B., Parsons, D., Rosewell, K., Ruessink, G., Schrijvershof, R., Wu, X. & Ye, L., 1 Jul 2014.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  9. Published

    Processes and products of turbidity currents entering soft muddy substrates

    Baas, J. H., Manica, R., Puhl, E., Verhagen, I. & de O.Borges, A. L., May 2014, In: Geology. 42, 5, p. 371-374

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  10. 2013
  11. Published

    Bedform development in mixed sand–mud: The contrasting role of cohesive forces in flow and bed

    Baas, J. H., Davies, A. G. & Malarkey, J., 15 Jan 2013, In: Geomorphology. 182, p. 19-32

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  12. 2012
  13. Published

    Reversed sediment wave migration in the Irish Sea, NW Europe: A reappraisal of the validity of geometry-based predictive modelling and assumptions

    Van Landeghem, K. J., Baas, J. H., Mitchell, N., Wilcockson, D. & Wheeler, A. J., 15 Feb 2012, In: Marine Geology. 295-298, p. 95-112

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  14. 2011
  15. Published

    Depositional processes, bedform development and hybrid bed formation in rapidly decelerated cohesive (mud–sand) sediment flows

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Peakall, J., 1 Dec 2011, In: Sedimentology. 58, 7, p. 1953-1987

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  16. 2009
  17. Published

    A phase diagram for turbulent, transitional and laminar clay suspension flows.

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. L., Peakall, J. & Wang, M., 1 Mar 2009, In: Journal of Sedimentary Research. 79, 3-4, p. 162-183

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  18. 2008
  19. Published

    The dynamics of turbulent, transitional and laminar clay-laden flow over a fixed current ripple.

    Baas, J. H. & Best, J. L., 1 Jun 2008, In: Sedimentology. 55, 3, p. 635-66

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. Published

    Flow behaviour of ponded turbidity currents: an experimental study.

    Patacci, M., McCaffrey, W. M., Haughton, P., Baas, J. H. & Keevil, G., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  23. Published

    On the flow of natural clay suspensions over smooth and rough beds.

    Baas, J. H. & Best, J. L., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  24. Published
  25. 2007
  26. Published

    Concepts and applications of fluvial sedimentology: Towards interdisciplinary analysis of process and product.

    Weltje, G. J., Hoogendoorn, R. M., Marriott, S. B. & Baas, J. H., 15 Nov 2007, In: Sedimentary Geology. 202, 1-2, p. 1-4

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  27. Published

    Directional petrological characterisation of deep-marine sandstones using grain fabric and permeability anisotropy: methodologies, theory, application and suggestions for integration.

    Baas, J. H., Hailwood, E. A., McCaffrey, W. D., Kay, M. & Jones, R., 1 May 2007, In: Earth Science Reviews. 82, 1-2, p. 101-142

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  28. Published
  29. Published

    Bedform development below transient turbulent, partly cohesive open-channel flows.

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Kellman, P., 1 Jan 2007.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  30. Published

    Can vertical stacking of low-angle bedforms produce rhythmic bedding in slurry flow deposits?

    Baas, J. H., Best, J. L. & Peakall, J., 1 Jan 2007.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  31. Published

    Modelling rheological and turbulence regimes in kaolinite-rich sediment flows.

    Silva Jacinto, R. & Baas, J. H., 1 Jan 2007.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  32. 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

  33. 2006
  34. Published

    Electrical resistance tomography for suspended sediment measurements in open channel flows using a novel sensor design.

    Schlaberg, H. I., Baas, J. H., Wang, M., Best, J. L., Williams, R. A. & Peakall, J., 1 Oct 2006, In: Particle and Particle Systems Characterization. 23, 3-4, p. 313-320

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  35. Published