Ph.D. Studentship Available
British Antarctic Survey
University of Cambridge
Application Deadline: Friday, 10 March 2006
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Regine Rothlisberger
E-mail: rro [at] bas.ac.uk
The British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge are
advertising a three-year Ph.D. studentship starting in October 2006
investigating the role of dust input into the Southern Ocean for
glacial-interglacial CO2 changes. The project is funded by the Natural
Environment Research Council (NERC). For details about the grant and
eligibility, please go to:
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/students/
Project Description
"Investigating the Iron Hypothesis for Glacial-Interglacial CO2 Changes:
Insights Gained from Dust Samples of Antarctic Ice Cores"
The climate of the Quaternary was characterized by glacial-interglacial
cycles, which were potentially triggered by changes in solar irradiation
that were amplified by feedback mechanisms in the Earth system.
Atmospheric CO2 most likely played a prominent role in these feedback
mechanisms. From ice core records it is known that CO2 changes are
closely related with temperature changes over the last six
glacial-interglacial changes. Different hypotheses have been brought
forward to explain the observed change in CO2. One potential mechanism
is enhanced carbon storage in the oceans during glacial periods. Large
areas of the Southern Ocean are currently rich in nutrients but
comparably low in phytoplankton growth. Experiments have shown that
today the phytoplankton growth is largely limited by iron availability,
and it has been suggested that enhanced dust input during the glacial
periods led to "iron fertilization" of the Southern Ocean.
In this project, the relationship between dust, calcium, other elemental
dust proxies, and iron will be investigated. The Ph.D. student will
investigate the validity and potential limitations of using dust and
calcium records as proxies for iron in dust. The solubility of iron
contained in the dust under typical conditions of the glacial oceans
will be quantified in suitable laboratory experiments, which the student
will develop during the Ph.D. studentship. The extracted dust will
eventually be used in a laboratory "iron fertilization" experiment,
where dust is added to a phytoplankton community and the effect of the
addition of ice core dust to the system will be observed and quantified.
The student will develop expertise in the fields of elemental analysis,
ice core palaeoclimatology, and ocean biogeochemistry.
This NERC Ph.D. studentship is linked with the British Antarctic Survey
core science project "Drivers and Amplifiers of late Quaternary Climate
Change" (DRAM) within the programme "Climate and Chemistry" (CACHE) that
uses data from ice cores in order to determine the key drivers and
feedbacks that have controlled climate change in the past. The Ph.D.
student will be based at the British Antarctic Survey but will spend
time at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
No fieldwork is planned during the studentship. The ideal student will
have an excellent degree in Earth sciences, physics or chemistry, great
skill in experimental and analytical work, and a strong interest in
Earth system processes.
Please include a cover letter, CV, and the e-mails of two referees with
your application. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to:
Dr. Regine Rothlisberger
British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road
Cambridge, CB3 0ET
UK
E-mail: rro [at] bas.ac.uk
For further details about the British Antarctic Survey, please see:
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk