Paleonet: PhD in Plio-Pleistocene dinoflagellate cysts, geochemistry & paleoceanography

Fri Dec 6 06:50:32 UTC 2013

A PhD studentship is available for the NSERC-funded program: "Pliocene dinoflagellate cysts, geochemistry, and paleoceanography of the North Atlantic region" in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada. Application deadline: January 15, 2014.

Description of PhD project:
The North Atlantic Current (NAC) and thermohaline circulation are major drivers of global climate change, transferring heat and moisture to high northern latitudes.  Moisture is necessary for ice sheets to accumulate, thereby increasing albedo and causing global temperatures to drop.  Hence, the Northern Hemisphere, through its capacity to grow extensive continental ice sheets, has been a major amplifier of global climate change at least since the Late Pliocene.  The changing dynamics of the NAC and polar front are accordingly critical to our understanding of past and future climates.

The project will focus on several discrete intervals of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, including 1:  Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) M2 which occurred 3.29 Ma and represents the first severely cold episode of the Pliocene (e.g. De Schepper, Head & Groeneveld, 2009), and 2: the Plio-Pleistocene boundary interval at around 2.6 Ma (Gibbard et al., 2010).  Additional time slabs during the Early and Late Pliocene will be chosen to address the impact of progressive restriction and closure of the Central American Seaway on North Atlantic circulation.  The successful candidate will have flexibility to choose specific time slabs and sites. A novel combination of proxies (dinoflagellate cysts, alkenones, foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios and oxygen isotopes, ice-rafted debris) will be used to reconstruct sea-surface temperature, salinity, evidence of ice melting, and NAC strength.

The project, under the supervision of Prof. Martin J. Head, will include collaboration with Dr Stijn De Schepper (Bergen University, Norway), Dr Jeroen Groeneveld (Bremen University, Germany), and Dr Jan Hennissen (British Geological Survey).  It is scheduled to begin September 2014.

Recent literature relevant to project:
De Schepper, S., Head, M.J., Groeneveld, J.  2009.  North Atlantic Current variability through marine isotope stage M2 (circa 3.3 Ma) during the mid-Pliocene.  Paleoceanography, 24: DOI: 10.1029/2008PA001725.

De Schepper, S., Fischer, E., Groeneveld, J., Head, M.J., and Matthiessen, J., 2011.  Deciphering the palaeoecology of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene dinoflagellate cysts.  Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 309: 17-32.

Gibbard, P.L., Head, M.J., Walker, M.J.C. and The Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, 2010.  Formal ratification of the Quaternary System/Period and the Pleistocene Series/Epoch with a base at 2.58 Ma.  Journal of Quaternary Science, 25(2): 96–102.

How to apply: 
The on-line application for admission to the Fall (December) 2013 session at the University of Toronto, Graduate Department in Earth Sciences, is now available.
1) Please go to the Earth Sciences website at http://www.es.utoronto.ca
2) Click on the Graduate Studies photo
3) Scroll down to Prospective Students
4) Click on HOW TO APPLY, read carefully and follow the instructions.
Although the application deadline is January 15, 2014, please check the on-line application for admission NOW to determine how much time is needed to assemble all the necessary documentation.  For any questions relating to this project, please contact Prof. Martin J. Head (mjhead at brocku.ca). You are encouraged to contact Prof. Head prior to applying.

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Martin J. Head, PhD CGeol
Professor
Department of Earth Sciences
Brock University
500 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines
Ontario L2S 3A1
CANADA

Professor (status only), Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada
Life Member, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK
Chair: ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy: http://www.quaternary.stratigraphy.org.uk

Phone: 905 688 5550 ext 5216
Email: mjhead at brocku.ca
Home page: http://www.brocku.ca/mathematics-science/departments-and-centres/earth-sciences/people/faculty/martin-j-head

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