Geophysical Skills Development for Environmental Scientists - A fully-funded, 7-day, NERC Training course for PhD students and Early Career Researchers

Keele University are pleased to announce a fully-funded, 7-day, residential skills development course aimed at Postgraduate Research students and Early Career Researchers who wish to learn about the theory, practice and real-world application of environmental geophysics for research and career development.
Course Dates : Saturday 1st March 2014 through to Friday 7th March 2014 (inclusive).
Course Location : Keele University, Staffordshire and Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, U.K.
Who should attend :  Environmental, physical and natural scientists that have limited theoretical/practical experience of near-surface geophysics but wish (or intend) to use these techniques in their research or future career.
Places will be allocated preferentially to NERC-funded PhD students (at all stages), Early Career Researchers and Fellowship holders (i.e., 50% or more funded by NERC). However, a number of funded places may be available to applicants who do not meet these criteria.
For more information about the course, what it contains and how to apply for a place, please visit our website
http://www.keele.ac.uk/envirogeophysics-training/
Alternatively, contact Dr Nigel Cassidy at n.j.cassidy@keele.ac.uk if you have any queries about the course or its content. Please feel free to pass this e-mail on to any colleagues who may be interested in participating.

PhD studentship at Liverpool, UK

Fully funded NERC PhD project "Bedload transport of sediment mixtures in shelf seas"
Application deadline: 16th of February 2014, position starts in October 2014.

Summary:

To fundamentally improve our knowledge on shelf seabed dynamics in mixed sediments, a fully funded PhD studentship is available, based at Bangor University (Dr Katrien Van Landeghem and Dr Jaco Baas) and the National Oceanography Centre - Liverpool (Dr. Laurent Amoudry). This studentship is part of the NERC Doctoral Training Programme "ENVISION" (www.Envision-dtp.org), aiming to developing our next generation leaders in environmental science.

 

This PhD project focuses on the complexity of shelf seabed morphological dynamics in a mixture of sand and gravel. You will be part of a truly multi-disciplinary, integrated approach of offshore data analyses, laboratory work, bedload modelling and novel ways to communicate your science through 3D graphics. You relocate to Liverpool to work with experts at the National Oceanography Centre for minimum 6 months. 

 

You should hold good numerical skills and a minimum of a UK Honours Degree at 2:1 level or equivalent in subjects such as Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, (Marine) Geology, Physical Oceanography or Natural Sciences.

 

ENVISION DTP studentships are funded for typically 3.5 years and cover full tuition fees,  tax-free stipend (£13,726 + £1000 per annum), Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) of £2500 per annum and extra funds and support from our partners in industry.

 

For further details please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Katrien Van Landeghem via k.v.landeghem@bangor.ac.uk  or 0044(0)1248 388161

Fully funded PhD on deep-marine sedimentary architecture databasing, University of Leeds, UK

Quantitative characterisation and prediction of deep-marine sedimentary architecture and facies heterogeneity through relational databasing

Supervisors: Prof. Bill McCaffrey, Dr. Luca Colombera and Dr. Marco Patacci

This is a fully-funded 3.5 year PhD studentship for UK or EU candidates. The award will pay all tuition fees and a tax-free stipend at the UK Research Council rate (currently £13,590). Start date is flexible; suggested April-September 2014. Deadline for applications: 6th February 2014.

 

Background

The number of sedimentological studies providing data on the sedimentary architecture of deep-marine depositional systems is steadily growing, under the impulse of both industrial and academic drivers.  These studies indicate the ongoing need for improved characterization and prediction of deep-marine hydrocarbon reservoirs and the associated interest in deciphering the complex interplay of autogenic and allogenic factors in the rock record.  To address these interests there is an urgent need for a method of storing data from many studies of different deep-marine depositional systems in a way that permits different types of datasets to be standardized, such that they can be compared or merged in a reliable and well-founded manner. By drawing upon experience in the development of relational databases for both deep-water and fluvial systems (DWAKB: Baas et al. 2005, FAKTS: Colombera et al. 2012, respectively), an improved database methodology is being developed at Leeds as an instrument to permit the digitization of deep-marine sedimentary architecture (DMAKS 2). DMAKS 2 aims to classify deep-marine depositional systems and to record their fundamental architectural and facies properties, including genetic-unit geometries, and both hierarchy and spatial relationships. DMAKS 2 will in effect be a research tool with which it should be possible to inform and carry out both pure and applied sedimentary research using metadata – an approach that is in its infancy for geological studies.

Project description

The candidate will contribute to the development of the DMAKS2 database, driving database population with literature- and field-derived architectural data.  Original fieldwork, which may involve the digital acquisition of 3D virtual outcrop models by means of photogrammetrical techniques, will be carried out on ancient deep-marine successions in Europe to obtain data suitable for database population. The candidate could also choose to complement field data with a study involving interpretation of larger-scale sedimentary architecture from seismic datasets. Notably, the candidate will need to identify published case studies of deep-marine sedimentary architecture from which data would be derived for database input, so that metastudies generating new information from the integration of new and published data could be attempted. The multi-scale architectural characterisation enabled by the DMAKS2 design will permit the candidate to tailor the type of field and seismic data collection to suit his/her specific interests and the research questions he/she may want to address. Importantly, to make best use of the database as a research tool, the candidate will need to work on database optimisation, which will be tested through research-focused queries with which the particular research questions or hypotheses will be addressed.

Example research themes that could be addressed within the scope of this project include:  

• the compilation of quantitative facies models describing the sedimentology of slope to basin-floor settings of classified deep-marine depositional systems, based on the synthesis of several suitable database case studies;
• investigation of the importance of controlling variables in determining processes and associated sedimentological/architectural features by performing comparative studies of many different systems;
• determination of the scale-dependent or scale-independent nature of architectural features in deep-marine clastic systems;
• application of database output to improve the realism and prediction capability of stochastic and deterministic subsurface forecasting tools. 

Qualifications

Candidate should have a degree in Earth Sciences with minimum BSc 2.1 or equivalent. The project would suit a student with strong numerical and computing skills. Experience in geostatistics would be a significant advantage.

Research Environment

The student will be a member of the industry-funded Turbidites Research Group (TRG) JIP project.  She/he would thus be integrated into a dynamic and active research group, with ongoing research into deep marine clastics via field studies, physical and numerical modelling and seismic studies. An internship with a major oil company would be possible during the duration of the PhD.

References

Baas et al. 2005, The deep-water architecture knowledge base: towards an objective comparison of deep-marine sedimentary systems Petrol. Geosci. 11, 309-320.

Colombera et al. 2012, A relational database for the digitization of fluvial architecture: Concepts and example applications Petrol. Geosci. 18, 129-140.

Further details:

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/admissions-and-study/research-degrees/essi/2014/deep-marine-databasing/

 

PhD position at the University of Leeds, UK

A fully-funded PhD position is available on "Quantitative characterisation and prediction of deep-marine sedimentary architecture and facies heterogeneity through relational databasing" with the Turbidites Research Group at the University of Leeds. Deadline is October 31st.

Further details can be found here:

http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/admissions-and-study/research-degrees/essi/2014/quantitative-characterisation-and-prediction-of-deep-marine-sedimentary-architecture-and-facies-heterogeneity-through-relational-databasing/

Job opportunities at the University of Aberdeen, UK

As part of an ongoing process of growth and expansion, the Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen is looking to appoint 3 new staff and lecturer/senior lecturer level.

These positions are in any discipline associated with petroleum geoscience and sedimentology/stratigraphy are core areas within the department.


Further details can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/lnloxvc

5 year Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Curtin University, Australia

As part of a newly established partnership between the Department of Applied Geology at Curtin University and Chevron Energy Technology Group Pty Ltd., the University is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow who will contribute to the development of a high impact petroleum geology research group, as well as assisting with the delivery of petroleum geology related courses, particularly at Masters level. As well as a PhD in geology or a related discipline, you should have experience of working with subsurface datasets and their use in addressing regional tectonic, structural, stratigraphic and/or sedimentological issues of relevance to hydrocarbon exploration and/or production (conventional and unconventional) and/or to carbon sequestration and storage.

The post is a five year fixed term position and salary will be in the range $86,299 - 102,479 plus 17% superannuation. Applications should be made via http://futurestaff.curtin.edu.au/job_vacancies/ where details will appear shortly. Applications close at 5 pm on Friday 11 October 2013, Perth time (GMT/UTC + 08:00 hour).  Informal enquires can be addressed directly to Chris Elders  (c.elders@rhul.ac.uk)

PULAI ALGINIT KONFERENCIA

1. HÍRLEVÉL

2013. november 16-án kerül megrendezésre az a konferencia, ami a pulai alginitbánya világhírű őslénytani és földtani eredményeit kívánja bemutatnia nagyközönség számára is érthetőés élvezhetőmódon.

A konferencia szervezői:
Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum Bakonyi Természettudományi Múzeuma;
Bakonyi Természettudományi Múzeum Baráti Köre;
Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Veszprémi Területi Bizottsága;
Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Paleontológiai Tudományos Bizottsága;
Békefi Antal Városi Könyvtár, Művelődési Ház és Stúdió KB.

A konferencia tematikája:
Eddig 8 kutató jelezte szándékát, hogy bemutassa kutatásainak legfrissebb eredményeit:
Dr. Hably Lilla: Pula pliocén flórája és vegetációja.
Dr. Kordos László: Gerinces ősmaradványok a pulai alginitbányából.
Dr. Csillag Gábor: A kráter-tó kialakulása és földtani felépítése.
Dr. Kutasi Csaba: Pliocén korú szárazföldi rovarok a kráter-tó üledékéből.
Dr. Tóth Sándor: Pliocén korú vízi és vízhez kötött rovarok a kráter-tó üledékéből.
Dr. Szántó Tamás: Vizsgálati módszer a gerinces ősmaradvány-kutatásban.
Knoll József: A pulai alginit-bányászat története és az alginitfelhasználási területei.
Katona Lajos: Tapasztalatok az alginitből elkerült ősmaradványok perparálását és konzerválását tekintve.

A konferencia napján egy szakkiállítás is látható lesz a múzeum geológiai
gyűjteményében, ahol a MTM Bakonyi Természettudományi Múzeuma és a Magyar
Geofizikai és Földtani Intézet gyűjteményében szereplőanyagokon túl
magángyűjteményekben található ősmaradványok is láthatóak lesznek.

A rendezvény tervezett menete: 9:30-10 óráig regisztráció; 10-12 óráig: tudományos ismeretterjesztő előadások; 12-14 óráig állófogadás a múzeum közművelődési termében,
tárlatvezetés az előadók közreműködésével; 14-16 óráig tudományos szakmai előadások. A konferencia napján a regisztrált résztvevők ingyenesen láthatják a MTM Bakonyi Természettudományi Múzeum időszaki, és állandó kiállításait. A konferencián hallott előadásokról megfelelőanyagi támogatás mellett kiadvány is készül.

A regisztrációs díj és a konferencián való részvétel feltételei:
A konferencia részvételi díja október 15-ig 2500 Ft, a konferencia napján 3000 Ft,ami tartalmazza azebédet (svédasztalos), és a kiadványt. Lehetőség szerint, aki nem kér ebédet, annak a részvételi díja 1500 Ft. Kollégiumi szállásra van lehetőség, de ezt mindenkinek magának kell intézni!

A konferencián a VEAB tagok és a BTM Baráti Köre tagjai ingyenesen
látogathatják az előadásokat.

A regisztrációs lap innen tölthető le, illetve a btmz@bakonymuseum.koznet.hu e-mail címen igényelhető!

FONTOS!!! A részvételi díj befizetése átutalással, vagy a helyszínen személyesen történhet. A részvételi díj támogatás formájában történik, így az BTM Baráti Köre egyesület nem tud számlát kiállítani, csak adóigazolást. A konferencia részvételi díját a további kutatásokra fordítjuk.

Előzetes regisztráció:
Az előzetes regisztráció az ebéd és konferenciakötet darabszámában, illetve a konferencia termének (befogadás mértéke) lefoglalásában nyújt segítséget.

Reméljük, hogy sokak érdeklődését felkeltettük:

Katona Lajos Tamás
MTM Bakonyi Természettudományi
Múzeuma geológus főmuzeológusa
a BTM Baráti Kör titkára

PhD Opportunities in Detrital Geochronology/Sedimentary Provenance and Clastic Sedimentology/Basin Analysis, Brisbane, Australia

 Project Descriptions (Further details can be found on the following link: http://www.earthworks-jobs.com/geoscience/qut13091.html) :

PhD Project 1: Detrital Geochronology and Sedimentary Provenance
Sediments are one of the main recorders of tectonic events and provide a sample of large regions of continental crust not easily accessible in outcrop or that have been removed by uplift and erosion in response to major mountain building events. While U/Pb dating of zircon has become an increasingly standard means of interpreting mountain building events and tracing sediment sources, ambiguity in interpreting source regions results when candidate source terranes have similar ages for a given radioisotopic system. Recent advances in multi-dating - applying different geochronologic and thermochronologic systems to mineral grains in sedimentary rocks, now allow for unprecedented levels of detail in provenance and tectonic studies of sediments. New insights on the location, age, and exhumation history of source terranes, and dynamics of orogenic processes can therefore be gained.
The Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (~380-320 Ma) period in Australia was characterised by intraplate orogenic events in central Australia (Alice Springs Orogeny), from which a major sheet of cratonic-derived quartz-rich sand spread outwards, principally across central and western Australia. A missing link in our understanding and record of this enigmatic intraplate mountain building event has been the huge volumes of quartz sediment also shed eastwards at this time. For example, the Drummond Basin of northeastern Australia has stored >40,000 km^2 and up to 7 km thickness of quartz sandstone. However, the Drummond Basin was developing as a wide volcanic-rift basin in board of the active plate boundary.
This project is to test the hypothesis that craton-derived quartz sand sedimentation in eastern Australia was a far-field response to the final stages of the coeval central Australian Alice Springs Orogeny. It will involve the application of multiple dating techniques to enable source differentiation for these sandstones, revealing both the igneous and high-grade metamorphic history by focussing on U/Pb zircon and rutile ages by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis. These new data will provide novel insights into the relationship and timing of sedimentation and deformation events on the distal margin of one of the world's best examples of an intracratonic orogen. Two expected outcomes of this study are that: 1) the distal sedimentary record will provide new constraints on the duration and nature of unroofing by intraplate deformation; and 2) the effects of intracratonic deformation via a high sediment flux on the tectonic development of the northeastern Australian margin will be emphasised, with implications for back-arc deformational style of continental margins.
Students will use stratigraphy, field mapping/drill core logging, sedimentary petrology, and geochronological techniques to address the research questions. A student with recent research experience in detrital geochronology and/or provenance analysis will be preferred. All research costs for this PhD Project will be supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant.
Project Supervisors: Dr Scott Bryan & Dr Charlotte Allen.


PhD Project 2: Clastic Sedimentology and Basin Analysis
Sediments are one of the main recorders of tectonic events and provide a sample of large regions of continental crust not easily accessible in outcrop or that have been removed by uplift and erosion in response to major mountain building events. One important consequence of recent zircon dating provenance studies is the recognition of large, continent-wide sediment dispersal systems operating in response to major mountain-building events. These systems delivered large volumes of sediment to geographically remote continental margins and basins with no connection to the source region undergoing tectonism. The orogenic forcing, paleogeographic dynamics and type of sediment transport systems operating remain poorly understood. Furthermore, recent studies are implicating that sediment fluxes, often thought of as a consequence of tectonic deformation, may act to amplify or dampen rifting. Consequently, the depositional and rift history of a sedimentary basin may be altered by high sediment fluxes introduced by transcontinental sediment dispersal systems carrying detritus from distant, rising mountain belts 1000's km away. Critically, such basin-fill histories can provide valuable temporal links between tectonic processes operating in different parts of a continent or supercontinent, giving greater insight into tectonic and crustal evolution, as well as continental-scale paleogeography.
The Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous (~380-320 Ma) period in Australia was characterised by intraplate orogenic events in central Australia (Alice Springs Orogeny), from which a major sheet of cratonic-derived quartz-rich sand spread outwards, principally across central and western Australia. A missing link in our understanding and record of this enigmatic intraplate mountain building event has been the huge volumes of quartz sediment also shed eastwards at this time. For example, the Drummond Basin of northeastern Australia has stored >40,000 km^2 and up to 7 km thickness of quartz sandstone. However, the Drummond Basin was developing as a wide volcanic-rift basin in board of an active plate boundary.
This project is to test the hypothesis that craton-derived quartz sand sedimentation in eastern Australia was a far-field response to the final stages of the coeval central Australian Alice Springs Orogeny. It will involve stratigraphic, sedimentologic and facies analysis of key basins to: 1) define vectors to sediment source regions (e.g., by lateral coarsening trends in conjunction with paleocurrent data), particularly for the Drummond Basin; 2) provide well-constrained stratigraphic controls on age dated samples in companion PhD projects; 3) reveal spatial and temporal variations of sediment provenance within the quartz sandstone formations based on stratal architecture; 4) provide new insights into the interaction of extrabasinal quartz sandstone with intrabasinal volcanism and volcanogenic sedimentation; and 5) identify likely sediment pathways that deliver quartz sand to the continental margin edge, from which new paleogeographic maps of the region can be constructed. Two expected outcomes of this study are that: 1) the distal sedimentary record will provide new constraints on the duration and nature of unroofing by intraplate deformation; and 2) the effects of intracratonic deformation via a high sediment flux on the tectonic development of the northeastern Australian margin will be emphasised, with implications for back-arc deformational style of continental margins.
Students will use stratigraphy, field mapping/drill core logging, sedimentology and basin analysis, sedimentary petrology, and geochronological techniques to address the research questions. A student with recent research experience in sedimentology and stratigraphy or basin analysis will be preferred. All research costs for this PhD Project will be supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery grant.
Project Supervisors: Dr Scott Bryan, Professor Chris Fielding & Dr Charlotte Allen

Characterization of Early Cretaceous depositional systems along the Atlantic Passive Margin, Morocco, PhD at the Uni. Manchester, UK

Funded PhD opportunities at the University of Manchester, UK
Details can be found on the following link:

http://www.seaes.manchester.ac.uk/media/eps/schoolofearthatmosphericandenvironmentalsciences/researchtopics/Funded-PhD-Opportunities-Moroccan-Project-2013.pdf

Összegyetemi terepgyakorlat a Tokaji-hegységben

2013. augusztus 26–31. között a Magyarhoni Földtani Társulat Ifjúsági Bizottsága és Oktatási és Közművelődési Szakosztálya az ME Ásványtani-Földtani Intézetével együttműködve, a Tokaji-hegységben szervezte meg az Összegyetemi terepgyakorlatot, amely az MFT-nek harmadik ilyen jellegű rendezvénye volt. A gyakorlatra bármely hazai egyetem hallgatói jelentkezhettek. A gyakorlat központja az Ásványtani-Földtani Intézet telkibányai terepi oktatóbázisa volt

A rendezvény 6 napos programján három egyetem 16 hallgatója vett részt, jó hangulatban és ideális terepi körülmények között.

A terepgyakorlat első része érintette a Tokaj-hegység és a Zemplénikum (Szlovákia) legfontosabb feltárásait, bányáit, valamint a hegység főbb kulturális emlékekeit és Kassát is. A gyakorlat második felében a vágatszelvényezést, a felszíni geofizikai méréseket, valamint a geokémiai talajmintavételezést ismerhették meg és gyakorolhatták a hallgatók a Kánya-hegyen, majd részt vettek a terepi mérések számítógépes feldolgozásában. A terepen megfigyelt kőzetek polarizációs mikroszkópos bemutatása után önálló mikroszkópos vizsgálatra is volt lehetőség. A terepgyakorlat utolsó napján Rudabánya földtanával, bányászatával, kutatásával ismerkedtek a résztvevők.

A programon szakmai vezetést biztosítottak a következő oktatók: Földessy János, Hartai Éva, Mádai Ferenc, Németh Norbert, Pethő Gábor, Szabó Norbert, Szentpétery Ildikó, Zajzon Norbert, Zelenka Tibor.

A terepgyakorlathoz 30 oldalas kirándulásvezető készült Németh Norbert szerkesztésében.

A terepgyakorlatot az alábbi intézmények, cégek támogatták: Miskolci Egyetem Pelegrinatio IV. alapítvány, Colas-Északkő KFT, Geokomplex KFT, Geomega KFT, Geonardo KFT, Kárpátia-Geogold KFT, MOL Rt, Rotaqua KFT. Ezúton is köszönjük segítségüket!

Miskolc, 2013. szeptember 5.                                                                  Zajzon Norbert

                                                                                                             Az MFT IB elnöke