PhD student position within the DFG-funded project “Two million year history of the Indian Monsoon' at Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Research Unit Paleoceanography
The project will use the unique long sediment cores obtained by the IODP vessel JOIDES Resolution in the Andaman Sea to examine the past variability of Indian Monsoon precipitation on the Indian sub-continent and directly over the ocean. A multi-proxy approach including foraminifera shell geochemistry (trace elements/Ca ratios, radiogenic (Nd) and stable O and C isotopes by mass spectrometry), bulk sediment chemistry from XRF scanning and clay mineralogy will be employed. These proxies will reveal changes in continental weathering, runoff and direct precipitation on orbital timescales for the last 2 million years filling a fundamental gap in our understanding of the Indian Monsoon in the past. More detailed studies will examine variations on millennial timescales for the last glacial and deglaciation, and the novel application of single foraminifera shell geochemistry will allow variability on inter-annual and seasonal timescales to be investigated for selected intervals. All these data are needed to help improve models and predictions of the Indian Monsoon and the broader Asian Monsoon which affect the lives of billions of people.
A highly motivated and enthusiastic Ph.D. candidate interested in isotope geochemistry and chemical paleoceanography is encouraged to apply. For more information please contact Dr. Ed Hathorne, Tel. +49 (0)431 600-2249, email: ehathorne(at)ifm-geomar.de
Deadline- 19th Nov, 2012.
