University of Birmingham
Earth Sciences
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
NERC CASE Research Studentship
with Veritas DGC
Seismic anisotropy in hydrate- and gas- bearing sediments, and
continental slope stability
The presence of methane hydrate in continental margins and its
associated zone of free gas is widely cited as an important control on
the formation of submarine slides, and the dissociation of hydrate to
free gas has been invoked as a cause of slides. The PhD project is to
define the degree and kind of seismic anisotropy present in the
sediment column produced by the effect of cracks caused by down-slope
stresses, using data from an array of ocean-bottom seismometers. These
data come from a region of the continental margin of Norway, close to
the Storegga slide, one of the world's largest submarine slides, where
a zone of methane hydrate is well developed 200 m below the seabed.
The studentship, which is for UK residents, is provided by NERC
through its Ocean Margins LINK Programme. Its duration is three years
from 1st October 2003. The research supervisors are Professor Graham
Westbrook and Dr Sheila Peacock at the University of Birmingham, and
Dr Shuki Ronen at Veritas DGC, where the student will gain experience
of working with industry software and more general aspects of the use
of 4-component data in reservoir characterisation.
Applications and enquiries should be made by letter or email to
Professor G.K. Westbrook, Earth Sciences, School of Geography, Earth
and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston,
Birmingham B15 2TT, or [log in to unmask], as soon as possible,
but by 5th September 2003 at the latest. Applications should be
accompanied by a curriculum vitae and the names of two academic
referees.
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