UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
SOUTHAMPTON OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE





Post-doctoral Research Assistant in Marine Geophysics

Applications are invited to work with Drs Tim Minshull, Rose Edwards and 
Nicky White (Cambridge).

Using wide-angle seismic and subsidence data, the successful candidate will 
develop a model for the deep crustal structure and thermal evolution of the 
Eastern Black Sea Basin as part a NERC Ocean Margins project jointly funded 
by BP. A PhD in Geophysics or a related field is required.

The appointment is initially available for three years and the salary is in 
the range £18,265-£27,339 per annum on the Research Grade 1A scale, 
dependent on qualifications and experience.

Further Particulars

The Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) will work under the direction 
of Dr Tim Minshull and Dr Rose Edwards at Southampton Oceanography Centre 
(SOC), and will also spend a period of up to one year working with Dr Nicky 
White's group at the University of Cambridge. As part of the NERC Ocean 
Margins program, a project entitled "Integrated seismic and subsidence 
analysis of conjugate margin systems in the eastern Black Sea" has been 
funded jointly by NERC and BP. The project is due to commence in October 
2003 and is due to run for three years.

Research Environment

The research assistant will work alongside a large group of marine 
geophysicists at Southampton Oceanography Centre, who are distributed 
between the Geophysics Research Group and the Challenger Division. The 
group is involved in a wide range of research programs funded by national, 
European and international funding agencies and industrial partners, and is 
equipped with an extensive range of marine geophysical equipment. He/she 
will also have extensive interactions with project partners at the 
University of Cambridge and BP Exploration staff at Sunbury-on-Thames.

Research Facilities

The geophysics group at SOC has extensive computing facilities including a 
4-processor Sun Enterprise 450, which acts as a server for seismic 
processing, and a wide range of Unix workstations and PCs running Linux or 
Xserver software. A dedicated workstation will be purchased for this 
project. For larger modelling/inversion runs, SOC's 24-processor SGI Origin 
2000 is available. All workstations have a standard set of scientific 
software, including compilers, GMT plotting, Matlab, Uniras and NAG 
libraries. ProMAX and Seismic Unix are available for seismic processing, as 
are several proprietary and academic packages for analysis of gravity, 
magnetic and bathymetric data. The National Oceanographic Library is 
located within the building, and most journals relevant to the project are 
available electronically through the library. SOC is part of a consortium 
(with Durham University and Imperial College, London) that has recently 
acquired a set of 28 ocean bottom seismometers (OBSs) that will be used 
during the project.

Project Description

The project is a collaborative effort between the Universities of 
Southampton and Cambridge, and BP. Project workers will include Drs 
Minshull, Edwards and White, the PDRA, and 1-2 PhD students. The aim of the 
project is to test depth-dependent stretching models of highly extended 
lithosphere at rifted margins by determining stretching factors and strain 
rates using a combination of seismic imaging and state-of-the-art inverse 
modelling of subsidence data. The analysis will be focused on the conjugate 
margins of the Eastern Black Sea Basin. Crustal stretching factors will be 
determined by a wide-angle seismic experiment in summer 2004, using OBSs 
distributed across the basin and land stations onshore in Turkey. 
Lithospheric stretching factors will be determined by application of the 
two-dimensional subsidence inversion algorithm developed by Dr White and 
co-workers to stratigraphic horizons picked from BP's extensive seismic 
reflection database. Towards the end of the project, application of a new 
three-dimensional algorithm will be attempted.

The overall aims of the project are:
1. To determine the nature of crustal thinning across the Eastern Black Sea 
conjugate margin system and the nature and location of a putative 
ocean-continent transition.
2. To determine the presence, volume and location of syn-rift melt products 
in the form of crustal underplating or volcanic extrusion.
3. To determine the style of extension (pure shear vs depth-dependent 
stretching) in the centre of the basin where extension factors are highest, 
and the degree to which the conjugate margins are symmetric.
4. To determine how extension is partitioned between the upper and lower 
continental crust.
5. To determine seismic velocities within sediment column for accurate 
depth conversion of horizons mapped in reflection data.
6. To determine the strain rate history of the basin and hence the temporal 
variation of basal heat flux and dynamical evolution of the conjugate 
margin pair.

The project builds on Dr Minshull's extensive work on rifted continental 
margins elsewhere, and in particular on exhumation of mantle rocks at 
magma-starved margins; on Dr Edwards' work on volcanic margins on the UK 
Atlantic Margin and on a recently-acquired onshore-offshore seismic dataset 
in the easternmost Black Sea; on Dr White's development of subsidence 
inversion approaches and experience of their application in a variety of 
tectonic settings worldwide; and on BP's ongoing exploration interest in 
the Eastern Black Sea Basin.

Role of the Research Assistant

During the first two years of the project, the PDRA will work primarily on 
the acquisition and analysis of the wide-angle seismic data. This will include:

1. Detailed cruise planning, including resolution testing to optimise 
receiver locations.
2. Participation in data acquisition at sea in summer 2004.
3. Traveltime modelling and inversion of wide-angle seismic data acquired.
4. Integration of wide-angle seismic models with coincident or nearby 
seismic reflection data (existing or newly acquired as part of the 
project), with BP's gravity and magnetic database.
5. Interpretation of models in terms of crustal thickness and composition, 
and the presence or absence of an ocean-continent transition.

The final year of the project will be more focused on subsidence analysis. 
This analysis will use correlations with onshore and offshore boreholes to 
identify, in collaboration with project partners at BP, a series of key 
stratigraphic horizons in seismic profiles coincident and close to the 
wide-angle seismic lines analysed during the first part of the project. 
Horizon depths and inferred subsidence histories will be used to infer the 
stretching history of the basin, and hence its thermal history.

During the project, the PDRA will be responsible for production of regular 
progress reports; these reports will form a basis for subsequent 
publication of results in international journals.

Skills Required

Applicants should have a PhD in geophysics or a related subject. A strong 
mathematical and computing background is desirable, as is experience of 
analysing large datasets in a Unix environment. Experience of wide-angle 
and/or deep crustal seismic data analysis is also desirable, though not 
essential. The successful candidate will have good written and verbal 
communication skills.

Iinformal enquiries to Drs Tim Minshull 
(<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask], Tel +44-(0)23-80596569) 
or Rose Edwards (<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask], Tel 
+44-(0)23-80596566. The post is available immediately; applications will be 
considered until the closing date or until the post is filled.

Application forms and further particulars may be obtained from the Human 
Resources Department, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, 
SO17 1BJ, Telephone: + 44 (0)23 8059 2750, E-mail: 
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask] or Minicom: +44 (0)23 8059 
5595.

To be returned no later than 5 January 2004.

Please quote reference number 03E0268.