PhD student scholarship (3 years) in Sinter studies of Roman aqueducts
as a data source for palaeoclimate, neotectonics and human culture at
the Tectonophysics Institute in Mainz, Germany under the supervision
of Cees W. Passchier.
The ancient Romans, mostly known for their military prowess, also
excelled in town planning and the building of infrastructure such as
roads, sewers and aqueducts. Over 800 aqueducts are presently known
which once fed the baths and fountains of the Roman Empire, some up to
500 km long, with bridges and inverted siphons crossing valleys, and
tunnels of up to 95 km long. Since aqueducts were commonly fed from
sources in limestone, massive layers of travertine (sinter), fibrous
calcite, were deposited in the interior, growing about 1mm per year in
thickness. Such sinter deposits can be up to 50cm thick representing a
continuous record of calcite deposit over 500 years. The travertine
deposits have a crystal structure and annual layering that reflect
flow hydraulics and fluctuation in water temperature and water level,
while fluctuations in its chemical composition reflect the variable
chemistry of water from the source. Sinter in individual aqueducts
therefore provides information on local climate and soil use. Since
crystals in calcite veins of rocks form in a similar way as travertine
in aqueducts, we can use information from travertine to better
understand the formation of carbonate veins in metamorphic rocks.
Earthquakes and human interference disrupts or modifies sinter
deposition, making it a great source of information on past
earthquakes, ancient engineering and local economics (maintenance
level of the infrastructure). A combination of data from sinter of a
number of neighbouring aqueducts can be used for relative dating and
can provide a unique database on neotectonics, local climate, aqueduct
engineering and local economic history
This project will be carried out on aqueducts in Greece and Turkey by
a PhD student at the University of Mainz, supervised by C. Passchier,
B. Schöne and F. Sirocko.
The student involved in this project is expected to do fieldwork in
Greece and Turkey and conduct a detailed study of the geometry of
sinter deposits in different parts of the aqueduct such as main
channels, bridges, tanks and the springs . This study will be
condcuted in cooperation with local archeologists. During this
fieldwork, samples will be taken from the most suitable sites of the
aqueducts.
The student must have a Masters in science.
Please send an application (pdf-file) to [log in to unmask]
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