Dear All,
A fully-funded PhD on submarine landslides is
available with the Fault Analysis Group at University College Dublin - funding
is for 4 years and covers full grant and fees for EU students. Anyone who is
interested in this PhD should contact me directly with CV, as soon as possible.
Closing date is end Friday next week (24th February) and starting date is no
later than end March! Details are provided below.
John Walsh
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Fault Analysis Group of the UCD School of
Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, invites applications for a
PhD-project entitled "The kinematic evolution of submarine
landslides".
Project outline:
Large-scale
gravitational collapse is a common mass wasting process in the evolution of the
Earth’s continental margins, including the European Atlantic margin where
numerous large-scale submarine failures have been recognized from the southwest
coast of Ireland to northern Norway. This project will involve two
principal elements: (i) kinematic analysis of submarine landslides from high
quality datasets and (ii) mechanical modelling of landslides. Analysis of the
geometry and kinematic evolution of landslides from multibeam, seismic and well
data will utilise the full range of structural geological tools for 3-D
subsurface datasets. Quantitative definition of the evolution of a selection of
submarine landslides will provide a basis for constructing conceptual models of
landslide kinematics and a backdrop to mechanical modelling of the emplacement
behaviour of large-scale offshore landslide complexes: the scope of the
menchanical modelling will depend on the background of the successful
candidate. Combining the structural analysis of natural submarine
landslides with mechanical modelling approaches, this project will investigate
the significance of key geometric and mechanical variables on the initiation,
evolution and final architecture of submarine landslides including: [i] the
inter-relationship between slope stability and the orientation of geological
layering; [ii] the impact of erosion and oversteepening adjacent to potential
emergent slide surfaces, [iii] mechanical properties and anisotropies of the
slide body, [iv] frictional properties of potential slide interfaces, including
the effects of pore fluid over-pressure and dynamic friction.
Supervisors: John Walsh (UCD),
Mike Long (UCD), Martin Schöpfer (UCD), Koen Verbruggen (Geological Survey of
Ireland).
Qualifications:
Minimum
requirements are an upper-second class Bachelor degree or an MSc degree in an
appropriate science or engineering discipline.
Terms:
The PhD position is
for 4 years. Starting date - before end March. The studentship includes EU
fees and a tax-free annual stipend of €16,000 (Euro): non-EU applicants will be
charged additional fees of c. €6,000 per annum that are not covered by the
funding programme.
John Walsh
Fault Analysis Group
School of
Geological Sciences
Science Centre (West)
University College
Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
