[ES_JOBS_NET] Ph.D. opportunity at the University of Sheffield, UK

[Stephen Livingstone]

Please find details below of a potential (open competition) fully funded
PhD project at the University of Sheffield, UK. This is part of the NERC
Doctoral Training Partnership “ACCE” (Adapting to the Challenges of a
Changing Environment).  Further details of the project can be found on:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/geography/phd/projects/investigating_drainage_ice_sheet_phd


*Investigating drainage beneath the British-Irish Ice Sheet: groundwater
flow modelling and meltwater channel networks*



*Supervisors:* Professor Chris Clark (Geography Department, University of
Sheffield), Dr Stephen Livingstone (Geography Department, University of
Sheffield) and Professor Domenico Baú (Department of Civil and Structural
Engineering, University of Sheffield)

*Contact:* s.j.livingstone at sheffield.ac.uk



The behaviour of ice sheets is largely controlled by conditions at their
bed. Observations made beneath the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets
reveal significant basal meltwater generation, storage and evacuation,
which can lubricate the bed causing rapid ice-flow. Unfortunately, the
pattern of meltwater flow beneath modern ice sheets is poorly understood.
In particular, glaciologists have tended to think of the bed as an
impermeable surface. However, the weight of an overlying ice mass has a
major impact on groundwater flow patterns, recharge rates and distribution
of freshwater. Detailing the complex aquifer--ice-sheet interactions is
therefore crucial both for draining meltwater and as a mechanism for
landform and sediment genesis.

In this project we will use the bed of the British-Irish Ice Sheet, which
has fully retreated revealing a bewildering array of meltwater features, in
tandem with a numerical model, to reconstruct the form, evolution and
drainage of groundwater and basal meltwater. This will be explored through:
(1) detailed mapping of meltwater channels; (2) using a numerical model to
reconstruct the pattern of groundwater drainage during the last glacial.

Candidates with knowledge and interests in glacial hydrology,
groundwater/ice-sheet modelling and/or glacial geomorphology are encouraged
to apply.

The studentship will be tenable for three and a half years in the first
instance. Candidates must be an UK/EU resident to hold a NERC studentship.

To discuss your suitability for this project and further information please
email: s.j.livingstone at sheffield.ac.uk


-- 
Dr Stephen J. Livingstone
NERC and Vice Chancellor Research Fellow

Department of Geography
University of Sheffield
Sheffield
S10 2TN

Tel. +44 (0) 114 222 7990
Email: s.j.livingstone at sheffield.ac.uk

http://www.shef.ac.uk/geography/staff/livingstone_stephen/index

Times Higher Education University of the Year 2011
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