Research Fellow in Geophysics

Fixed Term: For 34 months

The University of Southampton is committed to excellence in all we do, applying our insights and inventiveness to solve the most complex societal and environmental challenges. As a world-leading, research-intensive university, with a strong and high-quality educational offering, we are renowned for our innovation and enterprise and are within the top 1% of universities worldwide.

The role 

Iceland is underlain by a plume in the mantle, with past fluctuations in melt production recorded as a series of V-shaped ridges and troughs in the north Atlantic. This project will test the hypothesis that the fluctuations in melt production are primarily caused by changes in the temperature of the mantle plume. We will collect seismic profiles on board the R/V Marcus G Langseth in late summer 2024, along both the Reykjanes Ridge south of Iceland, and a flowline that crosses the ridge. This will include 150 OBS stations and a multichannel seismic reflection profile using a streamer up to 15km in length, to measure variations in the crustal thickness and the crustal velocity structure. The flowline also crosses several existing IODP Sites where the composition of the upper igneous crust has been sampled. This unique combination of datasets will allow us to test whether the V-shaped ridges really do represent changes in mantle temperature within the plume.

There may be the opportunity to sail on the R/V Marcus G Langseth as we collect the data. You will then work to process and interpret the seismic datasets to investigate the structure and properties of the crust and the upper mantle. In addition to producing seismic reflection cross sections and velocity models from travel time inversion of the OBS data, we plan to carry out full waveform inversion of the datasets. The post has an expected duration of 34 months.

About you

You will have (or be about to complete) a PhD in a relevant area of Geophysics. You will have experience of one or more aspects of active source marine seismology, and a demonstrated track record of publishing your work in high-quality journals.

Applications will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon completion of PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

For informal inquiries about the role please contact Prof Tim Henstock (then@soton.ac.uk).

What we can offer you

As a university we aim to create an environment where everyone can thrive and are proactive in fostering a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity. We believe that we can only truly meet our objectives if we are reflective of society, so we are passionate about creating a working environment in which you are free to bring your whole self to work. 

With a generous holiday allowance as well as additional university closure days we are committed to supporting our staff and students and open to a flexible working approach.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification

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