[Aqualist] PhD opportunity, UQ

[Barrows, Tim]

From: James Shulmeister <James.shulmeister at uq.edu.au<mailto:James.shulmeister at uq.edu.au>>
Did Indonesian tectonic uplift change ocean circulation and global climate 3-4 Million years ago? (palynological aspects)
There is a PhD project available at the school of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Queensland to work on pollen records from uplifted marine sediments from East Timor, looking at vegetation changes in the late Pliocene through to the beginning of the Quaternary that may relate to the development of modern style of Indonesian through flow.  The project is initially aimed at Australian and New Zealand citizens eligible for an APRA but outstanding international students who would be competitive for an international fees waiver and scholarship are encouraged to apply.   Supervisors Jamie Shulmeister<http://www.gpem.uq.edu.au/james-shulmeister> and Patrick Moss<http://www.gpem.uq.edu.au/patrick-moss>  both UQ (with Mark Quigley from University of Canterbury, New Zealand).
If interested please contact James Shulmeister (James.shulmeister at uq.edu.au<mailto:James.shulmeister at uq.edu.au>)
Further info...

The project sits within a NZ Marsden Fast-Start project. The overall project PI is Dr. Mark Quigley, Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Overall project brief: The cause of global climate change beginning ~3-4 Myr ago is unknown, despite its relevance for hominid evolution and the development of modern climate drivers such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).  This study will test a provocative hypothesis; that tectonic modification of the Indonesian seaway changed the source of surface waters flowing into the Indian Ocean from the warmer, saltier South Pacific to the cooler, fresher North Pacific during the mid-Pliocene. Global climate models predict that such a change would lead to increased aridity in eastern Africa, termination of permanent El Niño, cooling in New Zealand, and decreased atmospheric heat transfer to higher latitudes, amongst other global phenomena. To test this hypothesis, we will reconstruct the Pliocene tectonic, topographic, and palaeo-oceanographic history of part of the Indonesian seaway using an exceptionally well-preserved and scarcely studied sequence of ca. 5.6 to < 2.6 Ma marine sedimentary rocks now exposed on the island of East Timor. These rocks contain a wealth of information on past oceans and climates, and provide the world's first opportunity to tie Pliocene ocean geochemical changes, climate seasonality, surface uplift, and large Indonesian earthquakes to a reliable, high-resolution chronology obtained from U-Pb dating of fossil Porites corals.


James Shulmeister PhD
Professor and Head of School,
Geography, Planning and Environmental Management,
University of Queensland,
St Lucia 4072


T + 61 7 3346 7010
F + 61 7 3365 6899
E james.shulmeister at uq.edu.au<mailto:james.shulmeister at uq.edu.au>
W www.gpem.uq.edu.au<http://www.gpem.uq.edu.au>