Dr J Nield
No more applications being accepted
Competition Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Desert barchan and transverse dunes typically migrate by avalanching. However, work investigating avalanche dynamics has previously been hampered because the lee slopes on which avalanches occur are typically at the angle of repose and unstable for mounting instruments. This PhD research will make use of the latest developments in technology to measure avalanche dynamics using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS; Nield et al., 2017). You will travel to some of the great deserts of the world and undertake a number of field experiments in the US (Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado) and Namibia (Skeleton Coast National Park and Gobabeb), where you will investigate avalanche dynamics on dunes of different size and morphology under variable wind conditions. You will link wind and transport measurements to avalanche magnitude and frequency, as well as the position on the lee slope where avalanches initiate. You will work alongside the NERC-funded TOAD team of international scientists (https://cmg.soton.ac.uk/research/projects/the-origin-of-aeolian-dunes-toad/).
You will have access to cutting edge technology, including three TLS within the Environmental Sensing at Southampton (https://esas.soton.ac.uk/) equipment facility. Field work will inform laboratory work using the new School of Geography and Environmental Science aeolian avalanche slope facility which is capable of exploring relationships between slope angle and the location on the slope where avalanches are first initiated. This study will provide unique, cutting-edge insight into the influence of avalanche dynamics on aeolian dunes desert dune mobility.
The research student will join Southampton’s Landscape Dynamics and Ecology group, which focuses on physical landscape processes, Quaternary Science and biodiversity. The group is equipped with a range of analytic equipment and facilities for surveying (e.g., dGPS, Terrestrial Laser Scanners, UAVs, Ground Penetrating Radar), sediment analysis (e.g., XRF, C-N analyzer), and microscopy (optical and petrographic microscopes and SEM). Additionally its labs are equipped for a range of palaeoecological analyses, and there is a clean lab for tephra analysis and an ancient DNA extraction facility. Recent investment has provided a state-of-the-art computer cluster for landscape modelling, SfM analysis, as well as GIS and remote sensing. Full training in all necessary techniques will be given.
The PhD project will commence September 2019.
Funding Notes
This is one of a range of topics currently being advertised. Funding will go to the project(s) with the best applicant(s). The studentship is to be funded at UKRI level, currently £14,777 per annum, with an RTSG of £750. The studentship will fully support British and EU nationals only. International students can apply but they must be able to meet the difference between home/EU and International tuition fees themselves.
Candidates must have or expect to gain a first or strong upper second class degree, in an appropriate discipline, not necessarily Geography. For the latest information on postgraduate opportunities see www.southampton.ac.uk/geography/postgraduate/research_degrees/studentships.page?
References
Nield, J.M., Wiggs, G,F.S., Baddock, M.C., Hipondoka, M.H.T. (2017) Coupling leeside grainfall to avalanche characteristics in aeolian dune dynamics, Geology, 45(3): 271-274, doi: 10.1130/G38800.1.
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