QUADRAT DTP CASE: Geotechnical Properties of Glacial Tills: Engineering and Environmental Applications

The geotechnical properties of a substrate (e.g. grain-size, permeability, shear strength) determines how it responds to natural and anthropogenic processes. In the UK, glacial till is the most widespread surface deposit, but is hugely heterogeneous and poorly characterised in terms of physical and chemical properties. This has widespread environmental and engineering implications, for example for prediction of ground conditions, groundwater resource protection, and hazard risk management. Recent advances have recognised specific bedrock controlled till domains (Roberson and Pellicer 2017) across the island of Ireland, providing a national framework within which to undertake this project.

The primary aim will be to gather and assess physical and chemical properties of tills from geologically defined bedrock domains across Northern Ireland in order to identify linkages between bedrock and till (Davies et al 2015). The study will utilise information held by the supporting organisations, including the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) who host a repository of site investigation information in excess of 100K records. Also available through GSNI are the regional, high resolution Tellus Project soil geochemistry and radiometric datasets. Access to QUB geotechnical testing facilities will facilitate acquisition of new and bespoke data specific to bedrock till domains.

An important outcome will be to provide, for each bedrock domain, a suite of properties that allow for modelling of the engineering and environmental behaviour of till across the region. Statistical analysis and comparison of datasets will identify relationships between variables, e.g. particle size distribution and permeability (MacDonald et al 2012), and it is envisaged that further associations will be discovered at the domain and regional scales.

This project is supported by Department for the Economy (DfE) (affiliated with Geological Survey of Northern Ireland) as a CASE partner.

ELIGIBILITY

Candidates should have (or expect to achieve) a minimum of a 2.1 Honours degree in a relevant subject. Applicants with a minimum of a 2.2 Honours degree may be considered providing they have a Distinction at Master’s level.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Natural and Built Environment (subject: Geography)
• State name of the lead supervisor as ‘Name of Proposed Supervisor’ on application
• State ‘QUADRAT DTP’ as Intended Source of Funding
• To apply, select the ’Visit Now’ link below or visit https://dap.qub.ac.uk/portal/user/u_login.php

Please note that you do not need to submit a Research Proposal with your QUB postgraduate application, as the proposal is already contained within the advertisement.