Weathering of volcanic products in the tropical environment of the Panama Canal area

Project Background
Weathering controls the formation of soils that constitute a critical zone at the interface between the lithosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Understanding how this zone works is significant because it hosts important chemical, physical and biological processes that are related to the global carbon budget and affects many human activities such as agriculture and geotechnical works. However, although tropical systems have a substantial influence on the global carbon budget and are rapidly undergoing land use changes, our understanding of the modes and rate of weathering and alteration of materials in the tropics – and especially from explosive volcanoes – remain poorly understood. This project will address this problem through a study of Oligocene to recent palaeosols and altered volcanic products in the tropical forest of Panama.

Project Aims and Methods
The project aims to reconstruct the weathering and alteration processes that took place in a selection of variously altered volcanogenic sequences that were emplaced in terrestrial to submarine environments of central Panama since the Oligocene. It will include the study of mineralogical and geochemical processes during weathering/alteration of volcanic materials in the Panama Canal area, including Barro Colorado Island, a world-known protected area for biological research. The project will take place in partnership with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and the Panama Canal Authority, in the continuity of previous work by the main supervisor in the research area. Short research stays of the student at these institutions will be encouraged, but sufficient materials (core samples, field data) are already available to conduct the proposed research should travel not be possible. Methods will include field work and sampling, petrography, X-ray diffraction, whole rock geochemical analysis (ICP-MS, ICP-OES) and mineral analysis (SEM-EDS); all facilities are available at both Cardiff University and the University of Bristol. There is some flexibility in the research direction to address the main interests of the PhD student (e.g., volcanology, mineralogy, geochemistry, pedology, and/or biology).

Candidate requirements
We seek a student interested in weathering in the tropical environment. Previous experience of, and/or strong interest in, field work, mineralogy, geochemistry, and sedimentology would be an advantage. Basic skills in Spanish would be an advantage but are not mandatory.

Collaborative partners
The project will extend on-going collaboration of the main supervisor with the Panama Canal Authority and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Possible field work is expected to take place in collaboration with these institutions, which manage large parts of the studied area, and which previously contributed to collecting material already available for the project.

Training
The student will learn to collect and interpret geochemical and mineralogical data. A large range of analytical techniques will be made available, with guidance by the supervisors and supporting staff at Cardiff and Bristol. The student will be encouraged, if possible, to conduct field work in the unique setting of the Panama Canal area and Barro Colorado Island. Collaboration with the partners in Panama will provide an insight into a vibrant community of international researchers, as well as practical (geotechnical) management of the Panama Canal.