The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at St Andrews is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher for 3 years, in the area of isotope geochemistry and paleoceanography.  The position is available from Jun 1, 2016, or as soon as possible thereafter.
 
This project aims to transform understanding of glacial-interglacial CO2 change by creating new records of the CO2 chemistry and ventilation of the North Pacific Ocean.  Although the Pacific contains 30 times more CO2 than the atmosphere, relatively little is known about the nature of CO2 storage in this basin during glacial periods and the mechanisms by which this CO2 may have been released.  This project will take advantage of new geochemical tracers and high quality sediment core material to provide a benchmark dataset for the extent and mechanisms of CO2 storage and release in the glacial Pacific Ocean. 

The specific goals of this project are to: 1) improve our ability to trace past changes in CO2 by further development of boron isotope analyses, and calibration of the boron isotope pH proxy in the CO2-rich waters of the North Pacific; 2) test the extent of CO2 drawdown from North Pacific surface waters and storage in the deep with boron isotope records from a range of depths over a glacial cycle; 3) test whether CO2 release from the glacial Pacific was driven by local deep water formation or by far-field processes, using paired boron isotope and radiocarbon data.  Quantitative insights into mechanisms of CO2 change will be provided by comparison to earth system model results.

Informal enquiries please contact: Dr James Rae, Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences: jwbr@st-andrews.ac.uk. 

We encourage applications from all members of society that are less frequently represented among our academic community at St Andrews, including women, people from ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities. You can find out more about Equality and Diversity in the University at (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/). 

The University of St Andrews is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all and has a series of University-wide diversity awards including the Athena SWAN Institutional Bronze Award, the European Commission HR Excellence in Research Award and the LGBT Charter (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/diversityawards/). 

Interview Date:  26 April 2016

Please quote ref:  AR1768SB

Closing Date:  8 April 2016

Further Particulars:  AR1768SB FPs.pdf 

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Salary: £31,656 - £34,576 per annum
Start: 1 June 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter
Fixed term for 3 years