Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/K007211/1
Climate, glaciation and sediment burial across the Eocene to Oligocene transition: Testing sea level models, IODP Exp. 342 the Newfoundland Margin
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor PA Wilson, University of Southampton, Sch of Ocean and Earth Science
- Grant held at:
- University of Southampton, Sch of Ocean and Earth Science
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- A shortage of remaining economically viable exploration targets in shallow marine environments (most targets have now been exploited), means that petroleum exploration is being forced into deeper marine environments, buoyed by the current economics of the global economy. The exploration target in these deep marine settings are large turbidite fans that were deposited during intervals of low sea level, making the Eocene/Oligocene transition of great importance to the petroleum industry. New evidence from the Pacific Ocean reveals pronounced instability in ocean acidity during the Eocene 'greenhouse' relative to the Oligocene 'icehouse' as indicated by dramatic changes in the depth of preservation of CaCO3 in sea floor sediments (the CCD). Yet these CCD changes render sea floor sediments of the Pacific ill-suited to construction of continuous proxy records that rely on the analysis of well-preserved calcareous microfossils (e.g., oxygen, carbon isotopes and trace metal-to-Ca ratios in foraminiferal calcite). Thus many fundamental questions remain subjects of vigorous debate and will be addressed by this studentship by work in the Atlantic Ocean where the CCD is deeper and seafloor sediments are richer in carbonate: (1) How stable was the Eocene greenhouse climate state? When and why did Earth shift to its present climate state with large ice sheets in both hemispheres? (2) How stable were these high-CO2 ice sheets? (3) Were these climate shifts driven by short-term carbon cycle perturbations or were they threshold responses to slow forcing that, in turn, triggered feedback systems in the carbon cycle? (4) How valid are modern sequence stratigraphic models that are used to reconstruct Cenozoic sea level change and thereby reduce risk in hydrocarbon exploration? The student will tackle these problems using material recovered along a depth transect of sites recently drilled in the North Atlantic Ocean on the Newfoundland Margin for this purpose by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 342 (June & July 2012, Wilson = Co-chief scientist). IODP Exp 342 recovered spectacularly well-preserved calcareous (planktic as well as benthic) microfossils in clay-rich drift sediment deposits of Middle Eocene to early Oligocene age benefiting from unprecedentedly high rates of sedimentation (up to 3 cm/kr) and excellent (magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic) age control: http://iodp.tamu.edu/scienceops/expeditions/newfoundland_sediment_drifts.html. Modern micropaleontological techniques will be combined with sedimentary and geochemical analysis in bulk, benthic and planktic foraminiferal calcite. These tools will be used to reconstruct the quantitative records of ice rafting and ocean temperature and chemistry (via, for example, oxygen and carbon isotopes and trace metal to Ca ratios in foraminiferal calcite) needed (i) to develop realistic explanations for the factors controlling past climate, ice volume and CCD change and (ii) to assess the reliability of modern sequence stratigraphic models of sea level and sediment burial change that are used to reduce risk and improve predictive capability in hydrocarbon exploration. The student will enrol in the NOCS Graduate School (GSNOCS) where they will receive specialist training in oral and written presentation skills, and state of the art analytical skills in world-class laboratory facilities. They will receive training in working with IODP materials and data sets, foraminiferal taxonomy, taphonomy, geochemistry and age model development. At Neftex they will receive training in sequence stratigraphic methods of stratigraphic correlation and reconstruction of stratal geometries in the petroleum industry and in the modern methods used to test sequence stratigraphic models and palaeoenvironmental data sets against one another. The project will train a candidate with skills to help to fill a gap currently identified by the UK's largest employer of geoscience graduates.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/K007211/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Open CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £68,671
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £13,978 | £49,194 | £5,499 |
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