DFG-funded PhD position

The causes and consequences of inception of glaciation at the Eocene- Oligocene boundary 

The Topic

One of the most important climate transitions in the past ~100 Myr is the establishment of permanent glaciation on Antarctica. This occurred at the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT, 33.9Ma). This project will examine the key CO₂ drawdown process, silicate weathering, across the EOT. 

Silicate weathering removes atmospheric CO₂, and eventually sequesters it as marine carbonates. It is unknown whether weathering led to the CO₂ decline that precipitated Antarctic glaciation, nor how weathering responded to the cooling and glaciation. 

This project will use lithium isotopes as a tracer of silicate weathering, and analyse them in both marine carbonates (an archive of global seawater) and detrital silicates (an archive of local weathering). The data from the EOT will be combined with laboratory weathering experiments to determine the effect of temperature change on weathering. Finally, all core and experimental data will be combined into an Earth System climate box model.

This is an exciting project, at the cutting edge of science, analysis and modelling. 

The University

Johannes Gutenberg Universität (JGU) Mainz is one of Germany’s largest Universities, currently having some 32,000 students. JGU has a strong research focus, regularly achieving solid positions in international research rankings. Annually, about 600 PhD students complete studies at JGU. The Welcome Centre for visiting scholars and students provides support for all contractual, insurance, visa and accommodation issues. 

The Institute for Geosciences https://www.geosciences.uni-mainz.de is one of the top-ranked Earth Science departments in Germany, and also collaborates closely with the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry, which is on the same campus.