ABOUT THE ROLE
Applications are invited for a four-year postdoctoral research position in physical oceanography, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The successful candidate will be part of the multi-institute DeCAdeS (Drivers of Oceanic Change in the Amundsen Sea) project and will be based in the School of Geography and Natural Sciences, within the Faculty of Science and Environment at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK.
The project is focused on developing our understanding of the role played by the oceans in driving ice sheet change in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica, which is the source of the vast majority of the Antarctic Ice Sheet's current contribution to sea level rise. Ice sheet retreat in that region is known to be driven by the ocean, specifically the relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) that drives rapid melting of the the floating ice shelves that form the marine termini of the fast-flowing outlet glaciers. CDW is sourced from the deep Southern Ocean, flowing onto the Antarctic continental shelf and beneath the ice shelves via a network of seabed troughs. One of the principal aims of the DeCAdeS project is to quantify the inflow of CDW to the continental shelf through year-round deployment of an array of fixed moorings and an Autonomous Submersible Vehicle at the shelf edge. The successful candidate will be responsible for the processing, analysis and publication of the resulting data. There will also be an opportunity to join up to two cruises on the RRS Sir David Attenborough to participate in the deployment and recovery of the instruments.
ABOUT THE TEAM
This Research Project is being delivered within the School of Geography and Natural Sciences, home to a vibrant community of 90+ academic and research staff working on a wide range of topics in both physical and human geography, including one of the largest groups in the UK focused on ice sheet processes. In the last Research Excellence Framework assessment the School was ranked 2nd in the country for research power, having 90% of its research outputs rated world leading or internationally excellent.
DeCAdeS is a collaborative project led from Northumbria that includes investigators based at five universities and two research centres and involves a combination of technological development, oceanographic observations, remote sensing, historical data analyses and numerical modelling. Many activities have already started, paving the for a ground-breaking fieldwork element that includes the first deployments of an advanced Autonomous Underwater Vehicle having the capability of observations year-round beneath sea ice, alternating between periods of operation and passive anchoring on the seabed to conserve battery power. ABOUT YOU Applicants should hold a PhD (or have equivalent research experience) in a numerate subject (preferably a physical science discipline). Demonstrable specialist expert knowledge in physical oceanography would be an advantage.