The Scholarship is funded by The University of Adelaide to support a full-time PhD who is commencing research in Earth Sciences.

Earth’s ‘mid-life crisis’ during the mid–late Neoproterozoic resulted in some of the greatest upheavals in our planets history: extreme glaciations, oxygenation of the atmosphere, evolution of complex life and development of the first massive mountain ranges. Understanding and establishing causality between different proposed mechanisms and hypotheses for these events have proved elusive because of the lack of underlaying framework. This project will look to build such a framework by reconstructing estimates of topography for the Neoproterozoic world, and use the resulting palaeogeographic maps to construct Earth System Models describing how the surface of the planet has changed. Depending on the candidate’s skillset and interest a number of different pathways can be offered or moulded including:

1/ Field work pathway (field season in the East African Orogen), constraining P-T evolution of orogenic rocks and reconstructing topographic evolution (growth and erosion) of this mountain range from the Ediacaran to Early Palaeozoic. Andrew Merdith, Morgan Blades, Alan Collins

2/ Data driven pathway: The candidate will use existing geological data and available plate tectonic modelling tools to construct global palaeotopographic maps of the Neoproterozoic. These data, in addition to available plate tectonic modelling, will be used to reconstruct the Neoproterozoic carbon cycle. Andrew Merdith, Derrick Hasterok, Alan Collins.

3/ Biogeochemical pathway. Current state of the art biogeochemical models use spatially resolved inputs (i.e. palaeogeographic/palaeoclimate maps) to constrain erosion and estimate the silicate weathering cycle. While a significant increase in our ability to model Earth processes over earlier models, the erosion functions within the model are non-dimensional. Here the candidate will couple a recently developed, source-to-sink landscape evolution model (GOSPL) with the SCION biogeochemical model. Andrew Merdith, Tristan Salles (Uni. Sydney), Benjamin Mills (Uni. Leeds)

4/ Geodynamics pathway. Sparsity of information in deep time makes it hard to properly evaluate model results. Here the candidate will utilise existing Earth-like geodynamic models, that are constructed from physics-based mantle convection, to estimate carbon release and draw down under different tectonic settings and regimes (continental arcs, rifts, supercontinent assembly, breakup, tenure etc.) and compare them against estimates from the geological record. Andrew Merdith, Maëlis Arnould (Univ. Lyon), Derrick Hasterok

The project(s) will be an interdisciplinary project based in Adelaide, Australia with strong national (Australian) and international collaborations (UK, France).

Eligibility:

Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia/international students who are acceptable as candidates for a PhD degree at the University of Adelaide.

Stipend:

The scholarship will be for 3.5 years and has a stipend of $34,210 (indexed annually) per annum. It is likely to be tax exempt, subject to Taxation Office approval.  Details of any terms and/or benefits can be found here.

Enquiries:

Contact Person: Dr. Andrew Merdith

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Department of Earth Sciences

Email: andrew.merdith@adelaide.edu.au

Applying:

Applications should be submitted to Andrew Merdith (andrew.merdith@adelaide.edu.au)  with the name of scholarship in the subject heading. Please ensure you include all of the following documents:

• Degree certificates (testamurs)
• Academic transcripts
• Translations of non-English documentation
• Evidence of English language proficiency
• Curriculum vitae
• Preferred pathway(s)