Department of Earth Sciences, University College London

01 January 2008

The effect of transition zone rheology on subduction

The student will use experimental techniques developed at UCL to investigate the rheology of slab and mantle minerals under the pressure and temperatures of the slab and surrounding mantle. S/he will perform multi-anvil based deformation experiments at UCL and at national and international synchrotron sources. Samples will be deformed at constant strain-rate with in situ stress and strain monitoring by synchrotron radiography and diffraction. Recovered samples will be analysed for deformation mechanism by TEM and SEM techniques. In addition to ductile deformation experiments, microseismicity from samples will be monitored using our newly developed acoustic-emissions system. These experimental investigations will be augmented with ab initio simulations to gain a quantitative understanding of the deformation mechanisms operating at the atomic scale and to facilitate extrapolation of the experimental results to P-T conditions beyond those currently accessible to experiments. Combining these techniques will allow the student to derive constitutive laws for mantle and slab flow and to delineate the origins of deep seismicity.
It is envisaged that the student will spend at least 6 months of his/her project working at international facilities and/or with project partners in Europe.
Funding Notes
The candidate should have complete a masters or equivalent with good success.
PLEASE NOTE: The candidate CANNOT be British or have been resident in the United Kingdom for more that 12 months in the last 3 years.
For more information please see http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/department/vacancies/C2Cflier1.pdf