Application Deadline: Applications accepted all year round
Details
The Red Sea is relatively isolated from the Indian Ocean by a shallow sill near its connection with the Gulf of Aden at the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Evaporation in the dry regional climate has led to it becoming unusually saline in the modern day. The evaporation also affects oxygen isotopes, favouring loss of the lighter 16O isotope from oceanic waters, leading to higher 18O/16O ratios than normal. Fluctuations in global sea level also affect the exchange of water. A hydraulic model representing that exchange (Siddall et al., 2004) has been used to work out sea levels for the past 500 thousand years (ka) (Grant et al., 2014). During the exchange, relatively less saline water from the Gulf of Aden penetrates the southern Red Sea over a layer of denser and more saline Red Sea Deep Water flowing in the opposite direction. As a result, some planktonic foraminifera from the Gulf of Aden, not usually found in the Red Sea, have been recovered in Red Sea surface water samples (Auras-Schudnagies et al., 1989). The extent to which surface waters penetrated the Red Sea during past times is still not entirely clear, in particular, during sea-level lowstands when the connection with the Gulf of Aden was highly restricted. However, the presence of Gulf of Aden fauna in the southern Red Sea would be a useful clue of an open connection between the two basins.
Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 229 lies only 140 km north of shallowest sill with the Gulf of Aden and contains a record of planktonic foraminifera, potentially with indicator species for the inflow. Recently published dating of the sediments based on nannofossils (Hughes and Varol, in press) now shows the sediments recovered at DSDP-229 extend to a just over 400 thousand years ago (ka), overlapping in age with cores from the central Red Sea that have been extensively analysed (e.g., Grant et al., 2014). While most pelagic foraminifera died out during the Last Glacial Maximum resulting from concurrent high salinities, some fauna have been detected in cores from the southernmost Red Sea, suggesting that they were carried into the sea by the inflow (Fenton et al., 2000).
In this project, you will separate different foraminiferal species and other microfossils (e.g. pteropods) from DSDP-229 samples spanning the whole depth range to 400 ka in sufficient resolution to track glacial-interglacial (and higher frequency) variability. Selected samples will be selected for oxygen isotopic analysis. Those oxygen isotopes will record the glacial-interglacial cycles of the inflowing Gulf of Aden waters, providing an independent assessment of sediment age, as well as a tracer of water body distinct from the more 18O-enriched Red Sea waters.
Eligibility
Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.
The project is most suitable to students who have some prior experience of working with sedimentary samples. He/she would ideally have knowledge of paleoceanography, micropalaeontology and marine geology.
Funding
At Manchester we offer a range of scholarships, studentships and awards at university, faculty and department level, to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers applying for competition and self-funded projects.
For more information, visit our funding page or search our funding database for specific scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.
Before you apply
We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisors for this project before you apply.
How to apply
Apply online through our website: https://uom.link/pgr-apply-fap
When applying, you’ll need to specify the full name of this project, the name of your supervisor, if you already having funding or if you wish to be considered for available funding through the university, details of your previous study, and names and contact details of two referees.
Your application will not be processed without all of the required documents submitted at the time of application, and we cannot accept responsibility for late or missed deadlines. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
After you have applied you will be asked to upload the following supporting documents:
- Final Transcript and certificates of all awarded university level qualifications
- Interim Transcript of any university level qualifications in progress
- CV
- Contact details for two referees (please make sure that the contact email you provide is an official university/work email address as we may need to verify the reference)
- English Language certificate (if applicable)
If you have any questions about making an application, please contact our admissions team by emailing FSE.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.
We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.
We also support applications from those returning from a career break or other roles. We consider offering flexible study arrangements (including part-time: 50%, 60% or 80%, depending on the project/funder).
Funding Notes
This project does not have dedicated funding. However, at Manchester we offer a limited number of scholarships, studentships and awards at university, faculty and department level. The deadlines for these are usually in January to April each year. We also can potentially support researchers applying for grants in external competitions. The project may furthermore be suitable for self-funded students.
References
Akers, W. H. (1974), Foraminiferal range charts for Arabian Sea and Red Sea sites, Leg 23, in: Davies, T. A., Luyendyk, B. P., et al, Initial reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project U.S. Government Printing Office, 26, 1013-1050.
Auras-Schudnagies, A., D. Kroon, G. Ganssen, C. Hemleben, and J. E. van Hinte (1989), Distributional pattern of planktonic foraminifers and pteropods in surface waters and top core sediments of the Red Sea, and adjacent areas controlled by the monsoonal regime and other ecological factors, Deep-Sea Res., 36, 1515-1533.
Fenton, M., S. Geiselhart, E. J. Rohling, and C. Hemleben (2000), Aplanktonic zones in the Red Sea, Mar. Micropal., 40, 277-294.
Grant, K. M., et al. (2014), Sea-level variability over five glacial cycles, Nature Communications, Art. 5076, doi:10.1038/ncomms6076.
Hughes, G. W., and O. Varol (in press), Biostratigraphically constrained Neogene palaeoenvironments of the Red Sea rift complex, in Rifting and sediments in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf regions, edited by N. M. A. Rasul and I. C. F. Stewart, Taylor & Francis.
Siddall, M., D. A. Smeed, C. Hemleben, E. J. Rohling, I. Schmeizer, and W. R. Peltier (2004), Understanding the Red Sea response to sea level, Earth Panet. Sci. Lett., 225, 421-434.
