A PhD position financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation for 3 years is now
available at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Geneva.
The doctoral candidate will be part of the group of Volcanology and Petrology
(http://cms.unige.ch/sciences/terre/research/Groups/igneous_petrology/igneous_petrolo
gy.php).
The preferred starting dates for the projects are January-February 2014.
Project Title
The fate of magma in the Earth’s crust: Plutons and volcanic eruptions
Summary
One of the central unknown to determine how magma evolves in the crust remains the
modality of extraction of chemically evolved melts from crystallizing magmas.
Solving this issue would provide fundamental information to link the chemistry of
intrusive rocks and erupted magmas to the physical processes occurring in crustal
reservoirs and shed light on the dynamics of segregation of large volume of
chemically evolved magmas that precedes some of the largest eruptions on Earth.
Fieldwork and analyses
The project includes fieldwork in one of the youngest pluton on Earth (Takidani pluton,
Japan), which is associated with deposits from 3 large eruptive events and is
characterised by chemical zoning.
After a structural study of the pluton, which includes Anisotropy of Magnetic
Susceptibility measurements, the candidate will perform geochemical analyses on bulk
samples and mineral chemistry.
The target is to trace the separation of residual melts from crystallising magmas using
magmatic fabrics and geochemistry.
Requirements
The applicants should have strong background in petrology and/or structural geology
and be in possession of a master degree.
Some climbing experience will be considered a plus.
The interested applicants should send a CV, academic record, a short motivation
letter (half A4 page), and the names (and contacts) of two potential referees to:
Luca Caricchi
email: luca.caricchi@unige.ch
Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Geneva
Rue des Maraîchers 13
CH-1205 Geneva
Switzerland