RESEARCH STUDENTSHIP
OR BURSARY
Research studentships are offered to students wishing to undertake a PhD programme. All
studentships are highly competitive and you should ensure (and demonstrate) that there is a
good match between your own qualifications and interests and those being sought for the
particular studentship.
Research Centre where
studentship will be held
Centre for Geography, Geology and the Environment, Faculty of
Natural Sciences, Keele University.
Studentship reference
Web link to any further
information (e.g. Research
Institute)
Research topic or field title
Research topic or field –
full description (or attach
document)
TBA
Faculty Research Office - http://www.keele.ac.uk/fnsro/
https://www.keele.ac.uk/bdrg/nerccdtoilgas/
Climatic cyclicity and environmental interactions in arid
continental basins: The Leman Sandstone, Southern North Sea
Sea
Please see full description below
Available from (date)
September 2016 (or earlier by agreement)
Funding support available
– Fees, stipend, duration
Funding support is provided as follows;
4 years’ funding for tuition fees and stipend.
Stipend at Research council rates (£14,057 per annum).
Research Training Support Grant.
Source of funding
NERC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT)
Eligibility criteria
Available to UK citizens and to citizens of the EU who have
been permanently in residence in the UK for a minimum of 3
years prior to taking up the studentship.
Terms and conditions of
studentship
Number of studentships
available
Application details
As per the University Code of Practice
Closing date for
applications
January 31st 2016
Contact for further
information and to whom
applications will be sent
Contact Professor Peter Andras (Director of Postgraduate Research)
for further information p.andras@keele.ac.uk
1
go to http://www.keele.ac.uk/pgresearch/studentships/ and click on
the "Apply online here" button in this studentship.
Informal enquiries about the project should be made to the Project
Lead: Dr Stuart Clarke s.m.clarke@keele.ac.uk
Candidate profile
Qualifications,
Experience and Skills
Essential
2:1 or better BSc in
Geology/Geoscience subject with
good grounding in sedimentology
and sequence stratigraphy.
Self-motivation
Attitude and
Personality
The ability to work both
independently and as part of a team
Natural inquisitiveness and a flair
for problem solving
Ability to plan fieldwork
Desirable
Fieldwork skills and reasonable
aptitude with IT and numerical
data analysis.
Project description
This project will evaluate the interactions and controlling mechanisms affecting linked ephemeral fluvial,
playa and aeolian systems in outcrop and a sub-surface North Sea analogue. It will elucidate the relative
impacts of climate change and tectonism on facies distributions and interactions in these systems, and
provide a 3D fluid-flow model pertinent to migration and reservoir evaluation. The Leman Sandstone
comprises a sedimentary succession recording the interaction between ephemeral fluvial systems and
aeolian and playa environments. The record is punctuated by numerous regional surfaces, the origin of
which may have been mostly climatic, with periods of increased run-off resulting in fluvial incision,
especially near active faults. However, the surfaces formed in a basin that was subsiding. Thus, even in a
background of overall increasing accommodation space, climatic variation may have allowed for periods of
significant erosion. The occurrence of significant erosion resulted in a sedimentary record that shows
pronounced lateral as well as vertical facies variations. The distribution of facies element geometries, their
3D interactions and relationships to regional erosive surfaces, and their dependence on climatic variation
and active tectonism, are critical to understanding the distribution of petrophysical properties within the
Leman Sandstone, and therefore to the distribution of fluid migration pathways for reservoir
characterisation and management. Interactions between fluvial and aeolian systems in arid continental
basins have been the subject of past research, and these relationships have been related to a sequencestratigraphical framework based upon climatic cyclicity. However, this past work does not account for a
fluvial component that is strongly ephemeral, and upon which there is a strong control on facies
distribution from active tectonism. North & Taylor (1996), and the present authors, have shown that in
strongly ephemeral-fluvial systems elements show significantly more variability at all scales. Hence the
distribution of ephemeral-fluvial deposits, and their interaction with other environments, will more strongly
control permeability distributions and migration pathways than is the case for more stable fluvial settings.
This project will use extensive fieldwork of well-exposed sedimentary successions through arid continental
depositional systems within the intra-cratonic basins of the Western USA, principally the Wingate,
Moenave and Kayenta formations of the Colorado Plateau. As well as traditional methods of data
gathering and analysis in the field, the project will make use of novel and developing 3D photogrammetric
techniques to provide spatially accurate 3D models of the outcrop. The fieldwork will provide a wellconstrained analogue for environmental interaction and facies distribution within the Leman Sandstone,
which is undergoing a resurgence of successful exploration activity at present with new discoveries such
as Pharos and nearby as yet undrilled exploration prospects.
CDT Research theme
Extending the life of mature basins
An improved understanding of the Leman Sandstone (and similar reservoirs) will lead to better
management, reservoir performance and enhanced recovery, as well as aid future exploration efforts in
this mature basin.
Research context
Two current PhD projects within the research group address 1) arid continental cyclicity and 2) ephemeral
fluvial sedimentology. This project is the natural research extension of these two projects and the projects
provide a strong grounding for it. The project will run concurrently with another research project within the
group that will examine arid clastic and evaporitic interactions.
Career routes
Exploration and production geology, carbon capture, sedimentology and reservoir evaluation specialisms,
sequence stratigraphy and seismic-stratigraphical interpretation.
Training & Skills
As part of a CDT cohort, you will receive 20 weeks bespoke, residential training of broad relevance to the
oil and gas industry: 10 weeks in Year 1 and 5 weeks each in Years 2 and 3. Instructors will be both from
expert academics from across the CDT and also experienced oil and gas industry professionals. You will
be expected to present posters and talks at national and international conferences