One of the great under-answered questions in the geosciences relates to the cause of the big drop in the concentration of CO2 in the preindustrial atmosphere during ice ages. Over the past 800 thousand years the Earth climate has cycled between ice ages (glacial periods) and interglacial periods. Over these cycles there is a very enticing correlation between the global temperature and the variations in atmospheric CO2. A number of proposals have been put forward as to the cause of this variation. Here you will use a state-of-the-art Earth System model to test the idea that the increased presence of the shallow seas around the continents during interglacial periods played a significant role in the mediation of atmospheric CO2 concentration over glacial – interglacial periods. Your studies will be split between Bangor University, UK and Oregon State University, USA, and supervised by Tom Rippeth and Mattias Green (at Bangor) and Andreas Schmittner (Oregon).
Applicants must hold, or expect to hold, a minimum of a 2.1 or 1st at Bachelor level in Physics, maths or a numerically based environmental science (eg. oceanography, meteorology).
For further details please contact Professor Tom Rippeth, School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University: t.p.rippeth@bangor.ac.uk