Dr. Tobias Keller to join FoaLab in September 2013 Friday 10th May 2013
The FoaLab is pleased to announce that Dr. Tobias Keller will be joining as an ERC postdoctoral research associate in August. Keller has a PhD from ETH Zurich where he was supervised by Prof Paul Tackley and Prof Boris Kaus (U Mainz). Among other interests, Keller has worked on developing theory for visco-elasto-plastic rheology in partially molten aggregates. This work has implications for magma interaction with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and for the emplacement of continental batholiths. In Oxford, Keller will work in collaboration with Richard Katz and members of the FoaLab to investigate the transport of volatiles by magma through the mid-ocean ridge melting region. The project will consider the effect of variations of sea level on the melting regime. Welcome Tobias!
ERC-funded postdoctoral position available Friday 10th May 2013
The FoaLab seeks applications for a postdoctoral research assistant position on the project Ice ages, Sea level, and Magmatism: Coupled Oscillations. This project is funded by the European Research Council under the ISMAGiC proposal. The position is available immediately for a period ending December 2016. It carries a salary of £29,541--£36,298 per year (plus budget for travel and equipment). The project seeks to understand links between magmatism and ice ages: how do the variations in sea level associated with ice ages affect the magma supply at mid-ocean ridges? How is this changing supply expressed in terms of observable features of the oceanic crust? Can this oscillation have a feedback on climate? The PDRA will use and develop computational models and scaling analyses to address these questions. Candidates with a background in geodynamics, computational fluid mechanics, or PDE-based numerical modelling are encouraged to apply. The position affords opportunities for teaching and research supervision. There is potential for collaboration with observationalists at Harvard University. Candidates should have their PhD, or expect to obtain it in 2013.
Applications must be made online by 19th July, 2013. Further information is available at http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/vacancies/107773. Address any queries to foalab@earth.ox.ac.uk.
New FoaLab publication Thursday 9th May 2013
Understanding the dynamics of ice streams is among the foremost problems in glaciology. A new FoaLab publication by Teresa Kyrke-Smith and co-authors, Stress balances of ice streams in a vertically integrated, higher-order formulation, addresses this with novel theory and simulations. The theory is based on a vertically integrated force-balance for the ice flow that is a hybrid of the "shallow ice" and "shallow shelf" approximations. Conditions at the ice bed are parameterised by a triple-valued and a double-valued sliding law. Our paper shows that both of these can give rise to ice streams with distinct stress regimes. It is published in the Journal of Glaciology.
Weatherley's thesis approved after viva Sunday 3rd March 2013
Sam Weatherley successfully defended his DPhil thesis on Friday 1 March in a 3-hour viva voce exam. The examiners were Dr. Ian Hewitt of the University of Oxford and Dr. John MacLennan of the University of Cambridge. Sam was the first student to join the FoaLab and he is the first student to earn a PhD with the group. Congratulations Dr. Weatherley!!
FoaLab at 2012 Fall AGU meeting Tuesday 6th November 2012
Members of the FoaLab will be presenting their work at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting this year. Please find us at our poster or talk and discuss the results.
(0) T12D-07. Consequences of viscous anisotropy for melt localization in a deforming, two-phase aggregate --- Yasuko Takei and Richard F. Katz.
(1) T33I-05. Glacial cycles drive variations in the production of oceanic crust --- Richard F. Katz; John W. Crowley; Charles H. Langmuir
(2) T33J-08. Mantle convection with strong plates and the tectonic mode of a terrestrial planet --- John W. Crowley; Adrian Lenardic; Richard J. O'Connell.
(3) C31B-0599. A distributed drainage system coupled to ice flow: the effect on ice stream behaviour --- Teresa Kyrke-Smith; Richard F. Katz; Andrew Fowler
(4) T12D-04. The detectability of melt channels beneath slow- and fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges --- Samuel Weatherley; Andy Nowacki; Richard F. Katz; James Wookey
We hope to see you in San Francisco!
Katz wins Philip Leverhulme Prize Thursday 1st November 2012
Richard Katz has been awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize by the Leverhulme Trust, which is among the UK's foremost research and educational funding bodies. According to the Trust's webpage, the Prize is "awarded to outstanding scholars who have made a substantial and recognised contribution to their particular field of study, recognised at an international level, and where the expectation is that their greatest achievement is yet to come. The Prizes commemorate the contribution to the work of the Trust made by Philip Leverhulme, the Third Viscount Leverhulme and grandson of the Founder." Katz thanks the Trust, his colleagues at Oxford, his scientific mentors, and the members of the FoaLab for their support! Congratulations to Matt Friedman, whose office is next door to Katz's, and who also won a Prize!
Katz to visit the Earthquake Research Institute, Tokyo Friday 24th August 2012
Richard Katz will visit the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo as a Project Researcher from September through November, 2012. At the ERI, Katz will continue his collaboration with Professor Yasuko Takei to investigate the consequences of anisotropic viscosity for melt segregation from deforming rocks.
Dr Sander Rhebergen to join FoaLab in August Thursday 12th July 2012
The FoaLab is pleased to announce that Dr Sander Rhebergen will be joining as a NERC postdoctoral research associate in August. Sander has a PhD from the University of Twente and was a postdoc at the University of Minnesota, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the Marie Curie Action of the European Commission. Sander's research interests include finite element discretisations and numerical algorithms for solution of partial differential equations. In Oxford, Sander will work in collaboration with Richard Katz and Andy Wathen in Mathematics; and with John Rudge, Garth Wells, and PDRA Laura Alisic at the University of Cambridge. Welcome Sander!
Michael Ferguson joins for Summer research Wednesday 4th July 2012
University of Oxford physics undergraduate Michael Ferguson has joined the FoaLab with a NERC Research Experience Placement-scheme grant. Michael has just finished the third year of his four-year degree. He is especially interested in experimental physics. He is working in the fluids lab on experimental realisations of Tyndall figures in ice crystals, as part of a collaboration with Stephen Peppin, Matt Hennessy, and MSci student Matt Hitchings. Welcome Michael!
Weatherley wins OSP award at EGU Tuesday 22nd May 2012
The European Geosciences Union has awarded Sam Weatherley an Outstanding Student Poster award for his presentation at the annual meeting in Vienna (23--27 April 2012). Congratulations Sam!
Two new FoaLab publications Friday 4th May 2012
Understanding mantle heterogeneity and its effect on melting and melt transport is a key goal in solid Earth science at present. Two new publications from the FoaLab address this issue using computational simulations and hypothetical structures of mantle heterogeneity. The first, by Weatherley and Katz, is already published in G-Cubed and is entitled Melting and channelized magmatic flow in chemically heterogeneous, upwelling mantle. The second, by Katz and Weatherley, is in press at EPSL. Entitled Consequences of mantle heterogeneity for melt extraction at mid-ocean ridges, it will be available at doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.042.
FoaLab at EGU 2012 Wednesday 18th April 2012
Members of the FoaLab (Sam and Richard) will be presenting their work at European Geoscience Union Annual Meeting this year. Both will present in the session GD4.1/GMPV6.16 -- Mid-ocean ridge processes and their consequences: melting and melt extraction from a heterogeneous mantle. The content of both presentations are in press in two separate manuscripts. The papers will soon be available here.
Undergraduate research opportunity, summer 2012 Wednesday 18th April 2012
The FoaLab's Laboratory for Geophysical Flows seeks applications from undergraduate students for a summer research project on Tyndall stars. These are melt figures that form when a single crystal of ice is superheated by incident radiation. The student will work with a new experimental design to produce and measure the properties of Tyndall stars, and compare these measurements with theoretical predictions. The project is supervised by Richard Katz (Earth Sciences) and Stephen Peppen & Matt Hennessy (Mathematics). Applicants should have a passion and talent for experimental physics, and the willingness to work independently, with meticulous care and patience.
Project details, eligibility criteria, and information about applying are given here. Applications are due before 1 May 2012.
Katz wins EGU honor Monday 14th November 2011
The European Geosciences Union has awarded its Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award for the Division of Geodynamics to Richard Katz. Katz will accept the award at the annual meeting of the EGU in Vienna, April 22-27, 2012.
New FoaLab publication Friday 21st October 2011
"The energetics of melting fertile heterogeneities within the depleted mantle" by Richard Katz and John Rudge (Cambridge) is now out in G-Cubed. The paper revisits a question previously asked by Norm Sleep in 1984: what is the contribution of the diffusive heat flux into fertile heterogeneities to the melting of those heterogeneities? In the paper we develop a new mathematical framework to address this question, and using analytical and numerical solutions, we provide more accurate estimates of the rate and extent of melting of pyroxenite enclaves in the upper mantle.
Visiting professor Yasuko Takei of ERI arrives Monday 12th September 2011
The FoaLab welcomes visiting professor Yasuko Takei of the University of Tokyo Earthquake Research Institute. Professor Takei is visiting the Department of Earth Sciences with support from the Royal Society. She will be working with Katz on models of two-phase flow with anisotropic matrix viscosity. This has applications to understanding experimental results, as well as magmatic flow in the mantle. Exciting results are expected so check back here for updates!
FoaLab at AGU 2011 Friday 5th August 2011
Members of the FoaLab will be presenting their work at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting this year. Please find us at our poster or talk and discuss the results.
- Sam: Recycled oceanic crust initiates reactive channelization.
- Teresa: Ice streams in a vertically integrated ice flow model.
- Rich: Coupled magma/mantle dynamics in a heterogeneous mantle beneath mid-ocean ridges and Balancing accuracy, robustness, and efficiency in simulations of coupled magma/mantle dynamics.
We hope to see you in San Francisco!
NERC funds Ox/Cam magma proposal Sunday 31st July 2011
The Natural Environment Research Council has agreed to fund the proposal Computational tools for magma dynamics of subduction zones: finite element models and efficient solvers. This research will be collaborative between scientists in Oxford and Cambridge; the PIs are Richard Katz (FoaLab, Oxford), John Rudge (Cambridge), Andy Wathen (Oxford), and Garth Wells (Cambridge). The grant will support two postdoctoral research associates, one in Cambridge and one in Oxford. A job advertisement will appear on this RSS feed soon. We'll be looking to hire two creative and motivated individuals who have a strong background in one or more of the following fields: computational fluid dynamics, numerical analysis of PDEs, computational software engineering, and computational geodynamics. A PhD is required. Please contact us for more information.