Joint PhD position in Volcanology at Simon Fraser University & the Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans
*****************************************************************************************************
Joint France-Canada PhD project: Investigating Canada’s deadliest volcanic eruption and mitigating future hazards
Tseax volcano is a small cinder cone in NW British Columbia and the site of a 32 km long lava flow constituting one of the youngest volcanic eruptions in Canada (mid-1700s). The eruption caused ~ 2000 fatalities among the Nisga’a First Nations living nearby and is Canada’s second worst natural disaster. The rich oral history of the Nisga’a First Nation describes the lava flow event and suggests that the fatalities may have been the result of “poison smoke”. Other scenarios have also been suggested, which motivates the aim of this project: to investigate the nature of the Tseax eruption from a multidisciplinary approach in an attempt to offer possible explanations for Canada’s second worst natural disaster. A volcanic hazard map for the area will be produced to mitigate against possible future eruptive activity.
This project will investigate the eruption by collecting high resolution 3D topographic data (using a microUAV and ground-based LiDAR/photogrammetry) along with ground-based geological mapping of Tseax volcano, the lava flow and surrounding volcanic field. Samples of volcanic ash, scoria, lava and soil will be collected across the area for geochemical and petrophysical analyses in order to investigate primary volatile contents (via melt inclusions) and total volume and composition of gas released, lava rheological properties and whether any carbonised soil horizons are present. These data will facilitate evaluation of other possible volcanic hazards associated with the eruption such as the release of dense, gravity-driven CO2 flows or whether the lava flow triggered a forest fire that lead to the fatalities. The morphological, mapping and petrophysical data will be incorporated into thermomechanical flow models (e.g., VolcFlow) to estimate the emplacement rates while also facilitating development of a volcanic hazard map for the area.
This 4 year cotutelle PhD study will be jointly supervised by Drs Glyn Williams-Jones and Nathalie Vigouroux (Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada) and Drs Karim Kelfoun and Philippe Labazuy (Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France). This project is part of a broader “The End of An Arc” research consortium (http://eoa.volcanoes.ca/) which aims to foster collaborative research in the Northern Cascade Arc in Canada.
The ideal candidate will hold a MSc degree (or equivalent) in Volcanology or closely related fields, have geological field mapping experience and strong numerical and programming abilities (e.g., Matlab). The candidate will split their time between Canada and France and as such, a working knowledge of French is highly recommended.
Applicants should send a CV, letter of research interest and the names of two referees to Dr. Glyn Williams-Jones (glynwj@xxxxxx). Applications will be accepted until 31 January 2016.
Volcano Listserv is a collaborative venture among Arizona State University (ASU), Portland State University (PSU), the Global Volcanism Program (GVP) of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, and the International Association for Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI).
ASU - http://www.asu.edu/ PSU - http://pdx.edu/ GVP - http://www.volcano.si.edu/ IAVCEI - http://www.iavcei.org/
To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxx.
To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxx. Please do not send attachments.
==============================================================
