This three-year PhD student position is based at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s (VU) Department of Earth Sciences, and within the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (MSCA-ITN) project “FluidNET: Fluids driving the evolution of the continental crust: influence of pathway networks, fluxes, and time scales”.
http://www.fluidnet.eu/ FluidNET will host 12 PhD students (ESRs) at institutions across Europe.
Objectives: To separate fluids sourced from prograde dehydration from those related to granitoid intrusions near the lower-middle crust interface in selected key areas in the Variscan belt. To determine the provenance of metals dissolved in the fluid phase in the inclusions by chemical and isotopic fingerprints of the fluids and their host rocks. To determine which of the fluids are responsible for ore genesis, and why. To derive a time and length scale-constrained model of fluid motion and interaction of different volatile fluxes in the middle crustal domain
Expected Results: The combination of different geochemical techniques will yield information on the major and trace elements in the inclusions. Fluid and mineral thermobarometry will yield information on the ambient and fluid pressure and temperature at the time of entrapment, geochronology of trapped fluids and their host minerals will be used to shed light on the timing of entrapment, and non-conventional stable isotope techniques will constrain the nature and sources of fluids in a range of lithologies. This will result in a model of the ore-genetic system in these key areas applicable to ore-forming processes and systems elsewhere.
The PhD student will be employed by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands and enrolled in its doctoral programme, which is part of the Graduate School SENSE. International collaboration is foreseen with 12 weeks of planned secondments at Amphos21 (Spain) and Curtin University (Australia), you will interact with collaborators at the university of Milano Bicocca (Italy) and ETH-Z (Switzerland).
FluidNET’s objectives are:
to link micro-analytical and geochemical modelling results to macro-scale geo-mechanical models that provide insight into the physical development of crustal-scale veining networks. Micro- to crustal-scale fluid flow models will provide testable insights into the complex links between fluid fluxes, transport length- and timescales and the formation of economically important resources. A new generation of validated models will provide a set of general predictive rules using chemical and physical properties of the crust (e.g., whole rock chemistry, permeability, grain size, layering), chemical and pressure – temperature gradients, derived from the scientific questions that form the basis of the FluidNET approach.
to provide training for 12 early-stage researchers (ESRs) in state-of-the-art science concepts, analytical approaches and communication and public engagement skills; in building awareness of career opportunities beyond academia and opportunities to build individual scientific networks, in close collaboration with our non-academic network partners; and in a broad range of approaches to complex issues involving scientific, technological, and societal challenges.
to promote and develop the visibility of European research in the metal resource sector such that the results of the new EU Green Deal initiative will experience significant growth in the coming years. Visibility will be promoted by forging an EU based platform that will provide training, e.g., summer-schools and webinars, and serve as a knowledge base through links with data base platforms such as EPOS.
Your duties
- To carry out fluid and mineral thermobarometry, geochronology of trapped fluids and their host minerals, and non-conventional stable isotope techniques to constrain the nature and sources of fluids in a range of lithologies and a model of the ore-genetic systems
- To interact with network partners working on complementary projects, locally and for consortium partners
- To take on responsibilities in networking activities, including organization of workshops, dissemination and outreach initiatives