Doctorate in geophysical glaciology

The Professorship of Glaciology, jointly operating at the ETH’s Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), is looking for a doctoral candidate to join its team for the next three to four years.

This doctorate is offered within the project Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2degrees C of Warming (SWAIS2C). SWAIS2C is an international consortium studying the past and future response of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to warming. Central to SWAIS2C is the recovery and analysis of geological and geophysical records of past ice sheet extent. These records are to be obtained from two locations in West Antarctica – Kamb Ice Stream and Crary Ice Rise. Both locations are glaciologically significant and lie downstream of the ice streams that drain the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Kamb Ice Stream site is located proximal to the ice-sheet—ice-shelf transition in the ocean cavity, and the Crary Ice Rise site is a major pinning point restraining the flow of upstream ice. Geophysical observations are critical to SWAIS2C as they allow us to examine the glaciological processes that both control ice sheet evolution and result in the geological records of past behavior.   

This doctorate will focus on using active-source seismology to characterise Crary Ice Rise. Specifically, the doctorate will use seismic imaging of geological structures beneath the ice, and quantitative determination of seismic properties at the ice-bed interface. Seismic imaging will use conventional multichannel seismic methods combining explosive sources with a snow-streamer. Analysis of the ice-bed interface will combine amplitude analysis methods commonly used in the cryosphere with full-waveform inversion techniques. The seismic imaging results will be of direct relevance to the SWAIS2C geological drilling program, helping with interpretation of the recovered core, and placing the record into a wider context. The amplitude analysis, which will be undertaken both along the imaging profiles and across a wider region using nodal seismometers, will address the wider role of pinning points in ice dynamics. The results of both components of this study will be of broad interest to the SWAIS2C team and the wider cryosphere community.

The successful candidate holds a Master’s degree in geophysics, physics, environmental or earth science, environmental engineering, or related fields, and should have a keen interest in applying geophysical methods to solve interesting problems. Familiarity with a scripting language (such as Matlab, Python, IDL or Julia) is a must, as is experience with geophysical data (such as time-series data (especially seismic data) and satellite imagery). A robust glaciology background, as well as an interest in joining glaciological field work are additional assets. The successful candidate will likely join in the acquisition of field data, although this cannot be guaranteed. Fluency in English, both in oral and written form, is a prerequisite.

We are a dynamic and international research group, fully dedicated to the study of glaciers and ice sheets and the impacts resulting from their changes. We value a friendly and welcoming working atmosphere and strive for excellence in all we do. The working languages in our group are English, German, French, and Italian. For more information on our group and our activities, please visit https://vaw.ethz.ch/en/research/glaciology.html.