Synopsis
Deep ocean circulation has a crucial impact on climate, by transporting heat, salt and nutrients between the tropics and the poles. In the past 50 million years, greenhouse gases were much higher, and deep ocean circulation may have greatly changed over time. We do not fully understand why. This project will use climate model outputs to reconstruct geochemical tracers such as Neodymium, Oxygen, and Carbon and through the deep past. We will use matrix methods to accelerate these reconstructions, enabling fast computation of results. These tracers can be used to reconstruct how the deep ocean circulation evolved through time and compare with geological data. This will help us to understand possible changes of deep ocean circulation due to future climate change.
Aims
To use Earth’s history and climate models to better understand and predict future changes.
Student background
- A background in oceanography, physics, fluid dynamics, or maths
- Coding skills, or a willingness to learn, Python, Matlab, Julia, or similar programming language
Student benefits
- Learning to run simulations of the ocean
- Enhancing data analysis skills
- Eligibility to apply for ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes honours scholarship
Supervisor: Dr David Hutchinson and Katrin Meissner
Get involved
For more information please contact Dr David Hutchinson