2 MSCA-DN TALENTS PhD positions in (1)Tectonics - Geothermal Systems, and (2) Structural Geology - Geomorphology, of the East African rift

2 doctoral positions are available at the University of Florence as part of the MSCA Doctoral Network TALENTS, a European-based research network on continental rifts and the global shift to green energy. 

The host institution for both projects is the University of Florence (UNIFI), Department of Earth Sciences (DST), Italy, https://www.dst.unifi.it/ and enrolled in the DST doctoral school, https://www.dst.unifi.it/vp-314-home.html

The duration of the projects is 36 months, starting 1 November 2024

Project descriptions

Project 1 Title: Localisation and along-rift linkage of extension and implications for geothermal potential in the Main Ethiopian Rift

Supervisors: Derek Keir (UNIFI), Giacomo Corti (CNR), Judith Bott (GFZ)

Co-Supervisors: Federico Sani and Marco Benvenuti (UNIFI)

Objectives: The project aims to understand (1) the influence of style, connectivity and orientation of fault systems in rift segments and their linkage zones on fluid migration, volcanism and geothermal potential, and (2) links between these processes and subsidence, sedimentation and evolution of lacustrine environments. The student will combine remote sensing and field-based mapping of structural features, volcanic geology, and hydrothermal manifestations with laboratory analogue experiments, and seismological discrimination of tectonic and fluid-induced seismicity. The student will relocate existing high-resolution earthquake catalogues, and solve for new moment tensors, to better understand subsurface fault kinematics and fluid pathways. Analogue experiments of rift interaction across transfer zones will constrain rift controlling parameters.

Academic secondment: 2 months at University of Lorraine, France with Raphael Pik for comparison of field data, analogue modelling and seismicity results with constraints on volcano plumbing and hydrothermal systems for Ethiopian rift.

Industry secondment: 3 months with a relevant geothermal company to combine new and existing geological and geophysical data from Ethiopian volcanoes into 3D subsurface models of active geothermal systems

References

Corti G, Cioni R, Franceschini Z, Sani F, Scaillet S, Molin P, Isola I, Mazzarini F, Brune S, Keir D, Erbello A. Aborted propagation of the Ethiopian rift caused by linkage with the Kenyan rift. Nature Communications. 10(1):1309. 2019

Benvenuti M, Corti G, Keir D, Sani F. Transverse tectonics control on the Late Quaternary development of the Central Main Ethiopian Rift. Italian Journal of Geosciences.142(1):42-56. 2023.

Project 2 Title: Fault evolution and slip rates in magma-rich rifts using quantitative geomorphology and volcanic stratigraphy

Supervisors: Derek Keir (UNIFI), Giacomo Corti (CNR), Rebecca Bell (Imperial), Alex Whittaker (Imperial) 

Co-Supervisors: Federico Sani (UNIFI)

Objectives: A major challenge in magma-rich continental rifts such as the Ethiopian rift and Afar is to quantify fault slip and extension rates and to understand fault network evolution in space and time. This is due to a lack of subsurface seismic reflection data, the presence of complex and variable age lava flows at the surface, and lack of prior studies utilizing quantitative geomorphology to understand fault growth. We will conduct new structural and volcanic deposit mapping using remote sensing and fieldwork, and combine this with compilation of available age constraints on lava flows, and quantitative analysis of drainage systems and relief, to understand and constrain fault growth, interaction and linkage in space and time. Results will be integrated with seismicity and geodetic data, and where appropriate supported by analogue models. Analyses in different sectors of the EAR (Ethiopian rift and Afar) will quantify along rift variability of tectonic vs magmatic extension, and comparison with magma poor rifts (e.g. Corinth) will help isolate tectonic vs magmatic controls on locus and scale of faulting in space and time.

Academic secondment: 6 months at Imperial College London to learn quantitative geomorphology techniques and discuss results 

Industry secondment: 2 months with Terrabotics in London to use satellite image processing algorithms to derive digital terrain elevation models

References

Siegburg M, Bull JM, Nixon CW, Keir D, Gernon TM, Corti G, Abebe B, Sanderson DJ, Ayele A. Quantitative constraints on faulting and fault slip rates in the northern Main Ethiopian Rift. Tectonics. 39(8):e2019TC006046, 2020.

Zondervan JR, Whittaker AC, Bell RE, Watkins SE, Brooke SA, Hann MG. New constraints on bedrock erodibility and landscape response times upstream of an active fault. Geomorphology. 351:106937. 2020.

General information regarding the TALENTS Doctoral Network program

This doctoral positions are part of the MSCA Doctoral Network TALENTS, a European-based research network. TALENTS aims at training early career researchers with the interdisciplinary, science-driven understanding and skills that are the foundation to develop new sustainable solutions for the global challenges of the energy transition. We focus on continental rifts which are key regions for geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, new resources such as native hydrogen as well as high-risk human habitats due to geohazards such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. TALENTS fuses research and training at 18 European institutes and academic partners as well as 11 companies that are actively involved in the energy transition. The doctoral network is centred around 12 individual PhD projects addressing fundamental scientific aspects of rift system processes, collectively bridging several orders of magnitude of spatial and temporal scales. Each doctoral candidate is linked to a second academic partner to complement and broaden their scientific training and to a dedicated industry partner to acquire industry-relevant skills and preview possible non-academic career paths.