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Changing life and changing ocean in the Oligocene icehouse

Scanning electron microscope images of Oligocene planktonic foraminifera
Project Description

The Paleogene was a time of dramatic change from the greenhouse climate of the Eocene to the icehouse of the Oligocene with turnover and extinction in marine plankton. Many previous studies have focused on Eocene, but the Oligocene (34 to 23 million years ago) has received relatively little attention. During the Oligocene the Antarctic ice sheet expanded and contracted considerably between times of very expansive ice sheets to intervals of relatively little ice. This project focuses on quantifying Oligocene marine changes in the context of temperature, diversity and the carbon cycle through the analysis of excellently preserved foraminifera from multiple sites.  The project will build an accurate picture of how the Oligocene diversity and climate responded to the waxing and waning of the Antarctic ice sheet and provide the data to reconstruct thermal gradients between high and low latitudes. Analyses will be conducted in the refurbished Foram and Micropalaeontology laboratories at UCL. 

Research themes
Project Specific Training

The student will be provided with a wide range of training by one-to-one instruction by the supervisory team including foraminiferal taxonomy, stable isotope and trace element geochemistry, stratigraphy, and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the student will have the opportunity to undertake fieldwork, a variety of postgraduate training workshops at UCL, attend the Urbino Summer School in Paleoclimatology and will be encouraged to present their research at relevant UK and overseas conferences. They will be joining a large and active research group in Life & Environments, and Climate.

Potential Career Trajectory

Previous students have gone on to successful careers in academia, UKRI, civil service, scientific publishing, and the energy industry.

Project supervisor/s
Bridget Wade
Earth Sciences
UCL
b.wade@ucl.ac.uk
Susan Little
Earth Sciences
UCL
susan.little@ucl.ac.uk
Supervision balance
90:10