Applications are invited for a 3-year Postdoctoral position within the paleoclimate research group of the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Cardiff University, UK.

There is broad consensus that changes in ocean circulation play a pivotal role in shaping the Earth's climate, and notably in past abrupt climate variability. The shift from the last interglacial period to full glacial conditions that occurred with the transition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a to 4, around 75 kyr ago, saw a major build-up of continental ice sheets and a significant decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. These orbitally paced changes were reflected by substantial changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and set the stage for the initiation of recurrent abrupt high-amplitude shifts in climate, the millennial scale Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) oscillations of the last ice age. The first two in the series of abrupt D-O swings (events 19 and 20) occurred during the MIS 5a to 4 transition, suggesting the crossing of a threshold from the relative stability of the last interglacial period to the highly variable state of the glacial climate. This project seeks to address the changes in ocean circulation and their interaction with concurrent changes in the global carbon cycle during the development of full glacial conditions at this time.

As a key member of the research team, you will work within a dynamic research environment to produce state-of-the-art multi-proxy paleoceanographic records from the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean at very high resolution. The project will involve using new geochemical techniques in combination with more traditional approaches and will provide the first integrated reconstruction of oceanic changes during this critical period of climate development. You will gain the opportunity to work in laboratories in Barcelona and Oxford as well as Cardiff and will be expected to present your findings at international conferences. The project is led by S. Barker, I. R. Hall and G. Knorr (Cardiff) in collaboration with R. F. Anderson (L-DEO), G. M. Henderson (Oxford), T. van de Flierdt (Imperial College London) and R. Zahn (Barcelona).

You will have a PhD in paleoceanography or closely related field with a strong background in geochemical techniques and data production. Experience of integrating multiple proxy datasets is highly desirable.

Salary: £27466 - £32796 per annum.

Informal enquires may be made to Dr Stephen Barker, tel + 44 (0) 29 2087 4328, fax + 44 (0) 29 2087 4326 or email steve@earth.cf.ac.uk

To work for an employer that values and promotes equality of opportunity, visit www.cardiff.ac.uk/jobs telephone + 44 (0) 29 2087 4017 or email vacancies@cardiff.ac.uk for an application form quoting vacancy number 191.

Closing date: 10 April 2008.