The Institute of Geosciences invites applications for a job opening at the research assistant level (PhD student or postdoc level).

The ancient Romans, mostly known for their military prowess, also excelled in town planning and the building of infrastructure such as roads, sewers and aqueducts. Over 800 aqueducts are presently known which once fed the baths and fountains of the Roman Empire, some up to 500 km long, with bridges and inverted siphons crossing valleys, and tunnels of up to 95 km long. Since aqueducts were commonly fed from sources in limestone, massive layers of travertine (sinter), fibrous calcite, were deposited in the interior, growing about 1mm per year in thickness. Such sinter deposits can be up to 50cm thick representing a continuous record of calcite deposit over 500 years. The travertine deposits have a crystal structure and annual layering that reflect flow hydraulics and fluctuation in water temperature and water level, while fluctuations in its chemical composition reflect the variable chemistry of water from the source. Sinter in individual aqueducts therefore provides information on local climate and soil use. Since crystals in calcite veins of rocks form in a similar way as travertine in aqueducts, we can use information from travertine to better understand the formation of carbonate veins in metamorphic rocks. Earthquakes and human interference disrupts or modifies sinter deposition, making it a great source of information on past earthquakes, ancient engineering and local economics (maintenance level of the infrastructure). A combination of data from sinter of a number of neighbouring aqueducts can be used for relative dating and can provide a unique database on neotectonics, local climate, aqueduct engineering and local economic history.

This project will be carried out on aqueducts in Greece and Turkey by a PhD student at the University of Mainz, supervised by C. Passchier, B. Schöne and F. Sirocko.

The student involved in this project is expected to do fieldwork in Greece and Turkey and conduct a detailed study of the geometry of sinter deposits in different parts of the aqueduct such as main channels, bridges, tanks and the springs . This study will be condcuted in cooperation with local archeologists. During this fieldwork, samples will be taken from the most suitable sites of the aqueducts.

The student must have a Masters in science.

Please send an application (pdf-file) to cpasschi@uni-mainz.de. Deadline: 15^th February.