The department is currently seeking to fill a

The geology of Turkey comprises an intensely deformed, folded, thrusted and in places extended fold-thrust belt that resulted from accretion of the upper parts of a continental and oceanic lithosphere in the western portions of the Neotethyan realm. The configuration of subduction zones responsible for this complex evolution is matter of great debate. In particular, quantitative kinematic data on the deformation history of Anatolia are sparse, significantly hampering kinematic restorations of this segment that is key to understand the plate tectonic evolution of the western end of the Neotethys.

The geology of Turkey is roughly subdivided into the Pontides fold-thrust belt in the North that since mid-Mesozoic time was part of Eurasia, and the Anatolide-Tauride fold-thrust belt in the south that is derived from now largely subducted lithosphere. Structurally below the Pontides and above the Taurides is an oceanic lithosphere that is preserved in numerous ophiolites scattered across Turkey. The highest structural unit of the Taurides is represented by these Cretaceous ophiolites. These are underlain by upper Cretaceous high-pressure metamorphic rocks that in turn overlie a Cenozoic fold-thrust belt of essentially non-metamorphosed thrust duplexes of continent-derived carbonate units. South of the Taurides lies the island of Cyprus, exposing the famous Troodos ophiolite in the south - with an age similar to the Tauride ophiolites - and a belt of thrusted non- to low-grade metamorphic carbonates in the north (Kyrenia ranges). The relationship between these two belts of Cyprus, as well as the geology of Cyprus with the Taurides remains poorly known.

A program at Utrecht University, funded through an ERC Starting Grant and a Dutch Science Council VIDI grant involving several PhD's and Post-Docs, aims to reconstruct these subduction zones at their time of subduction initiation. Within this context, a 4-year PhD project is available that aims to construct balanced cross-sections across the Tauride fold-thrust belt of southern Anatolia and Cyprus. This research aims at quantifying the timing, amount and rate of shortening and uplift of the geological units that were accreted below the ophiolites. The results will be incorporated in kinematic plate restorations of the Tethyan realm, and will be used to constrain the long-term evolution of the Anatolian plateau, starting at the beginning of subduction in Cretaceous time. In addition, the project aims to assess whether the geology of Cyprus represents the southern promontory of the Tauride fold-thrust belt, or represents a separate thrust belt instead that formed along the northern African margin well before collision with the Taurides.

The project will involve three field seasons of largely individual field work in the fantastically exposed geology of southern Turkey and Cyprus, including mapping, structural geology and stratigraphy, with options to involve e.g. paleomagnetism and low-temperature thermochronology into the analyses. The project will be hosted in the Mantle Dynamics and Tectonics groups of the Earth Science department of Utrecht University, and will closely collaborate with colleagues involved in the project that focus on petrology, metamorphism and kinematics of the Anatolian ophiolites, evolution of basins overlying the Anatolian ophiolites, paleomagnetic research on the Cenozoic Anatolian tectonics, and numerical modeling of Mediterranean subduction zone dynamics.

The PhD will be expected to assist in the teaching programmes of the Utrecht Department of Earth Sciences for a limited amount of time (~0,1 fte) and must be able and willing to help in the supervision of BSc- and MSc-students.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate is ambitious, has a MSc (or equivalent) in Earth Sciences, with a strong background in structural geology and field geology. Requirements are a broad interest in geosciences, and a willingness to interact in a multidisciplinary team. While students work on their own PhD projects, good interaction with others in the group will be key to success. The candidate should have good language skills in oral and written English, since the working group is composed of international fellow researchers and the research results will be published in internationally renowned scientific journals and presented at international conferences.

Terms of employment:

The successful candidate will be offered a full-time PhD position, at first for one year. Contingent on a (yearly) satisfactory performance this may be extended to a total period of four years, with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period. The first evaluation will take place approximately after 6 months of employment, the second after 9 months. After the 9 months evaluation the decision will be made whether an extension of the contract to the maximum period of 4 years will be offered to the employee.

Employment conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement of the Dutch Universities. The gross monthly salary starts at € 2,083.- in the first year and increases to € 2,664.- in the fourth year, and is supplemented by a holiday allowance of 8% per year and a year-end bonus of 8.3% (salary level 1-9-2013). We also offer a pension scheme, a health insurance allowance and flexible employment conditions.

Further details:

Informal enquiries may be sent to the main project leader, Dr. Douwe van Hinsbergen, D.J.J.vanHinsbergen@uu.nl. For more information on the general research themes of the group, see http://www.geologist.nl.

You may also wish to visit the website of the Utrecht Institute of Earth Sciences: http://www.geo.uu.nl/ivau.

How to apply:

Visit http://www.geo.uu.nl/vacancies, find the equivalent of this advertisement (probably not available before August 9) and fill in the application form. Please, attach your motivation for the position, a statement of your research interests, a curriculum vitae, and the names and contact addresses of at least two referees (with e-mail contact addresses).

Applications are accepted until the position is filled, but we prefer to receive your application before October 15, 2013. Evaluations and interviews are planned for November. The expected starting date is February 1, 2014.