Freya Sykes » Members
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Freya Sykes
PhD project title:
Arctic ocean hydrography and circulation during the last interglacial period through the development and application of new proxy methods.
PhD project description:
I am currently working towards a PhD within the Arctic Ocean under warm climates (ARCLIM) group, headed by Mohamed Ezat. My research is focused on the use of foraminifera as a proxy for reconstructing surface and bottom water hydrography in (sub)polar regions. Foraminifera are a microscopic single-celled marine organism, ubiquitous across the world’s oceans and can be both planktonic, floating in near-surface water, or benthic. I am growing the species Globigerina bulloides in culture to investigate how the incorporation of chemical elements in its calcium carbonate shell changes under different environmental conditions (varying salinity, temperature, pH etc). The results of the culturing experiments will be applied, in combination with other foraminifera proxy data, to fossil shells from interglacial sediments and used to reconstruct sub(polar) ocean conditions during warmer than present time periods. The increased understanding of sub(polar) warming this brings can then be applied to models used for predicting future ocean conditions.
Start date: 21.11.2021
Planned submission date: Autumn 2025
Supervisors:
Mohamed Ezat (UiT, Tromsø, Norway)
Julie Meilland (Marum, Bremen, Germany)
Gavin L. Foster (University of Southampton, Southampton, UK)