Jobs:Job-00420

PhD position in Understanding the effects of Bedrock Fractures and Weathering on critical zone hillslope hydrology and stability at DICAM, University of Trento

University of Trento, , Italy
Apply before: 23 July 2021

Posting: Position: PhD Position Apply before: 23 July 2021 Apply online: https://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/1954/announcement-of-selection

One fully funded PhD grant is available at the Department of Civil Environmental and Mechanical Engineering of the University of Trento (PhD course in Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering) focusing on:

"Understanding the effects of Bedrock Fractures and Weathering on critical zone hillslope hydrology and stability"

The research project will be in collaboration with Professor Seulgi Moon (University of California, Los Angeles) and Dr. PhD. Dino Bellugi (University of California, Berkeley).

Details on the research topic are available below and at the following link (https://www.unitn.it/alfresco/download/workspace/SpacesStore/63aef7b9-163e-4ee0-8ec3-a270abdcd8f8/research%20subjects-37-ICAM_def.pdf; check Scholarship A2 in the research subjects list, reference person: Giuseppe Formetta).

Coding and spatial data management skills are desired.

Applications should be submitted online by July 23 at 16:00 CET at: https://www.unitn.it/en/ateneo/1954/announcement-of-selection

Giuseppe Formetta

Title: Understanding the Effects of Bedrock Fractures and Weathering on critical zone hillslope hydrology and stability

Earth’s Critical Zone is the thin outer layer of our planet from the top of the tree canopy to the bottom of water aquifers that supports almost all human activity. The critical zone is experiencing changes from growth in human population, wealth and climatic changes. Understanding, predicting and managing all the processes occurring in this important part of earth is crucial to predict and adapt to the intensification of extreme events and climate change. For example, landslides present one of the greatest geologic hazards that currently threaten human society and infrastructure (e.g. review in Sidle and Ochiai, 2006). Extreme precipitation caused more than 9,500 landslides resulting in more than 29,000 casualties globally since 2007 (Kirschbaum et al., 2010), with over $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage (Bowman, 2015).

In this project we aim to explore and quantify: i) the hydrological controls of surface and subsurface processes on water redistribution within the earth critical zone, and ii) the interactions/feedbacks between subsurface water and the underlying bedrock (topographic stress, weathering structures, and fractures), with the ultimate goal of improving landslide hazard (timing, location, size, and abundance) prediction. We will explore subsurface saturation and pore pressure development within the critical zone, and at the boundaries of soil and bedrock layers, developing and using a novel 3D hydrologic model. It will simulate the 3D surface-groundwater response to rainfall by routing water into spatially varying layers with different hydraulic conductivity and will be validated in natural landscapes with measurable data. The project is carried out in collaboration with University California Los Angeles (in the person of Professor Seulgi Moon) and will involve sharing of measured data and models.

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Of interest for:

Terrestrial Working Group

Hydrology Focus Research Group