MSc (Research) Earth Sciences - Dynamic Earth

University of Birmingham

Course overview The Earth Sciences Research MSc facilitates independent research. Our research groups focus on the following themes: palaeobiology, palaeoclimatology, plate tectonics and volcanic processes. This research focuses on the structure and evolution of the Earth’s interior and its influence on surface processes. Research in this area includes a range of work on the evolution of rifted margins with a current focus on an international collaborative project involving 3-D seismic profiling of the Iberian margin. The work has important implications for the role of deeply ingressing water, through serpentinization, in guiding the structural history of margins. Fundamental research on spatial and temporal scales of mantle convection, currently extensively supported by the Irish government, focuses on the Cenozoic evolution of the North Atlantic and links to global climate via both modulation of deep-water flow around Iceland and uplift-associated dissociation of gas hydrate. The development of techniques for detecting and quantifying gas hydrates and emissions of methane has been a key aspect of shallow geophysical investigations on continental slopes over the past two decades, including major participation in European programmes as well as NERC support.