Undergraduate research opportunity/Tibet Plateau
Stanford University Department of Geophysics
The Crustal Research Group in the Department of Geophysics at Stanford University is seeking two Stanford undergraduates to participate in a geophysical experiment and to conduct research as part of a NSF-funded seismic investigation of the Tibet Plateau under the direction of Simon Klemperer. The students will be involved in data acquisition in Tibet during fieldwork in China in May-June 2007. Optionally but preferably a student with a science major would also participate in data interpretation and if possible in eventual scientific publication. This opportunity is not limited to scientists: a student without earth sciences background may use the opportunity to pursue any alternate academic interest that utilizes the opportunity to travel to western China and Tibet.
*Summary:
Please apply to be one of two Stanford undergraduates who will come to Tibet with me, approximately 5/25/07-6/15/07, to participate in a controlled-source seismology experiment. All expenses will be paid, to and from Stanford, including travel, food and lodging, vaccinations, medical insurance and visas, and an allowance for personal expenses.
*What is our scientific objective?
Our multi-national science program (Project INDEPTH: INternational Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya) is aimed at understanding the geology and tectonics of the Tibet Plateau: how was this, the largest, highest plateau on Earth, created and sustained?
For more geological and geophysical background, click here.
*What will we do?
The US National Science Foundation has funded my project: "Deep Structure of the Northeast Tibetan Collision Zone- INDEPTH IV" involving Stanford, together with Cornell University, the German research center GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing. I will lead the U.S. field team in Tibet in May-June 2007. Our team will carry out controlled-source seismic experiments: sound sources (seismic waves) produced by triggering 1-ton dynamite charges in deep boreholes produce signals that can travel 50 km deep within the earth, and can be recorded both close to and > 300 km distant from the shot. We will record these sound waves on over 1000 seismographs, and the recorded signals will then be processed to create a structural image of the earth. We will also use the travel-time information (the time taken for the sound waves to travel from the source to each receiver) to measure the wave-speed with which sound travels through the earth, which is an important diagnostic of the rock types present.
*Logistic details:
Both students will participate in all aspects of land seismic acquisition, including equipment preparation in China, seismograph deployment, shot-hole preparation, seismograph recovery, and preliminary data reduction in the field. During the field experiment we typically work 12 hour days, 7 days a week, with only occasional rest days. I will direct your work. Several of my graduate students, and faculty, staff and students of the other participating US and foreign universities will also take part.
Prior to the field-work, both students will be encouraged to carry out Directed Reading with me to learn about seismic methods and the geology of Tibet. In Spring Quarter '06-'07, academic credit is available for participation in the field experiment. The exact dates of our program are still under negotiation with our Chinese collaborators but currently you should expect to arrive in Golmud by May 25 and depart on June 16, with about three additional travel days required en route from Stanford each way. Participants are welcome to arrange their own private travel plans in China or Tibet following our fieldwork. You should be able to take at least a reduced load of classes in Spring Quarter 06-07, though you will need to make arrangements to complete class requirements remotely via internet, or to take an incomplete. (This requires motivated and organized individuals, but of course I am not planning to recruit anyone who does not fit in this category!)
Following the field-work, I will encourage you to continue work under my direction on aspects of the data processing and interpretation; or on any other research project of your own devising.
Academic credit, and probably financial support, is available for continuing participation in the research beyond the fieldwork.
*Your intellectual involvement in the research project:
You will take part in all aspects of land seismic acquisition, including equipment preparation in China, seismograph deployment, shot-hole preparation, seismograph recovery, and preliminary data reduction in the field. You will learn about the way the physics of seismic-wave propagation and the geology of the Tibet Plateau constrain the practical experiment we do on the ground.
Following the fieldwork, I hope that you will wish to carry out research based on the data we collected. Perhaps the most accessible part of my research is the processing of the reflection data to form a seismic section, from which we can then interpret the structure of the crust below the rift. Prior experience is not required, but interested students will have to be willing to learn the methodologies involved. Equally acceptable is any other independent research project (compatible with the planned field activities) designed by an interested student.
I intend that one or both students will be offered paid full-time employment for the remaining part of the summer, culminating (I hope) in your preparation of a scientific abstract for submission to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), to be held in San Francisco in December 2007. The student(s) would be funded to participate in this meeting to present their work.
*Process and criteria for selection of the student(s):
The opportunity is hereby advertised to all enrolled Stanford undergraduates. Priority will be given to those students who are Sophomores or Juniors in academic 06/07 (though sophomores have successfully participated in the past) with majors (or academic preparation) in the School of Earth Sciences or Physics or Engineering. Additional preference will be given to those who expect to be available to continue work on data from the experiment (e.g. as a senior research project) during the summer 2007, and/or fall quarter 2007/08, culminating in participation in the AGU meeting in December 2007. Applications are particularly solicited from women or minority groups.
All of the following qualifications are desirable, but none is required:
basic knowledge or interest in earth sciences; even rudimentary spoken Chinese; map-reading and GPS navigation; experience at altitude; field experience of any sort; mechanical, electronic and computer abilities.
Most important is self-sufficiency, resilience in sometimes harsh conditions, team spirit, willingness to work long hours, a positive outlook and adventurous attitude.
All participants will be required to receive appropriate vaccinations in advance, and to carry medical evacuation insurance.
Preference will be given to applicants who propose a research project arising out of their experience in China, whether based on the seismic data we will collect or based on any other activity (need not be geophysics) they propose to carry out including before or after the seismic campaign. The latter option is particularly intended to encourage non-science majors to submit an application that makes full use of this travel opportunity. Additional funding for ongoing research activities may separately be available, e.g. for geophysical analyses through the Geophysics Department Summer Undergraduate Research Program.
*Method of application:
Interested students should email me (sklemp@stanford.edu) a package consisting of: (1) a statement of interest and preparation, (2) your Stanford transcript and your resume, and (3) your statement that your health permits your participation in a month of arduous field-work in China, at elevations of 2500 to 5000 m and in temperatures from 0 to 30 C, and that your program of study at Stanford enables you to be absent from Stanford for the last part of Spring Quarter (from late May, exact date to be determined prior to start of Spring Quarter). All documents should be in .pdf format and should include your name in the name of the document. At least one brief letter of reference is also required, and should if possible be emailed directly to me by your referee.
I am available to answer any questions. You may also wish to contact former Stanford undergraduates who worked with me in previous field experiments and who continued to carry out research with me, Andrea Les (formerly an ME major) and Roland Gunther (formerly a Physics major).
Early application is encouraged, with a final deadline on March 1st. Short-listed candidates will be briefly interviewed. Successful candidates will be notified prior to the end of Winter Quarter.
Visit Simon Klemperer's Home page
Last updated 12/06