General information
Reference : UMR8539-ISARIC-075
Workplace : PARIS 05
Date of publication : Friday, May 6, 2022
Type of Contract : FTC Scientist
Contract Period : 24 months
Expected date of employment : 1 July 2022
Proportion of work : Full time
Remuneration : Selon grille CNRS et expérience (début à 2 172.75 E)
Desired level of education : PhD
Experience required : Indifferent
Missions
The Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD, IPSL, Paris, France) is looking for a post-doc to model the Early Mars hydrology and climate (in the framework of the ERC project “Mars Through Time”)
Activities
Scientific context
More than 3.5 billion years ago, the environment on planet Mars was entirely different from today. The climate allowed the formation of lakes and rivers, as evidenced by numerous geological and mineralogical observations. However, the climatic processes that allowed this environment at a time when the sun was fainter than today remain enigmatic. We can imagine an atmosphere with a powerful greenhouse effect, for example thanks to the presence of hydrogen H2 in a thick atmosphere of CO2, but many questions remain: Under these conditions can we explain the geological characteristics and the distribution of the remnants of lakes and rivers? Was the presence of liquid water episodic?
Research activity
The goal of the post-doctoral research will be to simulate the possible environments on early Mars by exploring different orbital parameters and different atmospheres. Compared to previous work on the subject, we will benefit from new tools that will be developed and used during the post-doc in collaboration with the “Mars Through Time” team: 1) a hydrology model coupled to the climate model but capable of calculating the evolution of lakes and rivers over thousands of years and their stabilization 2) a new generation climate model allowing for very high resolution simulations, capable of better representing the interactions with topography.
Skills
The candidate should hold a PhD in climate or planetary sciences, ideally with an expertise in numerical modeling in hydrology or cryology. Alternatively, experts on the subject of early Mars (Noachian era, Hesperian era) could be suitable for the project.
Work Context
The Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique is specialised in the study of the Earth atmosphere (Observations and numerical modelling). The Planetology LMD team also studies the environment on other worlds (Mars, Venus, Giant Planets, Titan, Pluto, Exoplanets). Within this group, the “Mars Through Time” project gathers PhD students, numerical engineers and post-docs working together on the modeling of the past environment of planet Mars. External collaboration, notably with geologists, will be set up.
Constraints and risks
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