Ph.D. and M.Sc. Research Projects in Mineral Deposits and Precambrian Geology
The Department of Earth Sciences at Laurentian University invites exceptional students to apply for admission to our MSc or PhD programs and to become involved in research projects that will expand the boundaries of scientific knowledge in the areas of Mineral Deposits and Precambrian Geology. We have expanded our faculty considerably over the past several years and now have one of the largest groups in the world doing leading-edge field- and analytical-based research into Precambrian Geology and Mineral Deposits, many of whom are internationally-recognized for their scientific achievements. The Department maintains office and research space on three floors of the Willet Green Miller Mineral and Mining Research Centre and has access to a broad array of state-of-the-art geochemical analytical and experimental research facilities. The WGMC also houses the Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC), the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), the Ontario Geological Survey, and the Ontario Geoscience Laboratories. Through MERC and CEMI, the department interacts closely with the local and international mining industry. As the site of one of the world's largest and best exposed meteorite impact craters, one of the world’s largest mining clusters, and one of very few universities built directly on the Precambrian shield, Laurentian University is an ideal place to do advanced research in Mineral Deposits and Precambrian Geology.
Prospective students should arrange projects and funding with a prospective supervisor before applying for admission. Programs where students are being sought for specific projects are listed below. Prospective students interested in those projects should contact the indicated faculty supervisors, please visit our faculty directory for more information. Prospective students interested in other topics should contact a faculty member with expertise in the area best aligned with their interests, or should contact the Graduate Secretary, Dr. Bruno Lafrance (blafrance@laurentian.ca) for assistance. Applications are made on line at http://earthsciences.laurentian.ca/Laurentian/Home/Departments/Earth+Sciences/Graduate+Studies.htm.
Canadian applicants may qualify for scholarships provided by NSERC, the Provincial Government, or Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Non- Canadian applicants may qualify for scholarships provided by their home countries for students to study in Canada or provided under joint agreements between Canada and their home countries.
We have openings in the following areas for outstanding students who wish to participate in our research efforts in May of this year:
Precambrian Geology
Title: Ph.D. and M.Sc. opportunities in early Earth studies: to address the timing of planetary accretion, geology of the enigmatic primordial crust, establishment of life on Earth and effects of earliest differentiation. Research will utilise a variety of materials (meteorites, rocks, minerals), employ field and laboratory based analyses and emphasise international collaboration. Research costs are supported by the Canada Research Chair program in Precambrian Geology.
Background Required: A degree in geology, chemistry or physics. Willingness to engage in hands-on state-of-the-art analytical work and international collaboration.
Supervisor: Dr. Balz Kamber - Email / Homepage
Title: Ph.D. project in Mesoproterozoic stratigraphy & basin analysis (Nunavut): to address regional stratigraphy and facies architecture of several mixed carbonate-terrigenous units deposited on a putative Mesoproterozoic continental margin subject to episodic, local extensional tectonism. The lithofacies and geochemistry of these stratigraphic units are of particular interest because of their relevance to regional base metal mineralisation, and to reconstructing the poorly known paleocontinental margin.
Background Required: Sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleontology
Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth C Turner - Email / Homepage
Title: M.Sc. and Ph.D. projects in Cambro-Ordovician reef paleoecology (various locations in Canada), focusing on the interplay between Precambrian-style reef frameworks and new metazoan reef constituents of the early Paleozoic.
Background Required: Paleontology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy.
Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth C Turner - Email / Homepage
Title: Ph.D. project in Metamorphic phase equilibria and deformation of gahnite-bearing lithologies. This project will investigate controls on the development of metamorphic gahnite-rich spinel in VMS deposit environments during greenschist to upper-amphibolite facies metamorphism. The project will focus on understanding dependencies on the nature of pre-metamorphic host-rock alteration on the development of gahnite, phase equilibria of gahnite formation and relationship to mineralization, and how a combined understanding of deformation and gahnite-growth metamorphism can be used to target VMS deposits.
Background requirements: petrology, structural geology, and geochemistry
Supervisor : Dr. Doug Tinkham Email / Homepage
Title : M.Sc. studies in “Unconformity-bounded Keewatin strata in the Abitibi” will document unusual debris flows and iron formation breccias at inter-assemblage submarine unconformities in the Abitibi greenstone belt. The work will characterize the iron formation breccias through stratigraphy, petrography, trace element geochemistry and radiogenic isotopes. It will contribute to a major new model of unconformity-bounded stratigraphy in the world's largest greenstone belt.
Background Required: Sedimentology, stratigraphy, structural geology.
Supervisors: Dr. Phillips Thurston - Email / Homepage
Title : M.Sc. or Ph.D. level project in Three-dimensional modelling of the Abitibi greenstone belt, intended to create the first three dimensional model of an Archean greenstone belt using geological constraints such as on-lapping, off-lapping, unconformable, and cross-cutting relationships.as well as 2D high resolution reflection seismic images, potential field inversions and a new stratigraphic map supported by over 150 high precision U-Pb zircon ages.
Background Required: Computer skills, structural geology, stratigraphy.
Supervisors: Dr. Phillips Thurston - Email / Homepage
Mineral Deposits Geology
Title: M.Sc. and Ph.D. projects in experimental petrology on the behavior of sulfur, and base and precious metals in magmatic systems. Topics include (but are not limited to): sulfide-sulfate equilibria; sulfur content and sulfur speciation in silicate melts; diffusion of highly siderophile elements (HSE). The projects involve the use of experimental equipment (high temperature furnaces, piston-cylinder apparatus, etc) and sample analysis using SEM, EPMA (microprobe) and LA-ICP-MS.
Background requirements: Interests in igneous petrology, geochemistry, and chemical thermodynamics.
Supervisor: Dr. Pedro J. Jugo - Email / Homepage
Title: Ph.D. project on Development of the Boothia Uplift, a long-lived structural domain controlling Zn-Pb distribution in the central high Arctic Polaris District
Background Required: interests in stratigraphy, structural geology, sedimentology
Supervisor: Dr. Elizabeth C Turner - Email / Homepage
Title: Ph.D. studies in Fluid sources and characteristics in genesis of Abitbi greenstone belt VMS deposits (NSERC/CRD)
Background Required: Geochemistry,structural geology, petrography
Supervisors: Dr. Phillips Thurston - Email / Homepage
Title: M.Sc. project on Xientongmen Gold-Copper Deposit, South-Central Xizang Zizhiqu Province (Tibet) People’s Republic of China.
Background: Economic geology.
Supervisor: Dr. Harold Gibson - Email / Homepage