The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is a challenging environment to study. Remote, with sea ice, strong winds and high waves, it is not surprising that there are few observations of winter ocean properties. Yet wintertime is when water mass properties are determined by interaction with the cold atmosphere and by sea ice formation. The seasonal cycle is probably the first thing we ought to know, yet is still somewhat of a mystery. This is important because we need to ensure that climate models reproduce the characteristics of Antarctic waters, if they are to forecast accurately the melting of Antarctic ice shelves.

A new technology has started to shed light on this problem. Small sensors are glued to the fur of marine mammals such as seals. When the seal dives, the sensors measure a profile of temperature and salinity that is sent back via satellite when the seal surfaces. The tags fall off when the seal moults the following summer, but during autumn and winter they provide unique information about the seal's environment. This is a joint studentship with colleagues at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) in St Andrews, who designed the tags.

This studentship is part of Ocean2ice, a UEA-led study of ocean processes on the continental shelf and slope of the Amundsen Sea, Antarctica, near Pine Island Glacier. During a research cruise in early 2014, seals will be tagged to provide data throughout the following year. We expect you to be involved in the cruise and tagging campaign. You will analyse the seal tag temperature and salinity data by location and depth to determine the timing of minima and maxima. You will use sea ice concentration and atmospheric forcing to explore the processes that determine the seasonal cycle in the Amundsen Sea. This project offers flexibility for you to get involved in other aspects of Ocean2ice as your research interests develop, for example numerical modelling of ocean circulation or coupled climate processes.

We seek an enthusiastic student with a good background in physical science. You should have a 2(1) or 1st in Physics, Mathematics, Geophysics, Natural Sciences, Meteorology, Oceanography, Marine sciences, Environmental Sciences, Engineering or a similar numerate science. Experience of programming (e.g. in Matlab) is an advantage. You don't need to have studied ocean science previously; a willingness to learn new techniques is needed. You will spend some time working with your co-supervisors at SMRU. As part of Ocean2ice you will collaborate with UK and overseas scientists, attend project meetings, present your research at overseas conferences and be involved in outreach. You will gain skills in data analysis and synthesis, observational oceanography, programming and scientific communication. Further training and career development opportunities are available through the Science Graduate School.

Årthun, M., K. W. Nicholls, K. Makinson, M. A. Fedak, and L. Boehme (2012), Seasonal inflow of warm water onto the southern Weddell Sea continental shelf, Antarctica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L17601, doi:10.1029/2012GL052856.