Overview
Broadband Seismology and Tectonophysics
Ian's research focuses on the use of broadband seismology to solve tectonic problems. He is particularly interested in understanding the development of continent-ocean transition by studying the seismically and volcanically active East African Rift. His work also concerns some of the oldest rocks on Earth in the Hudson Bay region of northern Canada. Using seismology to gather geological evidence preserved deep within the plates in such regions of ancient, Precambrian geology (often termed 'shields') is essential to improve our understanding of the early Earth.
Additional on-going research includes the study of the Cameroon Volcanic Line in West Africa, and the Borborema province, NE Brazil.
Collaborators
Tyrone Rooney, Michigan state University
David Eaton, University of Calgary
Fiona Darbyshire, Université du Québec à Montréal
Derek Keir, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
Michael Kendall, University of Bristol
Guest Lectures
Precambrian plate tectonics: seismic evidence from northern Hudson Bay, Canada, Royal Astronomical Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, 2013
Extension by faulting, stretching and magma intrusion in Ethiopia (T52B-01), American Geophysical Union Fall Meet, San Francisco, 2012
Lord Kelvin Award Lecture "Exploring the innards of the Earth using seismology', British Science Association Festival, Aberdeen, 2012
The development of a magmatic rifted margin: evidence from Ethiopia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, 2011