Summary
Research Interests
I study tectonic evolution in a variety of settings using next generation controlled source seismic methods and drilling data. My research involves the interpretation of both deep and shallow 2D, 3D seismic and well data and the integration with potential field data to investigate structural evolution of the upper crust and the geometry of the lithosphere. My research aims to address two key societally and economically important questions:
1) What controls how subduction plate boundary faults slip?
2) What are the key controls on rift development: Is breaking up hard to do?
In Dec- Feb 2018 I am led the deployment of 200 seismometers in New Zealand to study slow slip events. Please follow our progress on our project website, blog and twitter (@NZ3D_FWI)
FULLY FUNDED Leverhulme PhD Scholarship available - What controls seismic behaviour at subduction zones? Resolving the physical properties of slowly slipping fault zones
Deadline 15th August 2019 - Project description
FULLY FUNDED Leverhulme Postdoctoral Research Associate position available - What controls seismic behaviour at subduction zones? Resolving the physical properties of slowly slipping fault zones
Deadline 22nd August 2019 - Job advert
Biography
- Lecturer in Geology and Geophysics, Imperial College London (2015 - present)
- Research Lecturer, Imperial College London (2012 - 2015)
- PDRA in Salt Tectonics, Imperial College London (Sept 2011 - Jan 2012)
- PDRA in Basin Analysis, Imperial College London (2010 - 2012)
- Active Source Seismologist, GNS Science, New Zealand (2008 - 2010)
- PhD, Marine Geophysics, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton (2004 - 2008)
- MEarth Sc, Earth Science, University of Oxford (2000 - 2004)
recent measures of esteem
2016 - IODP SEP panel member
2015 - EGU Programme Committee member
2015 - AGU Tectonophysics Executive Board member
2015 - Associate Editor of Basin Research
2015 - Geologists' Association council member
2015 - Invited Speaker - Geologists' Association Lecture Series, London UK
2014 - Member of the AAPG Wiki Advisory Boad
2014- Keynote speaker - SeisMix conference, Barcelona, Spain
2014 - Guest Editor - Basin Research thematic set (Deep Water Continental Margins)
2014 - Visiting Research Scientist - GNS Science, New Zealand
2012 - 2017 - Imperial College Research Fellowship
Media and Outreach
Nuclear waste must be out of sight, but not out of mind. The Observer, 1st Nov 2014
Why seismologists have a mountain to climb. The Observer, 7th Sept 2014
My research has appeared in:
Interview for NTN24, Latin America (7th July 2014)
Nature World News (27th June 2014)
NDTV (29th June 2014)
Live Science (30th June 2014)
Aljazeera America (1st July 2014)
Yahoo News (1st July 2014)
Front page of the Imperial College website (30th June 2014)
The Dominion Post, New Zealand (3rd July 2014)
The Gisborne Herlald, New Zealand (4th July 2014)
The Gisborne Herald, New Zealand (3rd August 2011)
The Gisborne Herald, New Zealand (29th July 2011)
The Gisborne Herald, New Zealand (11th July 2011)
The Dominion Post, New Zealand (2nd August 2011)
Imperial College Festival lecture, 2015
Pint of Science, "Did the Earth move for you?". Hoop and Toy, South Kensington 2014
BG Group Earth Workshop, "ShakeUp! Why, where and how do earthquakes occur?", Imperial College 2013
Futureintech Ambassador, Wellington, New Zealand 2008 - 2010
NERC Planet Earth Magazine article, Breaking up is hard to do (Spring 2008)
Teaching Awards
Shortlisted for the award of Best Feedback 2015/2016 Student Academic Choice Awards (SACA), Imperial College London
Winner of the Best Feedback award at the 2012/2013 Student Academic Choice Awards (SACA), Imperial College London
Publications
Journals
El-Yamani MS, John CM, Bell R, 2024, Mechanism of island dolostones formation in the Cretaceous calcitic ocean: insights from the Mid-Pacific Guyots, Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol:163, ISSN:0264-8172
Wrona T, Pan I, Bell RE, et al., 2023, Complex fault system revealed by 3-D seismic reflection data with deep learning and fault network analysis, Solid Earth, Vol:14, ISSN:1869-9510, Pages:1181-1195
Pan S, Naliboff J, Bell R, et al., 2023, How Do Rift-Related Fault Network Distributions Evolve? Quantitative Comparisons Between Natural Fault Observations and 3D Numerical Models of Continental Extension, Tectonics, Vol:42, ISSN:0278-7407
Gase AC, Bangs NL, Saffer DM, et al., 2023, Subducting volcaniclastic-rich upper crust supplies fluids for shallow megathrust and slow slip, Science Advances, Vol:9, ISSN:2375-2548, Pages:1-14
Hao Y, Bell R, Rao Y, et al., 2023, Prediction of Permian karst reservoirs in the Yuanba gas field, northern Sichuan basin, China, Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol:154, ISSN:0264-8172, Pages:1-12