Research in Seismology & Solid Earth Geophysics

The Seismology and Solid Earth Geophysics group is concerned both with the understanding the cause and mechanism of earthquakes and with determining the structure of the earth's interior, using seismic waves and other geophysical methods. The group includes seismologists, geodecists, and rock physicists. Collaborations with the Marine Geology and Geophysics group have resulted in major contributions to the field of plate tectonics and the dynamics of seafloor spreading and its consequences, and have blurred the boundary between the two groups' respective research areas. Many of the faculty study the formation of the crust and upper mantle of the earth at local to global scales; a subject that has both oceanic and terrestrial elements. Other areas of expertise include earthquakes and faulting, and petroleum exploration and extraction. Work in monitoring nuclear explosions and verification of nuclear test ban treaties has drawn some members of the faculty into the national debate of these issues in the policy arena. Although the total number of faculty working on the earth's deep interior is small, they have made major contributions to the area of deep earth structure, including co-discovering earth's inner-core rotation.