Significant research highlights start with a publication of pioneering inter-disciplinary research on intra-plate volcanism within the Pacific domain in Nature. This work was lead by PhD student Tim Jones and Dr Rhodri Davies, and solves a long-standing (150-year) question about the origin of double-track volcanism at Hawaii (and elsewhere). In seismology, the focus has been in both imaging and seismic source studies developing and applying novel techniques with notable achievements on both fronts. The publications on Earth structure ranged from those on the Australian cratons, lithosphere of Northeast Asia, Western USA, Africa, the mid mantle structure and discontinuities (a paper just accepted by Nature Communications), to the attenuation structure of the inner core. The publications on the earthquake sources included methodological improvements within the Bayesian framework with the application to the volcanic and geothermal areas and the inclusion of the effects of heterogeneous Earth structure and application to the Australasian region. A significant breakthrough and a new direction of research in seismology is the Earth’s correlation wavefield, the main PhD thesis topic of Son Pham (to be submitted to Nature).

In mathematical geophysics the focus has been in several areas, especially in understanding how to exploit concepts of sparsity in ill-constrained inverse problems; and in utilizing machine learning algorithms more generally. A particular effort has been made to understand the relationship between Gaussian processes and geophysical inversion.

Members of the group have been active participants in the newly form Data Science Frontier research theme. In addition to stimulating data science focus across the school, a new project has been initiated in collaboration with Geoscience Australia on `Data Analytics in solid Earth geophysics’, which will focus on translating probabilistic inversion algorithms, developed within the group in recent years, to an operational environment, largely through development of flexible software packages.

AuScope operations and maintenance funding was approved for next two years to continue our national passive seismic imaging program. We entered a new round of negotiations on the WRA station maintenance and operation with the UN in Vienna, and we are anticipating an outcome of the Marine National Facility proposal to use RV Investigator for a deployment of OBS and island seismometers in the Southern Ocean, which would present a new research direction for the Group.

Notable achievements

Professor Emeritus Brian L.N. Kennett was awarded the Inge Lehmann Medal by the American Geophysical Union.

Dr Davies was awarded the Anton Hales Medal by the Australian Academy of Science.

Dr Valentine was awarded an ARC DECRA for his project titled “Enabling next-generation earthquake and tsunami warning”.

A/Prof Tkalčić’s book “The Earth’s Inner Revealed by Observational Seismology” was published early this year by Cambridge University Press.

Staff news

Associate Professor Meghan Miller arrived in RSES early this year.

Dr Rhodri Davies received his tenure in December 2017.

Dr Lauren Waszek, ARC DECRA Fellow, arrived in RSES early this year.

Dr Benoit Tauzin joined the group as a Research Fellow.

Dr Marija Mustać joined the group as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

Dr Sima Mousavi joined the group as a Researcher.

Mr Qi Li resigned from his position as a technical officer to accept a new position in the automobile industry.

Mr Sam Rayapaty left his post as the Operations Manager in Warramunga and joined the group in Canberra as a technical officer.

Mr Joel Tatapudi joined the group as the Operations Manager in Warramunga.

Mr Rajesh Erigela joined the group as the Technical Assistant in Warramunga.

Student news

Chris Mathews started as a PhD student and is supervised by Rhodri Davies.

Thomas Duvernay started as a PhD student and is supervised by Dr Rhodri Davies.

Yuwei Li started as a PhD student and is supervised by A/Prof Meghan Miller.

Shubham Argrawal is a new MSc student and is supervised by Dr Caroline Eakin.

Marija Mustać (supervised by A/Prof H. Tkalčić) received her PhD in March 2017. Her thesis title was “Seismic moment tensor inversion using Bayesian Inference”. She accepted a postdoctoral position in the group and is actively searching for academic opportunities in Europe.

Tanja Pejić (supervised by A/Prof H. Tkalčić) received her PhD in November 2017. Her thesis title was “Attenuation tomography of the upper inner core”. She accepted a continuing position in Geoscience Australia.

Muriel Naguit (supervised by Prof P. Cummins) received her PhD in June 2017. Her thesis title was “Towards Earthquake-Resilient Buildings: Rupture Process & Exposure/Damage Analysis of the 2013 Mw 7.1 Bohol Philippines Earthquake”. She resumed a position in Philippines. 

Rhys Hawkins (supervised by Prof M. Sambridge) submitted his PhD thesis in August 2017.

Athanasius Cipta (supervised by Prof P. Cummins) submitted his PhD thesis in November 2017.

Tim Jones (supervised by Dr R. Davies) is about to submit his PhD thesis.

Emeritus, Honorary staff and Visitors in the group and their contributions

Emeritus Professor Brian L.N. Kennett continues with strong international presence and high publication output. He is a recipient of this year’s Inge Lehmann Medal by the American Geophysical Union.

The group hosted Dr David Al-Attar (University of Cambridge) for several weeks in July, while he worked with Dr Andrew Valentine on aspects of normal mode seismology.

The group hosted the intern Claire Richardson sponsored by Incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology (USA) for three months, while she worked with A/Prof Tkalčić and Dr Mousavi on imaging of the lowermost mantle. A poster was presented at the AGU Meeting.

The group hosted Dr Stefanie Donner (University of La Munich) for several weeks in September, while she worked with A/Prof Tkalčić, Dr Mustać and Dr Hejrani on aspects of earthquake source physics involving rotational seismology.

The group hosted A/Prof Fabrice Fontaine (University of La Reunion) in October for two weeks, while he worked with A/Prof Tkalčić and Dr Hejrani on aspects of volcano seismology.

Dr. Endra Gunawan and Dr Mohammad Asrurifak (Bandung Institute of Technology) visited the Group in March to finalise contributions to the 2017 revision of the Indonesian national earthquake hazard map with Prof Cummins.

Mr Mudrik Daryono and Ms Shindy Rosalia (Bandung Institute of Technology) visited the Group in Nov-Dec to undertake research on active faults in Indonesia and seismic ambient noise tomography of western Java, respectively in collaboration with Prof Cummins.

Outreach activities & Service roles external to ANU

Group members continue to be involved in numerous editorial boards and external committees’ activities outlined in individual submissions.

The Group continues to maintain and operate the Warramunga Seismic and Infrasound Station in Northern Territory on behalf of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation at the United Nations to fulfil Australia’s international obligations.

Outreach highlights this year include the Group’s first recordings in Canberra of “footyquake” during the Raiders game in August and “jetquake” during the SkyFire event and Super Hornet flyover back in March. The work on “footyquake” by Salmon, Eakin and Sambridge was nominated the ANU media & outreach awards.