COMET Webinar Series

Webinar Series 2024

 

4th December 2024, 16:00 UK time

Dr Rita Kounoudis, University of Oxford, UK

Variable Thermal and Magmatic Modification of the East African Lithosphere

Please register at: https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ax8_UmCVQn2VDyaKgL-83A

(After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar)

Abstract

Continental flood basalt provinces mark Earth’s most voluminous magmatic events. Often associated with mantle plumes, their development is expected to alter the thermo-mechanical structure of the lithospheric mantle significantly. However, since post-large igneous province (LIP) cooling re-defines the base of tectonic plates, the extent of this modification, including its development through time, can only be assessed via theoretical models or from the geological record preserved at ancient LIPs. Here, we present new models of crustal and mantle seismic structure below the Turkana Depression of northern Kenya/southern Ethiopia where, despite presently sitting atop African superplume mantle, the lithosphere remains surprisingly un-perturbed by plume-related heating and magmatism. Evidence for lower crustal intrusions—ubiquitous below the flood-basalt-capped Ethiopian Plateau to the north—is comparatively lacking below the Depression. The mantle lithosphere has also retained its cool, fast wave-speed ‘lid’ character, in stark contrast to the heavily modified Plateau. The contrasting seismic and thermal structure of these neighbouring terranes may in part owe its existence to the African plate’s slow northward motion during the Cenozoic. It is the Ethiopian Plateau that lay atop the initial, hottest pulse of plume material that impinged on the lithosphere during Eocene-Oligocene times. As well as plume-exposure, the Depression’s unique extensional history is also likely to play an important role in plate modification. While pre-thinned lithosphere can, in some cases, enhance magmatism following plume arrival, the Turkana Depression’s earlier (Mesozoic) episode of failed rifting appears to have instead suppressed its potential for further thermo-mechanical modification by rendering the lithosphere dry and refractory.

 


13th November 2024

Stanley Yip, University of Leeds

Integrating measurements of deformation and degassing offers insights into magma compressibility and magmatic systems


9th October 2024

Mark Bemelmans, University of Bristol

What is hiding within the pixels? The use of high-resolution SAR for volcano monitoring


1st May 2024

Natalie Harvey, University of Reading

Enhancing confidence in volcanic ash forecasts: Approaches for quantifying and reducing uncertainty


27th March 2024

Fabien Albino, Institute of Earth Sciences (ISTERRE)

Using local GNSS observations for improving InSAR atmospheric corrections over tropical volcanoes

 


14th February 2024

Grace Nield, Durham University

Solid Earth Deformation in the Antarctic Peninsula


24th January 2024

Alexis Hrysiewicz, University College Dublin

SAR and InSAR application on temperate raised peatlands


6th December 2023

Ben Esse, University of Manchester, UK

From measurements to processes: what volcanic gas emissions can tell us about volcanic eruptions


15th November 2023 

Jessica Payne, University of Leeds, UK  

Nationwide assessment of subsidence induced hazard in Iran using Sentinel-1 InSAR


1st November 2023 

Nicolás Castro-Perdomo, Indiana University, US  

A Comprehensive Model of Crustal Deformation in the Mediterranean and Middle East: Insights from GNSS Data


25 October 2023  

 Dr Jean-François Smekens (University of Oxford)

 Aerosol formation in young volcanic plumes: insights from OP-FTIR measurements


17 May 2023

Dr Simon Daout (CRPG/ENSG)

Along-strike variation of the strain partitioning within the Apennines as seen from large-scale multi-temporal InSAR analysis


26 April 2023

Siyu Wang (University of Victoria, Canada) & Dr Yingfeng Zhan (China Earthquake Administration, Institute of Geology)

Rupture and deformation pattern of the Kepingtag fold-and-thrust belt, insights from the 2020 Mw6.0 Jiashi Earthquake, SW Tian Shan


 8 March 2023

Miss Cindy Lim Shin Yee (University of Bristol)

Searching for induced small earthquakes using deep learning

Dr Lin Shen (University of Leeds)

Large-scale interseismic strain accumulation along the Altyn Tagh Fault determined from InSAR

Dr Samantha Engwell (BGS)

Reaching new heights: the evolution of volcanic plume information


 20 February 2023

Kevin Wong (University of Bologna/University of Leeds)

pyMelt: new pythonic methods for calculating the petrological behaviour of Earth’s melting mantle


25 January 2023

Sam Wimpenny (University of Leeds)

COMET’s Research Fieldwork Guidelines: Safe, Inclusive and Equitable Field Research


1 December 2022

Edna Dualeh (University of Bristol)

Potential of Synthetic Aperture Radar backscatter for monitoring volcanic eruptions

 


26 October 2022

Ian Pierce (University of Oxford)

Mountain building: insights from neotectonics

 


21 September 2022

David Pyle (University of Oxford)

What drives explosive volcanic eruptions, and their impacts? Insights from forensic analysis of past events


24 August 2022

CH Wendy Tsai (University of Oxford) & Aisling O’Kane (University of Cambridge)

Probing the Upper End of Intra-continental Earthquake Magnitude: a Prehistoric Example from the Dzhungarian and Lepsy Faults of Kazakhstan

Seismotectonics of the NW Himalayas with insights for seismic hazard


22nd June 2022

Qi Ou (University of Leeds)

Large-scale strain mapping over the northeast Tibetan Plateau


18 May 2022

Alessandro Novellino (BGS)

The use of satellite imagery during emergency disaster response: the 2022 Tonga eruption


27 April 2022

Vicki Smith (BGS)

2022: A Space Geodesy


6 April 2022

Alba M. Rodríguez Padilla (University of California, Davis)

Widespread Rock Damage from the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquakes


9 March 2022

Dr Philip Benson (University of Portsmouth) presented the COMET webinar:

The origin of stress- and fluid- driven seismicity in volcanic settings: a laboratory perspective


23 February 2022

Sophie Miocevich (University of Cambridge) & Dan Gittins (University of Oxford) presented the COMET student webinar:

Testing the importance of sagduction:  Insights from the structure and petrology of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex, northwest Scotland

Characterizing the along-strike length of creep events along the San Andreas Fault.


19 January 2022

Dr Luke Wedmore (University of Bristol) presented a COMET webinar:

Seismic hazard in East Africa from continental rifting of thick lithosphere

25 November 2021

Thinking of applying for a PhD?

Watch a webinar supported by COMET, where SENSE CDT and their panelists discuss how to apply for PhDs.

17 November 2021

Dr Camilla Penney (University of Cambridge) presented a COMET webinar:

Imagining earthquakes: the role of qualitative data in seismic risk analysis

3 November 2021

Associate Professor Darío Solano (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico) presented a COMET+ webinar:

Geohazard assessment of Mexico City’s Metro System from SAR interferometry observations

20 October 2021

Dr. Ruth Amey (University of Leeds) gives a COMET webinar:

Using Satellites to Inform Seismic Hazard and Risk Estimates in Central Asia

29 September 2021

Dr Thomas J. Aubry (University of Cambridge) gives a  COMET+ webinar:

Impacts of climate change on the stratospheric volcanic sulfate aerosol lifecycle and radiative

18 August 2021

Dr Isabelle Taylor gives a COMET webinar:

Measurements of volcanic plumes with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)

14 July 2021

Prof Chris Jackson gives a COMET webinar:

Deformation above inflating igneous sills in sedimentary basins

28 May 2021

Prof Endra Gunawan gives a COMET+ webinar:

Present-day crustal deformation of Java, Indonesia using GPS data

12 May 2021

Pui Anantrasirichai gives a COMET webinar:

Monitoring volcano deformation with InSAR & machine learning

17 March 2021

Iris van Zelst gives a COMET webinar:

101 Geodynamic Modelling Applied to Subduction

24 February 2021

Milan Lazecky and Yasser Maghsoudi give a COMET webinar:

COMET LiCSAR system for measuring tectonic and volcanic deformation by Sentinel-1 interferometry

3 February 2021 

Connor Drooff and Xueming Xue give a two-part COMET+ webinar:

Slip and Slip Deficit: The M 7.8 July 2020 Simeonof Earthquake and Interseismic Coupling of the Aleutian Megathrust

A 25‐Year History of Volcano Magma Supply in the East Central Aleutian Arc, Alaska

 

20 January 2021 

Fabien Albino gives a COMET webinar: How active volcanism changes topography: Insights from satellite InSAR measurements at Agung and Fuego

30 July 2020 

Prof. Richard Walker gives a COMET Webinar: Earthquakes of the Silk Road – reinterpreting the historic and prehistoric ruptures of central Asia

25 June 2020 

Sam Wimpenny gives a COMET Webinar: Measurements of the Rheology of Active Faults

28 May 2020 

Tamarah King gives a COMET Webinar: Movers and shakers down-under: what Australian surface ruptures tell us about intraplate faults, seismic hazard, and reverse earthquake strong ground motions

21 April 2020 

Jessica Hawthorne gives a COMET Webinar: Which fault zone processes could cause slow earthquakes? Constraints from scaling and atmospheric modulation

10 February 2020

Jonathan Weiss & Chris Rollins give a COMET Webinar: High-resolution velocity, strain, and earthquake hazard models in Anatolia from InSAR, GNSS and seismicity

25 November 2019

Richard Walters gives a COMET Webinar: The 2016 Central Italy Earthquakes and the Global Importance of Seismic Sequences

30 October 2019

Evgenia Ilyinskaya gives a COMET Webinar: “The drizzle burns my eyes and throat”: impacts of volcanic gas and aerosol on the environment and health

10 September 2019

Matt Watson gives a COMET Webinar: The fatal eruption of Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala – causes, consequences and a brighter future?

30 July 2019

Austin Elliott gives a COMET Webinar: New Insights from Old Earthquakes using Photogrammetry and Early Seismograms.

20 December 2018

Tim Wright gives the RAS Group Award Lecture on behalf of COMET


29 November 2018

Pablo González (Universidad de Liverpool) presenta la charla:


Volcanoes: from fuming vents to extinction events

18 October 2018

Tamsin Mather delivers the 2018 Rosalind Franklin Award Lecture at the Royal Society.


A day in the life (of a volcano-seismologist)

19th July 2018

Dr. Paddy Smith discusses his work on Montserrat as a guest speaker during the University of Leeds Institute for Geophysics and Tectonics PhD mini-conference.


What drives volcanic unrest?

17th July 2018

Juliet Biggs discusses the insights from COMET responses to recent seismic crises around the world.

Exploring the controls on earthquakes and tectonics: from the plains of India to the greatest mountain range on Earth

3 May 2018

Alex Copley discusses the material properties of the lithosphere and how these vary over space and time.


Integrating satellite and ground-based measurements to understand volcanic behaviour

29 March 2018

Professor Tamsin Mather discusses the integration of satellite and ground-based measurements to understand volcanic behaviour.

And you can also watch the Q&A session.


Probing the rheology of the continental lithosphere in the new era of big data geodesy

19 September 2017
 Professor Tim Wright gives the first ever COMET webinar on what geodesy can tell us about the continental lithosphere.


Monitoring our dynamic planet with satellite geodesy

See a replay of Tim Wright’s public lecture at the Royal Astronomical Society.