Seismology & Geophysics

Geophysics and seismology research at UCSB includes tectonophysics, strong motion seismology, volcano seismology and acoustics, infrasound, environmental seismology, ambient noise, seismic tomography, inversion methodologies, and field deployments to gather new geophysical data. We investigate the source and propagation of seismic and atmospheric acoustic waves from earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, ocean waves, surficial mass movements, and many other sources. We also use seismic and acoustic techniques to image Earth structure at multiple scales from deep mantle to upper atmosphere. Graduate students are involved in this research at all stages, including in field data acquisition; data processing with computationally intensive techniques; waveform modeling, inversion, and interpretation. Examples of current projects include imaging of the East African rift system, reconstruction of historic California seismicity, marine expeditions to probe small-scale convection beneath the Pacific plate, and collecting, analyzing, and modeling seismic and acoustic data from multiple active volcanoes worldwide.