Staff Profiles
Dr Jonathan Imber
Contact Dr Jonathan Imber (email at jonathan.imber@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
1994 BSc (Hons) Geology, 1st class
1998 PhD Structural Geology, Durham University
1998-2000 Senior Research Assistant, Fault Analysis Group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Liverpool University
2000-2001 Research Fellow, Dept. of Geology, University College Dublin, Ireland
2002-2004 PDRA, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Durham University
2005-current Statoil Lecturer, Reactivation Research Group, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Durham University
2008-2012 Director of Postgraduate Research, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Durham University
2012-2016 Royal Society Industry Fellow (Fellowship held with Badley Geoscience Ltd and Geospatial Research Ltd)
Committee and Society Service
2006-2009: Treasurer, Tectonic Studies Group of the Geological Society of London
Conferences and workshops convened
2005 "3D Visualisation Workshop", BSRG AGM, Durham (with Holliman, Jones, McCaffrey)
2006 EGU General Assembly Session "The architecture, evolution and mechanical behaviour of fault systems in strike-slip and extensional settings", Vienna (with Collettini, Holdsworth)
2006 GSA Penrose Conference "Unlocking 3D Earth Systems - Harnesssing New Digital Technologies to Revolutionize Multi-Scale Geologic Models", Durham (with McCaffrey, Holliman, Holdsworth, Howell, Wawrzyniec)
2006 GSA Meeting Session on 3D & 4D visualisation techniques, Philadelphia (with Whitmeyer, McCaffrey, Reynolds)
2007 GSA Meeting Session "Reservoirs to Ruptures: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Studying Fault Rock Distribution and Evolution in the Seismogenic Crust", Denver (with Wightman, Smith, Holdsworth, Shipton)
2010 PETEX/Petroleum Group/AAPG "Petroleum Geoscience Collaboration Showcase", London (with Archer, Huuse, Vining, Neilson, Garrent, Law, Lagrillier)
2012 PETEX/Petroleum Group/AAPG "Petroleum Geoscience Collaboration Showcase", London (with Huuse, Hansen, Harker, Jackson, Lagrilliere, Paton, Sayers)
2012 "European Shale Gas: Risks, Regulation and Research Challenges", Durham (with Armstrong, Davies, Gluyas, Herringshaw Newport and IGEM)
Editorial Roles
2006-present Editorial Board, Geological Magazine
2007 Associate Editor, Geosphere
2007 Co-editor, "The internal structure of fault zones: fluid flow and mechanical properties", Geological Society of London Special Publication 299 (with Wibberley, Kurz, Holdsworth, Collettini)
2012-present Editorial Board, Geological Journal
Prizes & Awards
2003: Edinburgh Geological Society Clough Memorial Award
Career Research Highlights
a) Developed revised conceptual model for crustal-scale coneptual fault zones
b) Took part in one of the first detailed studies using Distinct Element Method numerical modelling code to investigate fault growth
c) Took part in one of the first studies to recognise syn- to early-post breakup transpressional deformation in ocean margin basins
Recent & Current Research Grants
2005 Statoil (UK) Ltd, Mid-Jurassic fault growth on the Halten Terrace
2006 ITF Joint Industry Project (BG Group, Shell & DTI), Fractured Reservoir 3D Digital Atlas
2006 NERC CASE Open Competition Studentship with Statoil (UK) Ltd, Transfer zones on the NE Atlantic Margin
2006 Statoil (UK) Ltd Studentship, Geometry and kinematics of transfer zones on the Faroe Islands
2007 NERC CASE Open Competition Studentship with BG Group, Geometry and Kinematics of Fault Relay Zones in 3D: Using Outcrop Analogues to Improve 3D Seismic Interpretation
2009 NERC CASE Open Competition Studentship with IHS and Badley Geoscience Ltd, Geological characterisation of deep saline aquifers on the UK continental shelf using borehole and 3D seismic data
2010 NERC Research CASE studentship with BP, Multiphase rifting and oblique tectonics in the offshore Sirte basin, Libya (PI McCaffrey)
2011 ONE NorthEast/DEI, Lithological controls on natural fractures in shale basins
2012 EPSRC/DEI, Modelling Natural Fractures in Shales (PI Trevelyan, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences)
2012 Royal Society Industry Fellowship (with Yielding [Badley Geoscience Ltd] and Jones [Geospatial Research Ltd])
Teaching Areas
Level 1
- Co-leader Lake District Field Trip
- Metamorphic Petrology (Earth Materials module; 2004-05)
- Understanding Earth Sciences
- Field Studies
Level 2
- Co-leader Assynt Field Trip (2005)
- Structural Geology & Tectonics (module coordinator)
Level 3
- Continental Tectonics (Dynamic Earth module; 2005-2009)
- Traps & Seals (Sedimentary & Petroleum Systems module)
- Mapping Dissertation supervision
Level 4
- Leader, Earth Sciences Field Seminar to Utah (2010)
- Leader, Earth Sciences Field Seminar to the Alps (2007)
- Project tutor, Earth Science into Society (with Statoil)
- Research Project supervision
Research Interests
- Kinematic, thermal and rheological evolution of faults and shear zones through outcrop and seismic observations and modelling studies
Selected Publications
Books: edited
- Wibberley, C.A.J., Kurz, W., Imber, J., Holdsworth, R.E. & Collettini, C. (2008). The Internal Structure of Fault Zones: Implications for Mechanical and Fluid-Flow Properties. Geological Society Publishing House.
Books: sections
- Kurz, W., Imber, J., Wibberley, C.A.J., Holdsworth, R.E. & Collettini, C. (2008). The internal structure of fault zones: fluid flow and mechanical properties. In The internal structure of fault zones: fluid flow and mechanical properties. Wibberley, C.A.J., Kurz, W., Imber, J., Holdsworth, R.E. & Collettini, C. Geological Society Publishing House. 299: 1-3.
Journal papers: academic
- Imber, J., Perry, T., Jones, R.R. & Wightman, R. (2012). Do cataclastic deformation bands form parallel to lines of no finite elongation (LNFE) or zero extension directions?. Journal of Structural Geology 45: 158-172.
- Walker, R.J., Holdsworth, R.E., Imber, J. & Ellis, D. (2012). Fault zone evolution in layered basalt sequences: a case study from the Faroe Islands, NE Atlantic Margin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 124(7-8): 1382-1393
- Long, J.J. & Imber, J. (2012). Strain compatibility and fault linkage in relay zones on normal faults. Journal of Structural Geology 36: 16-26.
- Long, J.J. & Imber, J. (2011). Geological controls on fault relay zone scaling. Journal of Structural Geology 33(12): 1790-1800.
- Walker, R.J., Holdsworth, R.E., Imber, J. & Ellis, D. (2011). Onshore evidence for progressive changes in rifting directions during continental break-up in the NE Atlantic. Journal of the Geological Society 168(1): 27-48.
- Long, J.J. & Imber, J. (2010). Geometrically coherent continuous deformation in the volume surrounding a seismically imaged normal fault-array. Journal of Structural Geology 32(2): 222-234.
- Marsh, N., Imber, J., Holdsworth, R.E., Brockbank, P. & Ringrose, P. (2010). The structural evolution of the Halten Terrace, offshore Mid-Norway: extensional fault growth and strain localisation in a multi-layer brittle-ductile system. Basin Research 22(2): 195-214.
- Moy, D.J. & Imber, J. (2009). A critical analysis of the structure and tectonic significance of rift-oblique lineaments ('transfer zones') in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic succession of the Faroe-Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic margin. Journal of the Geological Society 166(5): 831-844.
- Imber, J, Tuckwell, G.W, Childs, C, Walsh, J.J, Manzocchi, T, Heath, A.E, Bonson, C.G & Strand, J (2004). Three-dimensional distinct element modelling of relay growth and breaching along normal faults. Journal of Structural Geology 26(10): 1897-1911.
- Imber, J, Holdsworth, R.E, Butler, C.A & Strachan, R.A (2001). A reappraisal of the Sibson-Scholz fault zone model: The nature of the frictional to viscous (‘brittle-ductile’) transition along a long-lived crustal-scale fault, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Tectonics 20(5): 601-624.