Staff Profiles

Dr Richard Hobbs, PhD

Contact Dr Richard Hobbs (email at r.w.hobbs@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

08/1985 - 07/1989 Research Associate, BIRPS, Bullard Labs, University of Cambridge
08/1989 - 03/1990 Senior Research Associate, BIRPS, Bullard Labs, University of Cambridge
04/1990 - 03/1998 Director, BIRPS Core Group, Bullard Labs, University of Cambridge
04/1998 - 09/2003 Principle Investigator, Atlantic Margins Project, Bullard Labs, University of Cambridge
10/2003 - 09/2008 NERC Advanced Research Fellow, Department of Earth Science, University of Durham
10/2008 - Present Senior Lecturer, Department of Earth Science, University of Durham

My research is based around applied wavefield propagation and seismic data processing. In particular, the acquisition and processing of seismic reflection and refraction data and the development of software to investigate the propagation of seismic waves in three dimensional heterogenious media. I am currently involved in a number of projects, described below.

Fast 3-D viscoelastic modelling: critical to improving methodology is understanding of how seismic waves interact with the heterogeneous geology. This project has been funded both by the NERC and DERA and has generated a fast and efficient full-waveform modelling scheme. The code can successfully handle 1, 2 or 3 dimensions with plane, cylindrical or point sources in a model that can contain any combination of material with acoustic, elastic or viscoelastic properties. The principal advantage over other codes, e.g. 3-D finite difference, is that the code can run on any workstation or fast PC and does not require the use of a parallel super computer.

Seismic Oceanography is a new dicipline that brings the power and resolution of the seismic reflection method to bare on Oceanographic issues (EU funded NEST project - GO (Geophysical Oceanography) with a total value of 2.7M Euro). The project undertook joint acquisition and modelling to provide a benchmark calibration of the method in the Gulf of Cadiz where the hot saline water flows out of the Straits of Gibralter and mixes with the North Atlantic Water. We sucessfully tracked a small Meddy (an underwater vortex of Mediterranean Water) and acquired high resolution images of its detailed temperature and salinity structure. This new tool has the potential to address issues on mixing in oceans and provide a means to monitor change. I was also involved in a CNR (Venice) led experiemnt to use seismic oceanography to monitor dense water currents along the western margin  of the Adriatic Sea.

Volcanic Margins Reseach Consortium is a national research effort sponsored by industry focussed on continental margins that have experienced a major volcanic influence, eg the Faroes margin to the northwest of Britain. The extensive extrusive basalt flows and intrusive dykes and sill create problems for traditional mapping of these margins. The project combines traditional geological mapping and innovative remote sensing to help improve understanding of the evolution of these margins.

Bayesian methods provide the means to quantify uncertainty given some observed  data and some prior information about the problem. I am developing techniques based on Bayesian principles, in conjunction with the Department of mathematical Sciences, to provide robust estimates of uncertainty for a range of geophysical problems: the computation of the velocity/depth model used in pre-stack depth migration; uncertainties in predicting over-pressure (GEOPOP3) and of seismic data; and joint uncertainties for combinations of complementary data such as gravity, seismic refraction and magnetotelluric data.

OSCAR is a NERC funded Consortium Grant (Durham, NOC, UCL and Manchester) that aims to map the heat and mass fluxes at a mid-ocean ridge. New ocean crust is formed at the mid-ocean ridge as the Earth's plates move. This crust is rapidly cooled by the hydrothermal circulation of sea-water through cracks and pores which removes the heat but also chemically reacts with the rock to deposit and remove minerals. The waste heat is then disspipated in the abysaal oceans. Recent modelling of ocean circulation has shown that including more accurate maps of this geothermal heat input  has significnat effects on the deep water circulation.

Committee and Society Service

Reviewer for the European Science Foundation

Fellowships

1. 2003: NERC Advanced Research Fellow
2. 2003: Senior Research Fellow, Cambridge

Research Interests

• Controlled source seismic data (acquisition, processing and interpretation)
• Seismic Oceanography
• 3D seismic wavefield modelling
• Bayesian methods to quantify uncertainty
• Joint inversion

Selected Publications

Journal papers: academic

• Caiado, Camila C. S., Goldstein, Michael & Hobbs, Richard W. (2012). Bayesian Strategies to Assess Uncertainty in Velocity Models. Bayesian Analysis 7(1): 211-234.
• Mohamed-Ali, M. A., Herbich, T., Grzymski, K. & Hobbs, R. (2012). Magnetic Gradient and Electrical Resistivity Tomography Surveys in Meroe, the Capital City of the Kush Kingdom, Sudan. Archaeological Prospection 19(1): 59-68.
• Vsemirnova, E. A., Hobbs, R. W. & Hosegood, P. (2012). Mapping turbidity layers using seismic oceanography methods. Ocean Science 8(1): 11.
• Sheen, K. L., White, N. J., Caulfield, C. P. & Hobbs, R. W. (2012). Seismic imaging of a large horizontal vortex at abyssal depths beneath the Sub-Antarctic Front. Nature Geoscience 5(8): 542-546.
• Carniel, Sandro, Bergamasco, Andrea, Book, Jeffrey W., Hobbs, Richard W., Sclavo, Mauro & Wood, Warren T. (2012). Tracking bottom waters in the Southern Adriatic Sea applying seismic oceanography techniques. Continental Shelf Research 44(SI): 30-38.
• Moorkamp, M., Heincke, B., Jegen, M., Roberts, A. & Hobbs, R. (2011). A framework for 3-D joint inversion of MT, gravity and seismic refraction data. Geophysical Journal International 184(1): 477–493.
• Sheen, Katy L., White, Nicky, Caulfield, Colm P. & Hobbs, Richard W. (2011). Estimating Geostrophic Shear from Seismic Images of Oceanic Structure. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 28(9): 1149.
• Sargent, Colin, Hobbs, Richard W. & Groecke, Darren R. (2011). Improving the interpretability of air-gun seismic reflection data using deterministic filters: A case history from offshore Cape Leeuwin, southwest Australia. Geophysics 76(3): B71-B84.
• Maloney, D., Sargent, C., Direen, N. G., Hobbs, R. W. & Gröcke. D.R. (2011). Re-evaluation of the Mentelle Basin, a polyphase rifted margin basin, offshore southwest Australia: new insights from integrated regional seismic datasets. Solid Earth 2(2): 107-123.
• Nelson, Catherine E., Jerram, Dougal A., Hobbs, Richard W., Terrington, Ricky & Kessler, Holger (2011). Reconstructing flood basalt lava flows in three dimensions using terrestrial laser scanning. Geosphere 7(1): 87-96.
• Flecha, I., Carbonell, R., Hobbs, R. W. & Zeyen, H. (2011). Some improvements in subbasalt imaging using pre-stack depth migration. Solid Earth 2(1): 1.
• Carniel, Sandro, Bergamasco, Andrea Book, Jeffrey W. Hobbs, Richard W. , Sclavo, Mauro & Wood, Warren T. (2011). Tracking bottom waters in the Southern Adriatic Sea applying seismic oceanography techniques. Continental Shelf Research
• Quentel, E., Carton, X., Gutscher, M. -A. & Hobbs, R. (2010). Detecting and characterizing mesoscale and submesoscale structures of Mediterranean water from joint seismic and hydrographic measurements in the Gulf of Cadiz. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L06604.
• Papenberg, C., Klaeschen, D. Krahmann, G. & Hobbs, R. W. (2010). Ocean temperature and salinity inverted from combined hydrographic and seismic data. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L04601.
• Buffett, G. G., Hurich, C. A., Vsemirnova, E. A., Hobbs, R. W., Sallares, V., Carbonell, R., Klaeschen, D. & Biescas, B. (2010). Stochastic Heterogeneity Mapping around a Mediterranean salt lens. Ocean Science 6(1): 423-429.
• Menesguen, C., Hua, B. L., Papenberg, C., Klaeschen, D., Geli, L. & Hobbs, R. (2009). Effect of bandwidth on seismic imaging of rotating stratified turbulence surrounding an anticyclonic eddy from field data and numerical simulations. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D05.
• Hobbs, R. W., Klaeschen, D., Sallares, V., Vsemirnova, E. & Papenberg, C. (2009). Effect of seismic source bandwidth on reflection sections to image water structure. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D08.
• Vsemirnova, E., Hobbs, R., Serra, N., Klaeschen, D. & Quentel, E. (2009). Estimating internal wave spectra using constrained models of the dynamic ocean. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D07.
• Sheen, K. L., White, N. J. & Hobbs, R. W. (2009). Estimating mixing rates from seismic images of oceanic structure. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D04.
• Klaeschen, D., Hobbs, R. W., Krahmann, G., Papenberg, C. & Vsemirnova, E. (2009). Estimating movement of reflectors in the water column using seismic oceanography. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D03.
• Nelson, Catherine E., Jerram, Dougal A. & Hobbs, Richard W. (2009). Flood basalt facies from borehole data: implications for prospectivity and volcanology in volcanic rifted margins. Petroleum Geoscience 15(4): 313-324.
• Geli, L., Cosquer, E., Hobbs, R. W., Klaeschen, D., Papenberg, C., Thomas, Y., Menesguen, C. & Hua, B. L. (2009). High resolution seismic imaging of the ocean structure using a small volume airgun source array in the Gulf of Cadiz. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L00D09.
• Jegen, Marion D., Hobbs, Richard W., Tarits, Pascal & Chave, Alan (2009). Joint inversion of marine magnetotelluric and gravity data incorporating seismic constraints Preliminary results of sub-basalt imaging off the Faroe Shelf. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 282(1-4): 47-55.
• Buffett, G. G., Biescas, B., Pelegri, J. L., Machin, F., Sallares, V., Carbonell, R., Klaeschen, D. & Hobbs, R. (2009). Seismic reflection along the path of the Mediterranean Undercurrent. Continental Shelf Research 29(15): 1848-1860.
• Watts, A. B., Rodger, M., Peirce, C., Greenroyd, C. J. & Hobbs, R. W. (2009). Seismic structure, gravity anomalies, and flexure of the Amazon continental margin, NE Brazil. Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth 114: B07103.
• Jerram, Dougal A., Single, Richard T., Hobbs, Richard W. & Nelson, Catherine E. (2009). Understanding the offshore flood basalt sequence using onshore volcanic facies analogues: an example from the Faroe-Shetland basin. Geological Magazine 146(3 ): 353-367.
• Pearse, S., Hobbs, R. & Bosch, M. (2009). Using a local Monte Carlo strategy to assess 1-D velocity models from wide-angle seismic travel-time data and application to the Rockall Trough. Tectonophysics 472(1-4): 284-289.

Show all publications