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Department of Earth Sciences

Staff and Postgraduate Students

Dr Maxwell Wilkinson, BSc (Hons) Geology

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41712
Room number: ECS 1.07

Contact Dr Maxwell Wilkinson (email at maxwell.wilkinson@durham.ac.uk)

Active research interests

My current active research is within the following topics / disciplines:

  • Neotectonics: tectonic geomorphology - earthquake geology, surface rupture mapping & postseismic motion study.
  • Digital field technology: terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), survey grade GPS (RTK, static, fast-static), ground penetrating radar (GPR).
  • Topographic & structural data analysis & vizualisation: topographic and structural modelling of tectonically active regions using both ground and airborne based LiDAR datasets, SRTM and satellite imagery. I am currently developing analysis and vizualisation workflows for GoCAD, octave / matlab, ArcGIS and Google Earth.
  • Regional structural modelling in areas of potential petroleum exploration.

I am also interested in:

  • Global tectonics, regional geodynamics - study of the resulting tectonic and surface processes.

Awards

09/2011: INQUA travel grant to attend workshop in Corinth, Greece.

01/2010: Awarded a TSG travel bursary (£500) to present my work investigating afterslip following the L'Aquila earthquake at an international conference. - I will be presenting my work at EGU 2010, see below for details.

09/2008: Awarded PhD funding through the Durham University Doctoral Fellowship scheme. The key objectives of the scheme are to attract outstanding research students to the University and to enhance research in academic departments.

Biography

06/2010 - 07/2010: Industry Intern (self-arranged): Network Mapping - a leading provider of tailored LiDAR survey acquisition and processing solutions. I worked as part of the Remote Sensing and Classification teams within the data analysis and processing department. I was tasked with software appraisal as well as the assessment and redesign of present workflows to improve productivity.

09/2008 - 02/2012: Ongoing PhD, Durham University. Funded through the Doctoral Fellowship Scheme.

2004 - 2008: BSc Geology. 1st class Honors. University of Edinburgh

Update:

08/04/2010: First research paper 'Partitioned postseismic deformation associated with the 2009 Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture measured using a terrestrial laser scanner' accepted for publication.

Abstract link: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2010/2010GL043099.shtml

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08/05/2009: New project direction, following the L'Aquila earthquake (06/04/09)

'A LiDAR and field study of surface rupture and post-seismic slip for the 6th April 2009 L’Aquila earthquake (M6.3)'

Supervisors: Ken McCaffrey (Durham University), Gerald Roberts (Birkbeck/UCL), Patience Cowie (University of Edinburgh), Richard Phillips (University of Leeds)

In the 124 days following the L’Aquila earthquake (M6.3), 6th April,central Italy, I conducted a series of LiDAR surveys at five sites of surface rupture along the Paganica fault. The aim of the work was to quantify and monitor the near field post-seismic slip in the hangingwall of the active normal fault. I developed a post-acquisition workflow to register the scan data into a footwall static reference frame and have been successful in capturing the decaying slip and deformation on a millimetre scale which occurred in the hangingwall at three sites since the main event. I am currently processing the data for and preparing my work for publication.

My research interests are focussed on the understanding of the mechanics of active fault systems through near field surface measurements using tripod mounted laser scan datasets, ground truthed by kinematic scarp and rupture measurements.

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Original PhD project title:
'Strain accumulation at the lateral tips of active normal faults: a combined LiDAR and field structural geology study of extensional deformation in the Apennines, Italy.'

The Apennines have been an area of SW-NE extension since NE-ward thrusting ceased during the Pliocene. An array of seismically active crustal-scale normal faults now exist, including areas where the fault tips overlap and are likely to be strongly interacting.
The project aims to analyse the temporal and spatial variation in displacement and throw gradients within the lateral tips of these active faults, in particular the areas where fault tips overlap.
The amalgamation of structural mapping, kinematic measurements and elevation models will be used to investigate the variation in slip direction and its correlation with extensional strain at meter intervals within the fault tips. Subtle along strike variations in these parameters will provide a better understanding of fault tip growth and interaction, as well as the dominant local strain regime within which they operate. Variation in the geometry of overlapping faults between study sites will allow further investigation into how geometry controls fault tip gradient.

Conference presentations

09/2011: INQUA-IGCP 567 International workshop on active tectonics, earthquake geology, archaeology and engineering
Oral presentation: Postseismic Deformation of the 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake (M6.3) Surface Rupture Measured Using Repeat Terrestrial Laser Scanning

04/2011: EGU 2011: TS8.1: Earthquake Geology and the imprint of seismic cycles
Oral presentation: Postseismic Deformation of the 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake (M6.3) Surface Rupture Measured Using Repeat Terrestrial Laser Scanning

10/2010: GSA 2010: Session 71: T125: Postseismic Deformation on The 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake (M6.3, Central Italy) Surface Rupture Captured in 4D Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

05/2010: EGU 2010: TS8.1: One year after the Abruzzo 2009 earthquake
Oral presentation: 'Afterslip on the L'Aquila earthquake (M6.3) surface rupture captured in 4D using a Terrestrial laser scanner (TLS)'

03/2010: IPGP student congress Oral Presentation, title as above.

01/2010: TSG Oral Presentation, title as above.

12/2009: AGU Poster Presentation
'Post-seismic slip on the 6th April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake surface rupture, measured using a terrestrial laser scanner (tripod-mounted lidar)'

01/2009: TSG Poster Presentation
'Strain accumulation at the lateral tips of active normal faults: a study of extensional deformation in the Apennines, Italy'

Useful links

Reference / data sources :

Tools / software :

  • Geon points2grid utility - a lightweight tool for the generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) from LiDAR point cloud data
  • lastools - an excellent tool kit for converting, viewing and compressing point cloud data (mainly to and from ASCII - LAS 1.x)
  • Firstobject XML editor - a nice simple XML editor, for editing / creating Google Earth KML & Collada
  • GPSmapedit - shareware tool to edit map data for use with handheld GPS units
  • cGPSmapper - a freeware tool to convert user designed maps to the garmin map format
  • img2gps - a tool to upload created maps to garmin gps units

Publications

Journal papers: academic