Staff and Postgraduate Students
Mr Hussein Ghanoush
Contact Mr Hussein Ghanoush (email at h.b.ghanoush@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
Education:
MSc in Petroleum Geosciences and Management from Manchester University, UK. BSc in Geophysical Engineering from Al - Fateh University, Tripoli - Libya.
My particular interests in a Geodynamics (PhD) degree program studying rifting evolution using seismic data sets in parts from the Libyan Basins. Because few people have an academic background in this area, there is a great demand for specialists in this particular field in my country. Specifically, I would like to pursue an active research program that inspects the interrelationships between the tectonic evolution and the development of the fault systems in the study area during times of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifting episodes. Also, I have an interest in merger dynamics and designing exploration assessment based on study results.
Employment History:
The focus of my undergraduate and graduate study thus far has been Geophysics and Petroleum Geosciences. During my employment history I have done practical work in the area of Geological Engineering (mud logging services during drilling operations). Later I joined the Libyan Petroleum Institute (LPI) as an assistant researcher in the fields of Geophysics and Geology focusing on potential field methods (Gravity and Magnetic). My confidence stems from my having completed several projects throughout my employment career at the Libyan Petroleum Institute (LPI).
M.Sc. Thesis Title:
3D Visualization of Late Cretaceous - Paleocene Listric Fault System in the Gjallar Ridge area, Norwegian Continental Margin.
Conferences & Publications
Ghanush, H., and Abubaker, H.2007, Gravity and Magnetic Profile along Seismic Intersect KU-89-04, Southern Kufra Basin - Libya. The International Conference on Geo-Resources in the Middle East and North Africa, Cairo University - Egypt.
Ghanush, H., AND Saleem., M. 2005, Mapping Basement Relief and Modeling Paleo - structures Using Gravity Data: Sarir Trough Providence, SE Sirt Basin - Libya. The 6th Middle East and North Africa Oil and Gas Conference, Imperial College - London.
Ghanush, H., and Muradi, M. 2001, Identification of the Minor and Major Structural Elements in Concession 6 (Sirt Basin - Libya), Using Gravity Data. The 9th Conference of the Geological Society of Greece - Athens.
PhD Thesis
"Cenozoic Evolution, Insights into the Post-rift Architecture and Tectonic Inversion, Ajdabiya Trough - Sirt Basin, Libya"
Study outline:
The Sirt Basin is a prolific hydrocarbon province comprising a number of NW-SE trending platforms and sub-basins. The Agedabia Trough and Amal Platform are situated adjacent to the Cyrenaica Platform in the north-eastern part of the Sirt Basin. Rifting is believed to have ended during the Late Cretaceous, with several thousand metres of sediments deposited during the Cenozoic, mainly post-rift phase. The location of the Agedabia Trough and Amal Platform close to the Africa-Europe plate boundary zone means that the post-rift basin evolution is likely to have been characterised by active tectonic deformation, in addition to more typical sag-basin processes such as thermal subsidence and differential compaction.
The aim of this PhD project is to use gravity data and well-calibrated 2D and 3D seismic data to investigate the Cenozoic evolution of the Agedabia Trough and Amal Platform. Specific objectives are: (1) to investigate the structural evolution of the basin during the transition from rift to post-rift phase (Palaeocene-Eocene); (2) to investigate the role played by fault reactivation throughout the Cenozoic evolution of the region; (3) to constrain the extent and locations of Cenozoic depocentres and relative uplifts, and their relationship to the active faults.
This PhD is being supervised by Dr Ide van der Molen (Shell Libya GmBH) together with Durham University supervisors as listed below.