VMRC Coordinator
Richard Brown is a volcanologist with research interests in physical volcanology and the 3D architecture of volcanic deposits. He has expertise in the pyroclastic sedimentology, the volcanic and magmatic evolution of volcanic islands and caldera volcanoes; volcanic conduits, dykes and the feeding systems of flood basalt lavas. He has held research positions at the Vesuvius Volcano Observatory, Naples, the University of Bristol and the Open University and is currently Lecturer in Earth Sciences at Durham University.
Academic Partners
Dr. Brian Bell (University of Glasgow)
The natural laboratory for the Earth Sciences is in the field, where you find rocks. This is where most of my research starts. Much of my research has involved the Palaeogene lava fields on the North Atlantic Igneous Province, for example, in NW Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Here, I am attempting to understand the complex interplay between volcanism, sedimentation and tectonism. At present, more money is spent exploring the volcanic prone NE Atlantic Margin for oil and gas than anywhere else in the UK. My main reserach interests are: 1.The evolution of continental flood lava sequences and their temporal and spatial relationships with rift basins; 2. Mechanisms of emplacement of minor intrusions and subvolcanic central complexes; 3. The thermal influence of minor intrusions on host strata.
Dr. David Brown (University of Glasgow)
My research is concerned with the complex interaction of volcanology and sedimentology, their links to magmatic and tectonic processes, and their effect on and response to geomorphology. My work uses quantitative fieldwork methods, together with petrological, geochemical and modelling studies, to investigate volcanoes and ultimately predict their behaviour. I am particularly interested in caldera and sector collapse processes and their associated volcaniclastic deposits (e.g. breccias, ignimbrites), and the evolution of rift basins/volcanic rifted margins. I also retain interests in the quantification of weathering processes using high-resolution electron microscopy and mathematical modelling, and the application of FIB-TEM to a range of mineralogical problems.
Dr. Nick Schofield (University of Birmingham)
Nick Schofield is a lecturer at the University of Birmingham specialising in the seismic and field interpretation of intrusive and extrusive sequences in volcanic terranes and their interaction with hydrocarbon systems. His PhD dealt with the emplacement and structure of sill complexes and ‘volcanic plumbing’ using 3D seismic data WoS and extensive fieldwork on analogous complexes in South Africa, Scotland and the USA. The combination of seismic and field studies has allowed him to make key links between seismic to sub-seismic scale issues, in particular dealing with aspects of igneous compartmentalization in a basin setting. For the last two years he has been working on drainage system development within intra-basaltic sequences in and around the Corona ridge, to understand sediment routing in such intervals.
Dr Simon Passey (Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme - CASP)
Simon Passey received his Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow in 2004. His Ph.D. focused on the volcanic and sedimentary evolution of the Faroe Islands and Faroe-Shetland Basin that involved extensive fieldwork and examination of offshore borehole material. The project was supervised by Brian Bell and funded by a NERC case studentship with Statoil UK Ltd. Following his Ph.D. Simon spent seven years with the Faroese Earth and Energy Directorate (formerly the Faroese Geological Survey) as a geologist, where his main role was revising the lithostratigraphy of the volcanic succession and examining the potential of intra-volcanic hydrocarbon plays. In January 2008, he was appointed the Head of the Geology Department that also involved overseeing geological investigations on civil engineering projects. Simon joined CASP in March 2011 as part of the East Greenland Project.
Dr Richard Walker (Cardiff University)
Richard joined the School in October 2011, following a PhD studentship and 1 ½ years of postdoctoral research at Durham University. Richard’s PhD focused on the structural evolution of the Faroe Islands as an indicator of tectonic events related to continental break-up and the formation of the NE Atlantic. His postdoctoral position centered on the development of upper crustal brittle deformation in mechanically strong rocks, including experimental permeability measurement and network connectivity and distribution. Richard’s current research uses a combination of remote-sensing techniques, field data, microstructural analysis and experimental work in order to address a range of research areas.
Executive Steering Commitee (Durham)
Professor Richard Davies (Director of the Durham Energy Institute, Project Leader)
Richard Davies spent 7 years in the petroleum industry in Aberdeen, London and Houston with ExxonMobil working on development and exploration projects. He spear-headed the use of 3D seismic reflection data and visualisation in geoscience research, through publishing papers on a range of subjects as diverse as soft sediment deformation, igneous intrusions, silica diagenesis, continent-ocean fracture zones, petroleum geology and mud volcanism. His main role at Durham has been in building cross-department and cross faculty research research in energy. This started in the field of geo-energy (e.g. fossil fuels, carbon capture and storage) and more recently has been across a spectrum of energy research, with the development of Durham Energy Institute (DEI).
Dr. Richard Hobbs (Senior Lecturer in Geophysics)
Richard Hobbs is a research scientist working in controlled source seismology: 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.
Professor Bob Holdsworth (NERC KE Fellow)
Bob Holdsworth is the founder and leader of the Reactivation Research Group (RRG) in Durham. He is the leading international authority on the nature, causes and significance of fault reactivation during lithosphere deformation. He is also well-known internationally for his work in two other areas: oblique tectonics (transpression/transtension) and folding patterns in shear zones. Most recently, he has been instrumental in establishing Durham RRG as a leading international group in the area of GPS-based digital capture of geological field data, its visualisation and analysis using GIS. In 2005, this led to the setting-up of the Durham Centre for Terrestrial Laser Scanning (CeTLS).
