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Student Bios/Sample Projects

Aubreya Adams

Ph. D. Structural Seismology Candidate
Pennsylvania State University

I am currently a PhD candidate studying earthquake seismology at Penn State. I received my undergraduate degree in geosciences from the University of Florida in 2004. While considering graduate school, I became interested in this branch of seismology because of the unique challenges encountered when studying areas of the Earth that cannot be directly sampled.

My research associated with AfricaArray presently focuses on using surface wave tomography to image the Congo Craton. The Congo Craton consists of 4 primary regions, a central basin associated with Neoproterozoic rift formation and surrounded on three sides by Archean blocks. The presence of the recently formed central basin indicates that the lithosphere in some areas of the Congo Craton may deviate from the cold, thick lithosphere expected of an Archean craton. The only tomographic images that are currently available use large-scale datasets. New stations installed in Cameroon, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Angola provide good azimuthal coverage and will allow higher resolution tomographic imaging of the region.

Through AfricaArray, I have also had the opportunity to gain experience in station installation. In January 2006, I assisted the Zambian Geologic Survey in the installation of two broadband stations in western Zambia and will return to perform station maintenance in May 2006.