Dr Amy Gilligan

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Geophysics at the University of Aberdeen, interested in using seismic data to understand tectonic and environmental processes that are happening on Earth today, and how these have evolved over geological history. This includes developing seismicity catalogues from local earthquakes and seismic velocity models for a variety of tectonic settings. I use deep learning methods to develop more efficient workflows for processing and analysing large datasets.  

My current research is focussed on north east Scotland where I have recently deployed a network of broadband seismometers. The PICTS network will help us to understand the role(s) that the Highland Boundary Fault has played in the building of Scotland, and the distribution of seismicity in Scotland. We will use a variety of passive seismic imaging techniques, including receiver functions, surfaces waves and shear-wave splitting to develop models of the crust and mantle, which can then be interpreted in light of tectonic processes that have taken place.

I continue to work with seismic data from the nBOSS network that was deployed in northern Borneo between 2018-2022 to explore what happens after subduction stops. This has involved developing new seismic velocity models of the crust and mantle. We then use these models to help better pinpoint the location of earthquakes that have occurred in northern Borneo both to help understand the tectonics in this region and the potential seismic hazard. 

Prior to arriving at Aberdeen as a post-doc in 2016, I worked at Imperial College London. There my research focused on the seismic structure of the lithosphere in Eastern Canada. In my PhD research at the University of Cambridge I imaged the structure of the crust and upper mantle in central Asia, with a particular focus on intracontinental deformation taking place in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan and deformation related to the India-Eurasia collision in the Western Himalayas and Western Tibet.