Position

Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Academic)

Contact Information

Office: ER 4037
Phone: 709-864-2384
Fax: 709-864-2589
E-mail: churich@mun.ca

Research Interests

Application of reflection seismology to solve geologic problemsStructure and evolution of the continental crust
physical properties of crustal rocksvelocity and reflectivity structure of the crustheterogeneity and scaling proerties of the crust

Application of reflection seismology to minerals explorationGrowth and collapse of orogenic belts

I also supervise graduate students with interests in:

mining seismology, 3-D and 4-D reflection seismology, vertical seismic profiling

Recent Research

My recent research is dominantly focused on using seismology to characterize geologic heteogeneity at a variety of scales. From a seismology viewpoint, heterogeneity characterization tends to focus on the parts of the wavefield that are dominated by scattering. Much of our present effort is directed toward inverting the spatial properties of the scattered wave field for the spatial properties of the associated geology and toward deriving scaling laws.

Scaling information can be applied to better understanding of a variety of Earth processes ranging from propagation of fluid and thermal fronts, to rheological partitioning, to mapping intrusive systems. Besides application to understanding of crustal processes, this research has practical application in the areas of petroleum reservoir development and minerals exploration.