
Professor James Wookey
M.Phys.(Warw.), Ph.D.(Leeds)
Expertise
I am a geophysicist, specialising in understanding structure, processes beneath the surface of the Earth and other planets using remote sensing.
Current positions
Professor of Geophysics
School of Earth Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I am a geophysicist who studies the structure and dynamics of the inaccessible depths of Earth.
Much of my work to date has focussed on understanding the dynamics of the mantle on hundred-million year timescales. This involves working across a range of disciplines within Earth Sciences, combining information from experiments, simulations and observational data to understand complex, interrelated processes. I have been a part of several, large scale research consortia to link mineral physicists, geodynamicists and seismologists. Working with these colleagues, I aim to understand structure, composition and flow in the mantle using earthquake data recorded on the global seismic network.
Alongside this, I have also worked on seismology and other geophysical methods in a range of other contexts, including for understanding microearthquakes in the crust, deformation of volcanos and glaciers, geophysical monitoring of engineered structures (such as flood embankments), and the seismology of Mars as a part of NASA’s recently completed InSIGHT mission.
While predominantly a computational geophysicist, I have also done seismic field campaigns in Scotland, the Seychelles, Hudson Bay and Morocco, and a range of near-surface geophysics fieldwork.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Mantle dynamics beneath the North Atlantic region from integrated seismic imaging using new regional seafloor data and global datasets
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/05/2023 to 30/04/2026
Mantle Circulation Constrained (MC2): A disciplinary 4D Earth framework for understanding mantle upswellings
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/10/2020 to 30/09/2024
Seismic Anisotropy in the Martian Mantle and Crust from InSight
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/10/2019 to 30/09/2022
Detecting melt in the deep mantle with seismic anisotropy and attenuation
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/08/2019 to 31/07/2023
Fibre-optic distributed Acoustic Sensor Technology for seismic Monitoring During shale gas Extraction (FAST-MoDE)
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/01/2018 to 31/12/2019
Thesis supervisions
A UK MW catalogue derived from coda envelopes
Supervisors
Crustal structure of the Horn of Africa and southern Gulf of Aden
Supervisors
Seismic characterisation of fracture networks
Supervisors
Development of seismic anisotropy in deforming salt bodies
Supervisors
New techniques for the robust detection and quantification of seismic anisotropy in the lowermost mantle
Supervisors
Seismic anisotropy in the lowermost mantle beneath the Galapagos Islands from SKS-SKKS splitting
Supervisors
Optimising Seismic Array Analysis for Forensic Seismology
Supervisors
Geophysical indicators of slope stability
Supervisors
Insights into moisture-driven landslides using electrical and seismic methods
Supervisors
Fibre optic cables as Distributed Acoustic Sensors
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
06/09/2024Assessing the effect of offline topography on electrical resistivity measurements
Geophysical Journal International
A UK MW catalogue derived from coda envelopes
Geophysical Journal International
Shear-wave attenuation anisotropy
Seismica
Combined Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Ground Penetrating Radar to map Eurasian badger (Meles Meles) burrows in clay-rich flood embankments (levees).
Engineering Geology
High-Resolution InSAR Reveals Localized Pre-Eruptive Deformation Inside the Crater of Agung Volcano, Indonesia
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth