
Dr Sam Wimpenny
PhD, BSc
Expertise
I am a geologist and geophysicist studying the mechanical properties and tectonics of Earth's lithosphere, with a particular interest in faulting and seismic hazard.
Current positions
Lecturer
School of Earth Sciences
Contact
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Research interests
My research focuses on developing new insights into the mechanical behaviour of faults and the tectonics of the lithosphere. I am particularly interested in how fault behaviour effects geological processes such as mountain building, rifting and volcanism. My specialism is in using a wide range of observational techniques from geomorphology, space-borne satellite geodesy (InSAR, GPS), seismology, potential field analysis, paleoseismic trenching and structural geology, and combining these observations with numerical modelling, to study both active and ancient fault zones.
Current areas of interest are:
- Measuring the frictional mechanics of active faults
- Linking geophysical inferences of fault mechanics with fault zone geology
- Tectonics and dynamics of mountain ranges, rifts and subduction zones
- Mapping historically active faults and estimating seismic hazard
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Deciphering the Geological Controls on Shallow Fault Creep
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
31/03/2024 to 30/03/2026
Publications
Recent publications
01/05/2024Strain partitioning and fault kinematics in the northern Qilian Shan (NE Tibet) determined from Bayesian inference of geodetic data
Geophysical Research Letters
Lower-Crustal Normal Faulting and Lithosphere Rheology in the Atlas Foreland
Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth
Re-examining Temporal Variations in Intermediate-Depth Seismicity
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Time-dependent decrease in fault strength in the 2011–2016 Ibaraki–Fukushima earthquake sequence
Geophysical Journal International
Paleoseismic evidence of the 1715 C.E earthquake on the Purgatorio Fault in Southern Peru
Tectonophysics