Earth and Environmental Sciences
Quick Facts
Title: Professor
Education: PhD, MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography
Contact Info
206 Hutchison
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Box 270221
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627
Phone: (585) 276-3364
cynthia.ebinger@rochester.edu
Fax: (585) 244-5689
Office Hours: By appointment
People—Cynthia Ebinger
Research Interests
Geodesy, seismology, structural geology, and geodynamics as applied to active and ancient plate boundary deformation, and thermo-mechanical properties of the crust and upper mantle on Earth and terrestrial planets.
Current research aims to understand the partitioning of strain between faulting and magmatic processes within continental and oceanic rift zones, over time scales of hours to millennia. A primary aim of collaborative earthquake monitoring, geodetic, structural, and petrological studies in East Africa and the Galapagos Archipelago is to understand the rise and storage of magma through the crust above hot spots and within rift zones. These studies involve seismic imaging of magma movement and storage in the crust, fault kinematic studies, and integration with geodetic data. Our multi-disciplinary team uses these data to develop predictive models of volcano-tectonic crises to mitigate natural hazards.
A second theme is the longer-term evolution of continental rift zones from initiation to continental rupture. The superposition of tectonic and magmatic processes over multiple deformation episodes creates broad uplifts and basins that may accumulate thick sedimentary sequences; the rise and storage of magma permanently alters the plate. Passive and controlled source seismic experiments, satellite remote sensing, structural, and geodetic studies probe the plate structure, constraining predictive thermo-mechanical models.
Courses Offered (subject to change)
- EES 211 Earthquake and Volcanic Hazards
- EES 215 Environmental and Applied Geophysics
- EES 253/453 Geodynamics
- EES 251/451 Remote Sensing of Earth and Planetary Systems
- EES 457 Topics in Seismology, Potential Fields
Selected Publications
- Belachew, M., C. Ebinger, D. Cote, Time-space source mechanisms for brittle failure events accompanying large volume dike intrusions in Afar, Geophys.J.Int., in press, 2012.
- Wright, T, F. Sigmundsson, A. Ayele, M. Belachew, B. Brandsdottir, E. Calais, C. Ebinger, P Einarsson, I Hamling, D. Keir, E. Lewi, C. Pagli, R. Pedersen, Geophysical constraints on the dynamics of spreading centres from rifting episodes on land, Nature Geosciences (review article), 5, 242-249, 2012.
- Pagli, C., T. Wright, C. Ebinger, S-H. Yun, J.R. Cann, T. Barnie, A. Ayele, High magma supply at a slow spreading segment and dynamics of its axial magma chamber, Nature Geosciences, 5, 284-287, 2012.
- Ebinger, C. and C.A. Scholz, Continental rift basins: An East African perspective, in Busby, C. and A. Azor, Sedimentary Basins, 2012.
- Hammond, J.O.S., J-M. Kendall, G.W. Stuart, D. Keir, C. Ebinger, A. Ayele, M. Belachew, The nature of the crust beneath the Afar triple junction: evidence from receiver functions, Geophys. Geochem. Geosystems, doi: 10.1029/2011GC003738, 2011.
- Belachew, M., C. Ebinger, D. Cote, D. Keir, J.V. Rowland, J.O.S. Hammond, and A. Ayele, Comparison of dike intrusions in an incipient seafloor-spreading segment in Afar, Ethiopia: Seismicity perspectives, J. Geophys. Res., 116, B06405, doi: 10.1029/2010JB007908, 2011.
- Cote, D., A. Quillen, C. Ebinger, D. Keir, M. Belachew, Low frequency hybrid earthquakes near a magma chamber in Afar: Quantifying path effects, Bull. Seismo. Soc. Am., doi:10.1785/0120090111, 2010.
Research Opportunities for Graduate Students
We seek students with strong analytical skills and some computing experience to join a multi-disciplinary team studying the processes of continental rifting, magma movement and storage in the crust, as well as the mitigation of seismic and volcanic hazards in these zones. Students will have the opportunity to deploy seismometers and make field observations in Africa and the US.
Contact Cindy Ebinger by email: cynthia.ebinger@rochester.edu
