Research

I use seismology as a tool to study the interior of the Earth, addressing geophysical issues as, in particular, the amount of vertical downward (slabs) and upward (plumes) mass transport in a convecting mantle. Isolating different databases, I can focus on specific regions of our planet's interior. I have started out looking at global body-wave traveltimes, sensitive to the middle to lower mantle, and to the core-mantle boundary region. I have later moved on to teleseismic surface waves, a powerful tool to constrain upper mantle structure and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. I am now trying to put it all together.

In the course of my studies, I have naturally become interested in the theory of seismic wave propagation and its impact on tomographic resolution. My more theoretical works include applications of the "banana-doughnut" theory to surface-wave tomography, with an assessment of its resolution; surface-wave ray-tracing in the presence of azimuthal anisotropy; numerical modeling of surface-wave propagation in the membrane-wave approach.

Outside of seismology, I have been interested in the Earth's rheology and viscoelastic rebound, and I am currently working on tomography of ionosphere electron density based on trans-horizon radar observations.