Ancient normal faults (300M years old) within a quarry in Lancashire (UK). Quarry face is 30m high and the two faults seen have an aggregate displacement of 15m.
It is three years since the relocation of the
Fault Analysis Group from the University of Liverpool, a top graded UK Earth Sciences Department, to the Department of Geology at UCD. In that time the Group has had one of the most successful periods of its 18 year existence. The group, which comprises 10 externally funded post-docs and 5 post-grads, conducts basic research on all aspects of geological faults and fractures and related fluid flow. Their research results are widely applied to practical problems in a variety of industries, sometimes in the form of software. Since their move the group's achievements include:
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�Publication of over 25 articles in leading peer-reviewed international journals, with more articles than any other research group in the main international journal for their field (Journal of Structural Geology).
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�Inclusion of 5 of their articles in the list of 25 most downloaded articles for the Journal of Structural Geology in 2002 (including the 1st and 3rd on that list!), and they received the 'Best Paper' Falcon Award for 2002 from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).
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�Best talk prizes at the recent annual conferences for the EAGE, Tectonic Studies Group (the leading conference for structural geology) and the Irish Geological Research Meeting.
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�Inclusion of 5 of their previously published articles in a compilation of 18 so-called 'classic' articles on 'Fault-related processes' recently published by the Geological Society of London (the leading geological publishing house in Europe).
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�The appointment of their Director, John Walsh, as an EAGE Distinguished Lecturer for 2003-2004.
EAGE have this year published a profile on the Group in their monthly magazine (First Break), the first time a research group has been profiled in this way, outlining the group's work and suggesting that the scale of their move between leading departments is without precedent in the geological academic community. The move was motivated by senior members of the group, following the successful application of John Walsh for a lectureship at UCD, his alma mater. The group has not suffered in funding terms, with over �2M gained in funding since their arrival in UCD. Funding is derived from government, EU and industrial sources, a broad range of funding that partly arises from continuing concerns for the future funding of Earth Sciences research in Ireland. Relatively poor funding from government (e.g. Earth Scientists have no recourse to SFI funds) and the recent changes in the nature of EU funding and of UCD's overhead system, provide an increasingly more difficult environment within which Earth Sciences research groups strive to maintain their international status. Nevertheless, the omens are generally good and members of the group hope that they can look forward to another 18 years examining their faults!
Contact: Dr John J. Walsh;
Fault Analysis Group; Department of Geology, UCD; Belfield, Dublin 4;
E-mail:
[email protected]
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