The First Lecture Speech on Friday for 2013 Successfully Held

The First Lecture Speech on Friday for 2013 Successfully Held

The first Lecture Speech on Friday for this year was held as scheduled at 3:30pm on Jan. 4th, which was given by Prof. Robert.Tenzer from Wuhan University. The lecture was about “Gravimetric recovery of Moho parameters based on solving the Vening-Meinesz Moritz inverse problem of isostasy and additional constraining information from seismic studies” and was chaired by Prof. Chunfeng Li.

Prof. Tenzer introduced that in classical isostatic models for a gravimetric recovery of the  Moho parameters (i.e., Moho depths and density contrast), the isostatic gravity anomalies are usually defined based on the assumption that the topographic mass surplus and the ocean mass deficiency are compensated within the Earth’s crust. But as acquired in their study this assumption yields large disagreements between isostatic and seismic Moho models. To assess these effects which are typically not accounted for in classical isostatic models, the researchers conduct a number of numerical experiments using available global gravity and crustal structure models. It is demonstrated that the application of the ice and sediment density contrasts stripping gravity corrections is essential for a more accurate determination of the Moho geometry. And further study shows that the application of the additional non-isostatic gravity correction further improves the agreement between the Moho models derived based on gravity and seismic data. At the end of his speech, Mr. Tenzer explicated on their conclusions which are based on comparison of gravity results with the CRUST2.0 global crustal model.

After the speech, Prof. Tenzer had an in-depth discussion with the students and teachers about related issues in his presentation. They also had an active interaction during the coffee break. Prof. Tenzer invited members of our school for visits to Wuhan Univ., and this speech was expected to enhance academic cooperation between the two universities in geodynamics and geodesy.

Prof. Tenzer had very dynamic educational background and rich research experience. He completed a Master degree in geodesy and cartography in 1995 at Slovak Technical University and followed this with a PhD degree in physical geodesy in 1999. In 2008, Dr. Tenzer got a second PhD degree in satellite geodesy at Czech Technical University. He has carried out his scientific researches in various countries such as Canada, Britain, New Zealand, targeting on geodesy, geophysics and geodynamics, and has published many articles in international journals.