Waves & structures

Our research focuses on the study of seismic wave fields across a wide range of spatial scales, from laboratory experiments on the centimeter and meter scale to several hundreds of kilometers associated with the analysis of lithospheric structures. In tandem with the study of specific sub- and objects (wave field properties in near-coastal sub-marine layers ; volcanoes ; active tectonic faults ; mountain ranges or collision- and subduction zones), our interdisciplinary team concentrates on fundamental aspects associated with the development of analysis techniques based on the physics of wave propagation.

These innovative methods utilize records of the continuous background motion of the ground collected on small (petroleum exploration campaigns deploy thousands of geophones across areas of a few kilometers) and large (continent covering seismological arrays like RESIF) length scales.

Some examples that highlight our contribution to recent progress in these fields include work on correlations of ambient seismic noise, imaging techniques which utilize information extracted from the complete wave field, as well as the analysis of diffuse wave fields targeted at the detection and localisation of medium changes.

Integrated in a network of international collaborations (France, Europe, Japan, China, USA) and therefore globally recognized, our research efforts are associated with fundamental aspects of diffuse wave propagation leading to the development of innovative analysis methods and observation techniques.