Seismic Tomography for Teaching and Research

An online virtual workshop; Six 2-hour virtual sessions in April (3, 10, 17, 24) and May (22, 29), 2013


Registration for this workshop is Closed.

Seismic Tomography plays a vital role in conveying information about the structure, composition, and state of Earth's interior. The images produced by seismic tomography, however, are difficult to construct and complex to interpret. This workshop will follow upon two previous solid-Earth geophysics workshops (the Understanding Deep Earth workshop in 2010, and the Visualizing Seismic Waves workshop in 2011) to help faculty member bring geophysics into their classroom and labs; in this case, in the area of the construction and interpretation of seismic tomographic images, or "tomograms."

During April-May, 2013, a virtual workshop will be held in six 2-hour sessions (Wednesday, 12-2 pm Central Time) to help the geoscience community identify, develop, and organize a comprehensive collection of activities that will facilitate learning about seismic tomographic images, the information they convey, and how they are used for a wide variety of geoscience applications. The first four of these sessions will be informational, with experts in seismic tomography sharing their insights and understandings. The last two sessions, at the end of May, will give workshop participants the opportunity to share their ideas and help develop classroom and research activities concerning seismic tomography that will then be archived at the Cutting Edge web resource.

Workshop Convener and Staff

  • Michael Wysession, Washington University - St. Louis
  • John McDaris, SERC, Carleton College

Related Resources

Teaching about the Deep Earth

During the Cutting Edge "Teaching about the Deep Earth" workshop, held online during the spring of 2010, several activities graphics and links were identified and created that may provide a hlpeful reference for the current workshop on seismic tomography.

  • Teaching Activities - Activities for homework, class, and lab submitted by college faculty from across the country
  • Visualization Collections - Graphics, animations, videos and more for use in teaching Deep Earth concepts
  • Topical Resources: Links to sites, teaching activities, and references related to specific Deep Earth topics. Includes resources associated with presentations at the 2010 workshop.
  • Internet Resources - Research results and teaching materials relevant to teaching about the Deep Earth


Teaching about Visualizing Seismic Waves

In the spring of 2011, an online workshop entitled "Visualizing Seismic Waves for Teaching and Research" introduced a wide array for visualizing (and even listening to!) seismic waves and their propagation. A collection was assembled of these visualization tools, and activities were created around them. These have been rolled into the larger Teaching Geophysics collection


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