Dr. Aibing Li, Professor of Geophysics, Seismology, Geophysics Graduate Advisor

College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

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• Areas of expertise

  • Seismic constraints on continental evolution
  • Crust and upper mantle structure of the earth
  • Plume-ridge interaction
  • Mountain building process
  • Seismic inversion techniques
  • Synthetic waveform modeling

• Awards

  • Faculty Early Career Development Award, National Science Foundation, 2006.
  • Joukowsky Outstanding Dissertation Award, Brown University, 2001.
  • Postdoctoral Scholarship, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2000.
  • Charles Wilson Brown Fellowship, Brown University, 2000.
  • Outstanding Student Paper Award, Seismology Section, AGU Fall Meeting, 1999.

• Publications

  • Li, A. and C. Chen, Shear-wave splitting beneath the central Tien Shan and tectonic implications, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, doi:10.1029/2006GL027717, 2006.
  • Li, A. and K. Burke, Upper mantle structure of southern Africa from Rayleigh wave tomography, J. Geophys. Res., 111, doi:10.1029/2006JB004321, 2006
  • Li, A. and R.S. Detrick, Seismic structure of Iceland from Rayleigh wave inversions and geodynamic implications, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., Vol 241, 901-912, 2006.
  • Li, A., D.W. Forsyth and K.M. Fischer, Rayleigh wave constraints on shear-wave structure and azimuthal anisotropy beneath the Colorado Rocky Mountains, in The Rocky Mountain Region: An Evolving Lithosphere, edited by K.E. Karlstrom and G.R. Keller, pp.385-401, Geophysical Monograph 154, AGU. Washington DC 2005.
  • Fischer, K. M., A. Li, D. W. Forsyth, and S. Hung, Imaging three-dimensional anisotropy with broadband seismometer arrays, in Seismic Earth: Array Analysis of Broadband Seismograms, edited by A. Levander and G. Nolet, pp99-116, Geophysical Monograph 157, AGU. Washington DC 2005.
  • Forsyth, D.W., and A. Li, Array-analysis of two-dimensional variations in surface wave phase velocity and azimuthal anisotropy in the presence of multipathing interference, in Seismic Earth: Array Analysis of Broadband Seismograms, edited by A. Levander and G. Nolet, pp81-98, Geophysical Monograph 157, AGU. Washington DC 2005.
  • Li, A., and R. Detrick, Azimuthal anisotropy and phase velocity beneath Iceland: implication for plume-ridge interaction, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., Vol 214, 1-2, 153-165, 2003.
  • Li, A., D. W. Forsyth and K. M. Fischer, Shear velocity structure and azimuthal anisotropy beneath eastern North America from Rayleigh wave inversion, J. Geophys. Res., 108, B8, 2362, 10.1029/2002JB002259, 2003.
  • Li, A., K. M. Fischer, S. van der Lee, and M. E. Wysession, Crust and upper mantle discontinuity structure beneath eastern North America, J. Geophys. Res., 107, 10.1029/2001JB000190, 2002.
  • Li, A., D. W. Forsyth and K. M. Fischer, Evidence for shallow isostatic compensation of the southern Rocky Mountains from Rayleigh wave tomography, Geology, 30, 683-686, 2002.
  • Li, A., K. M. Fischer, M. E. Wysession and T. J. Clarke, Mantle discontinuities and temperature under the North American continental keel, Nature, 395, 160-163, 1998.

  More publications on faculty website above and CV below.

• Patents

  • None available.

• Grants and Funded Research

  • Risk assessment and advance warning for landslides in Brazil, SEG Foundation, Geoscientists Without Borders, $100,000, June,2011-May, 2013.
  • Collaborative Research: Geodynamic solutions for seismic observations of Iceland hotspot-ridge interaction, NSF, Geophysics and Marine Geology and geophysics programs, $152,000, 5/1/2009-4/30/2012.
  • Collaborative Research: The Growth of the Tibetan Plateau - A Seismic Investigation of the Qilian Shan and Surrounding Tectonic Blocks, NSF, Geophysics program, $120, 527 to UH, 5/1/2008-4/20/2011, (PI).
  • CAREER: Integrating seismic constraints on continental upper mantle, NSF, Geophysics and EarthScope programs, $450,712, 06/01/2007-05/30/2012, (PI).
  • Modeling seismic anisotropy in 3-D media and a case study in Iceland, NSF, Geophysics Program, $30,000, 07/01/2005-06/30/2007, (PI).
  • Constraining 3-D shear-wave velocity and anisotropy structure beneath the Tien Shan from shear-wave splitting and surface wave tomography, NSF Geophysics Program, $121,364, 5/1/2006-4/30/2008, (PI).
  • Collaborative research: Multidisciplinary investigations of structure and deformation beneath southern Africa, NSF Geophysics Program, $74,781, 01/01, 2003 to 12/31/2004.
  • Collaborative research: Constructing self-consistent seismological and geodynamic models of the Iceland mantle plume, NSF Marine Geology and Geophysics, $83,821, 1/15/2002-12/31/2003.

• Curriculum Vitae

  • Aibing Li CV

• Contact information

  SR1 building, Room 125-B

  Phone: (713) 743-2878

  ali2@uh.edu