Biography
Gaël Lymer is a post-doctoral researcher in marine geology at iCRAG. Gaël obtained his PhD in Marine Geosciences in 2014 from the University of Lille (France) on the rifting and the effects of Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Tyrrhenian Basin (Mediterranean Sea).
He followed with two post-docs at the University of Birmingham (UK), first on the rifting and break-up processes of the North-Atlantic Ocean at the Galicia Margin (West of Spain), based on his interpretation of one of the world’s biggest academic 3D seismic volume, and second on the processes of extensional faulting at the Middle Atlantic Ridge, from seismic data he collaborated to acquire during a research cruise in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 2019, Gaël moved to Dublin to work at iCRAG with the Fault Analysis Group on the structural development and the kinematics of fault systems of the Irish offshore basins, with Dr Conrad Childs and Prof. John Walsh.
We know more about the surfaces the Moon than about the surface of the Earth, because 71% of its surface is covered by oceans. I focus my research on oceanic exploration and on the geological processes that shape the surface of the Earth: rifting and break-up of the continental crust, spreading of oceanic crust, and subduction zones. I use geophysical techniques to obtain information on the structural and sedimentary architecture of oceanic basins to understand their development and evolution. I have been involved in 7 offshore expeditions, in the Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel, and in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Technical description
The Irish offshore basins, West of Ireland, provide a wide variety of structural styles, settings and extensional strain magnitudes. The primary aim of this research project is to analyse this spectrum of basin structure, starting with the Porcupine Basin and integrating iCRAG’s observations from surrounding basins, to better understand the controls on the geometry, kinematics, and evolution of fault systems in these basins.
Key topics of research are the syn-rift (Jurassic) fault systems architecture and their link with the variations of B factor, with the development of detachment faults, with stratigraphic geometries, as well as with the mechanisms of faults reactivation and inversion. Particular focus will be on those aspects of the evolution of fault systems relevant to hydrocarbon distribution in the Irish offshore: fault-controlled hydrocarbon migration and trapping.
Strategy to reach these objectives includes seismic mapping and structural and sedimentary analysis, integrated with other data obtained from wells and geophysics.
The long-term aim of the project is to develop a comprehensive overview of the structural development of the Irish offshore, that will then be compared with the development of other basins of the North-Atlantic Ocean and at rifted margins worldwide.
Role
- Postdoctoral Researcher
Institution
- UCD
Research Area
- Earth Resources
Expertise
- Offshore basins
