Objectif
The research work can be described under 2 main headings. Firstly, the implementation, development and improvement of computer programs, particularly those that assist the seismologist in modelling (ray and wave methods in all types of structures) and the processing and presentation of digital data before that modelling takes place. The second major research target was a detailed study of crust and upper mantle in Ireland and the neighbouring continental margin and the employment of the available techniques in comparative studies in other areas.
Where computer programming was concerned, very rapid hardware developments caused a significant change in our outlook, with desktop machines becoming so powerful that they can now do work previously only possible on mainframe computers. Programs were developed, implemented and improved and many good datasets have been analysed in detail, with particular emphasis on the combined inversion of both P and S wave data.
Some minor test experiments improved our knowledge of the primary geographical test area, that around Ireland. There are important results concerning, for example, basin development, the dynamics of lithospheric extension and structure, composition and anisotropy in the lower lithosphere.