Dr Caroline M. Eakin
Senior Lecturer
Fellow
email Caroline.Eakin@anu.edu.au
call 0261970083
link ANU Researcher Portal profile

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About

Positions Held: 

  • 2021 - Present: Fellow / Senior Lecturer
  • 2019 - 2022: ARC DECRA Fellow 
  • 2016 - 2020: Research Fellow /Lecturer
  • 2016 - Present: Faculty Member (continuing) at RSES, ANU
  • 2015 - 2016: Postdoctoral Research Fellow (departmental fellowship) at The University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton

Education:

  • 2010 - 2014: PhD, Yale University, Geology & Geophysics - Elias Loomis Prize
  • 2006 - 2010: MSci Geophysics, Imperial College London - Watts Medal
  • 2008 - 2009: Study Abroad, UC Berkeley, Berkeley Seismological Laboratory

Awards:

  • 2022: Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award from the European Geosciences Union, Seismology Division. In recognition of scientific achievement by an early career scientist (<7 years since PhD) within their field. 

 

Affiliations

science Research area

Research interests

My main areas of interest lie in observational seismology and geodynamics, and particularly in combining them to investigate plate tectonic processes. In particular I use seismic anisotropy to investigate patterns of mantle flow, which is our primary observational tool for studying mantle convection and the dynamics of the Earth's interior. I apply this technique to a variety of tectonic settings, on both regional and global scales, from subduction zones, to mid-ocean ridges, to the Australian continental interior.

Check out this recent seminar about my latest research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zps0-7zhlFs

 

Funded Projects & Grants:

  • GSWA-ANU Research Collaboration, "Investigating seismic anisotropy, seismicity, and structure beneath the WA-Array". C. Eakin, M. Miller, R. Pickle, S. Mousavi & P. Zhang (ANU). 2023-2026. 
  • Cooperative Research Centre - Project (CRC-P Round 14), "Accelerating exploration and extraction of renewable natural hydrogen", H2EX Pty Ltd, Black & Veatch Australia Pty Ltd, The University of Adelaide, Australian National University (C. Eakin, M. Miller, C. Jiang, L. Moresi). 2023-2026. 
  • Geoscience Australia Research Collaboration & RSES Director’s Award for Strategic Research, "Sedimentary thickness across Australia from passive seismic methods". 2022-2024. 
  • ARC Discovery Project, DP200101854, "Probing the Australian-Pacific plate boundary: Macquarie Ridge in 3-D". 2020-2023. H. Tkalcic & C. Eakin (ANU), M. Coffin (UTAS), N. Rawlinson (Cambridge), J. Stock (Caltech)
  • MNF Primary Granted Voyages on RV Investigator, IN2020_V06 (OBS deployment), and RV Tangaroa, TAN2021_V01 (OBS recovery) for "Probing the Australian-Pacific plate boundary: Macquarie Ridge in 3D".
  • ANU Futures Scheme, "Our Watery Planet: The New Era of Seismology". 2020-2028
  • ARC DECRA Fellowship, DE190100062. "What's Shaking Down Under?" . 2019-2022

Seismic Networks:

  • EPNA: Eyre Peninsula Nodal Array (FDSN:9M) - Lead CI, 2024
  • SNAKEY: Seismic Network Around Kangaroo Eyre Yorke (FDSN:4B) - Lead CI, 2023-2025. 
  • Lake Eyre Basin Seismic Array (FDSN:5G) - Lead CI, 2018-2022.
  • Macquarie Ridge, Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) deployment (FDSN:3F) - Co-investigator, 2020-2021.

Projects

Teaching information

Qualifications & Awards:

  • 2020  Bear McPhail Teaching Award
  • 2019  Nomination: ANU Vice Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
  • 2018  Colleges of Science Award for Excellence in Education (Team) – with A. Berry
  • 2017  Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)

Courses:

  • EMSC1008: EARTH (Geophysics module & field-trip, Sem 2, 2016-present)
  • EMSC3033: Applied Geophysics (Convener, Seismics & Gravity modules, Sem 1, 2019)
  • EMSC3050: Special Topics (Katja Curtin, 2024; Claire Flashman, 2018)

Service:

  • EMSC Cirriculum Review: Development of new Geophysics and Geology specialisation GEGE-SPEC (started 2019)
  • First Year Science Co-ordinator for Earth and Marine Sciences (2017-present)
  • RSES Education Committee member (2017-present)

Honours & Masters Student Supervision:

  • Saami Wallenius, Honours (Engineering) 2024. Project: Ambient noise tomography beneath Eyre Peninsula. 
  • Claire Flashman, Honours 2020. Project: Mantle deformation beneath central Australia. Went on to NSW Government Graduate Program.  
  • Leon Bilton, Honours 2019 - 2020. Project: Inferring oceanic anisotropy from surface-reflected phases. Went on to PhD at ANU.
  • Shubham Agrawal, MESA 2017-2019. Project: The deformational journey of the Nazca Slab. Went on to PhD at ANU. Paper in GRL
  • James Panton, MSci Southampton, 2015-2016. Project: Seismic Anisotropy beneath Ocean Islands. Went on to PhD at Cardiff University. 

 

Supervised students

Location

J2, 243

Publications

Google Scholar 

note: symbols indicate a student (*) or postdoc (#) in which I had a role in supervision

Manuscripts in review/revision

R3. #Marignier, A., Eakin, C.M., Miller, M.S. (In Review) Sediment thickness of the contiguous United States from seismic receiver functions

R2. Wei, Z., Tkalčić, H., Pham, T., Rawlinson, N., Eakin, C., Coffin, M.F., Stock, J., Wang, S., Ma, X., Pickle, R., Winder, T., Lü, C., Costa de Lima, T., Toh, Y.F. (In Review) The Central Macquarie Ridge Complex in 3D From Full-waveform Ambient Noise Tomography

R1. *Bilton, L., Duvernay, T., Davies, D.R., Eakin, C.M. (In Revision) PyDRex: Predicting crystallographic preferred orientation in peridotites under steady-state and time-dependent strain, Geophysical Journal International

Published

37. Sudholz, Z.J., Zhang, P., Eakin, C.M., Yaxley, G.M., Jaques, A.L., Czarnota, K. (2024) Ancient craton-wide mid-lithosphere discontinuity controlled by pargasite channels, Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL108433, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108433 

36. #Merry. T.A.J., Eakin, C.M (2024) Insights on the African upper mantle from Quasi-Love wave scattering, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 25, e2023GC011385. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011385

35. #Marignier, A., Eakin, C.M., Hejrani, B., *Agrawal, S., Hassan, R. (2024) Sedimentary thickness across Australia from passive seismic methods, Geophysical Journal International, 237, 849–861, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggae070

34.  *Agrawal, S., Eakin, C.M., O'Donnell, J.P. (2024) Fluid-assisted intra-plate seismicity at the edge of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 364, 107133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2023.107133 

33. Eakin, C.M., Davies, D.R., Ghelichkhan, S., O’Donnell, J.P., *Agrawal, S. (2023) The influence of lithospheric thickness variations beneath Australia on seismic anisotropy and mantle flow, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24, e2023GC011066. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011066

32. Eakin, C.M., Jiang, C., Miller, M.S., Moresi, L., Heinson, G. (2023) Eyre Peninsula Nodal Array [Data set]. International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks. https://doi.org/10.7914/AC1P-7Y35  

31. Eakin, C.M., Pickle, R. (2023). Seismic Network Around Kangaroo Eyre York [Data set]. International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks. https://doi.org/10.7914/9j20-yq91

30. *Agrawal, S., Eakin, C.M., O'Donnell, J.P. (2023) Tracking crustal thickness at the sediment inundated edge of the Gawler Craton, South Australia, Tectonophysics, 862, 229938, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2023.229938 

29. O'Donnell, J.P., *Agrawal, S., Eakin, C., Thiel, S., Brand, K., Gorbatov, A., Goleby, B. (2023) Mapping crustal structure across southern Australia using seismic ambient noise tomography, Gondwana Research, 121, 307-324, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2023.04.013

28. Kennett, B.L.N., Gorbatov, A., Yuan, H., *Agrawal, S., Murdie, R., Doublier, M.P., Eakin, C.M., Miller, M.S., Zhao, L., Czarnota, K., O’Donnell, J.P., Dentith, M., Gessner, K. (2023) Refining the Moho across the Australian continent, Geophysical Journal International, 233, 1863–1877, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggad035

27. Zhang, P., Miller, M.S., Eakin, C.M. (2022). Unravelling an enigmatic boundary along the Sunda-Banda volcanic arc, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 599, 117860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117860

26. *Agrawal, S., Eakin, C.M., O'Donnell, J. (2022) Characterizing the cover across South Australia: A simple passive-seismic method for estimating sedimentary thickness, Geophysical Journal International, 231, 1850-1864 https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggac294

25. Eakin, C.M., *Flashman, C., *Agrawal, S. (2021) Seismic anisotropy beneath Central Australia: A record of ancient lithospheric deformation, Tectonophysics, 820, 228123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2021.229123

24. Eakin, C.M. (2021) Quasi-Love wave scattering reveals tectonic history of Australia and its margins reflected by mantle anisotropy, Communications Earth & Environment, 2, 210. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00276-7 

Access Quasi-Love Wave Detection Code Here: https://github.com/SeismoCaro/Quasi-Love-Wave-Detections 

23. Eakin, C., Miller, M. (2021) Australia surprised by moderate quake, but rumbling is not unusual, Temblor, http://doi.org/10.32858/temblor.208 

22. Tkalčić, H., Eakin, C., Coffin, M.F., Rawlinson, N., and Stock, J. (2021) Deploying a submarine seismic observatory in the Furious Fifties, Eos, 102, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EO159537. Published on 14 June 2021.

21. *Condori, C., França, G.S., Tavera, H.J., Eakin, C.M., Lynner, C., Beck, S.L., Villegas-Lanza, J.C. (2021) Variable seismic anisotropy across the Peruvian flat-slab subduction zone with implications for upper plate deformation, Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 106, 103053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2020.103053

20. Tkalčić, H., Eakin, C., Rawlinson, N., Coffin, M.F., & Stock, J.M.  (2020). Macquarie Ridge [Data set]. AusPass: The Australian Passive Seismic Server. https://doi.org/10.7914/SN/3F_2020

19. O’Donnell, J., Thiel, S., Robertson, K., Gorbatov, A., Eakin, C. (2020) Using seismic tomography to inform mineral exploration in South Australia: the AusArray SA broadband seismic array. MESA Journal, 93, 24–31. [pdf link]

18. Crameri, F., Magni, V., Domeier, M., Shephard, G.E., Chotalia, K., Cooper, G., Eakin, C.M., Grima, A.G., Gürer, D., Király, A., Mulyukova, E., Peters, K., Robert, B., Thielmann, M. (2020) A trans-disciplinary and community-driven database to unravel subduction zone initiation. Nature Communications, 11, 3750, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17522-9 https://www.szidatabase.org/

17. *Possee, D., Keir, D., Harmon, N., Rychert, C., Eakin, C.M., Rolandone, F., Leroy, S., Corbeau, J., Stuart, G., Boisson, D., Momplaisir, R., Prépetit, C. (2020) Spatial variations in Crustal and Mantle Anisotropy Across the North American Caribbean Plate Boundary on Haiti. Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 125,  https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB018438

16. *Agrawal, S., Eakin, C.M., Portner, D., Rodriguez, E., Beck, S. (2020) The deformational journey of the Nazca Slab from seismic anisotropy, Geophysical Research Letters, 47, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL087398

15. Davies, D.R., Valentine, A.P., Kramer, S.C., Rawlinson, N., Hoggard, M.J., Eakin, C.M., and Wilson, C.R. (2019) Earth's Multi-scale Topographic Response to Global Mantle Flow. Nature Geoscience, 12, 845–850, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0441-4

14. Eakin, C.M., Wirth, E.A., Wallace, A., Ulberg C.W., Creager K.C., Abers, G.A. (2019) SKS Splitting beneath Mount St. Helens: Constraints on Sub-Slab Mantle Entrainment, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20, 4202– 4217, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008433

13. Eakin, C.M., Rychert, C.A., Harmon, N. (2018) The role of oceanic transform faults in seafloor spreading: A global perspective from seismic anisotropy. JGR - Solid Earth, 123, 1736– 1751,  https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB015176. EOS Spotlight Article.

12. Eakin, C.M., Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. (2018) An overview of Dynamic Topography: The Influence of Mantle Circulation on Surface Topography and Landscape, In: Hoorn, C., Perrigo, A., and Antonelli, A. (Eds.), Mountains, Climate, and Biodiversity. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. [pdf book webpage]

11. Eakin, C. (2018): Lake Eyre Basin. International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks. Dataset/Seismic Network. https://doi.org/10.7914/SN/5G_2018

10. Paul, J.D., Eakin, C.M., (2017) Mantle upwelling beneath Madagascar: Evidence from receiver function analysis and shear wave splitting, Journal of Seismology, 21, 825–836, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-016-9637-x [pdf]

9.  Long, M.D., Biryol, C.B., Eakin, C.M., Beck, S.L., Wagner, L.S., Zandt, G., Minaya, E., Tavera, H. (2016) Overriding plate, mantle wedge, slab, and sub-slab contributions to seismic anisotropy beneath the northern Central Andean Plateau. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 17, 2556-2575,  https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GC006316. [pdf]

8. Eakin, C.M., Long, M.D., Scire, A., Beck, S.L., Wagner, L.S., Zandt, G., Tavera, H. (2016) Deformation within the subducted Nazca slab from seismic anisotropy, Nature Geoscience, 9, 56-59, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2592 [pdf] Press Release

7. Eakin, C.M., Long, M.D., Wagner, L.S., Beck, S.L., Tavera, H. (2015) Upper mantle anisotropy beneath Peru from SKS splitting: Constraints on flat slab dynamics and interactions with the Nazca Ridge, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 412, 152-162, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.12.015 [pdf]

6. Eakin, C.M., Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., Dávila, F.M. (2014) Influence of Peruvian Flat-Subduction Dynamics on the Evolution of Western Amazonia, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 404, 250-260, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.07.027 [pdf]

5. Eakin, C.M., Long, M.D., Beck, S.L., Wagner, L.S., Tavera, H., Condori, C. (2014) Response of the Mantle to Flat Slab Evolution: Insights from Local S Splitting beneath Peru, Geophysical Research Letters, 41, 3438-3446,  https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL059943. [pdf]

4. Eakin, C.M., Long, M.D. (2013) Complex anisotropy beneath the Peruvian flat-slab from frequency- dependent, multiple-phase shear wave splitting analysis, JGR - Solid Earth, 118, 4794-4813,  https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrb.5034. [pdf]

3. Goes, S., Eakin, C.M., Ritsema, J. (2013) Lithospheric cooling trends and deviations in oceanic PP-P and SS-S differential traveltimes, JGR- Solid Earth, 118, 996–1007,  https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrb.50092

2. Towner, M.C., Eakin, C., Conway, S.J., Harrison, S. (2011) Geologically recent water flow inferred in channel systems in the NE Sulci Gordii region, Mars. In: Martian Geomorphology, Special Publication, Geological Society, London, v. 356, pp. 229-256, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP356.12. [pdf] 

1. Eakin, C.M., Obrebski, M., Allen, R. M., Boyarko, D.C., Brudzinski, M.R, Porritt, R. (2010) Seismic Anisotropy beneath Cascadia and the Mendocino Triple Junction: Interaction of the Subducting Slab with Mantle Flow, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 297, 627-632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.07.015. [pdf]