Thuany Costa de Lima

PhD Candidate

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About

I am a geophysicist from Brazil, currently completing a PhD in seismology at ANU. My research is primarily focused on the development of innovative seismological techniques to help us understand the current state of the earth's inner core structure. I use various methods based on both seismic and coda-correlation wavefields to image the inner core in light of seismic waves generated by large earthquakes. The aim of my studies is to aid new seismic observations to enlighten our understanding of inner core composition, and the history of solidification and deformational processes.

In addition to my work on the inner core, I investigate the thermochemical variations in the Earth’s highly heterogeneous upper mantle. This research involves analyzing large global datasets combined with mineral physics-informed results and conducting extensive numerical simulations using the computational facilities of the ANU Terrawulf Cluster and the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).

Before my PhD, my research interest was focused on correlating multiple geophysical observations with the structural geology of the Parnaiba cratonic sedimentary basin. This work included reconstructing the history of crustal deformation with implications for hydrocarbon exploration. During my honours and master's degrees, I developed skills in gravity and magnetic geophysical data processing and interpretation, remote sensing, and structural geology.

I have been a seismologist at Geoscience Australia since November 2021 and have worked on various projects related to seismic hazards and earthquake and nuclear monitoring.

2018-2024: Ph.D. in Seismology, RSES, The Australian National University, Australia.

2013-2015: MPhil in Geophysics. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

2009-2012: BSc with honours in Geophysics. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

EMPLOYMENT

2021-ongoing: Seismologist in the Community Safety Branch, Geoscience Australia, Australia.

To know me a bit more: https://seismobunji.com/biography/

Affiliations

science Research area

Geophysics, Member

Research interests

global observational seismology;
coda-correlation wavefield;
seismic imaging of Earth's inner core and mantle transition zone;

Projects

The Earth's Inner Core, Researcher

Teaching information

During my PhD studies I have worked as demonstrator in several geophysics courses at ANU:

PHYS3070 : Physics of the Earth. Lecturers: Prof. Hrvoje Tkalcic, and Prof. Louis Moresi.
EMSC2022: Introduction to Global Geophysics. Lecturers: Prof. Meghan S. Miller, Dr. Dave Heslop, and Prof. Louis Moresi. Upon completion of this course, students are expected to have a deeper understanding of the Earth's internal structure and the main concepts applied in seismology, geohazard, and geodynamics.
EMSC1008: EARTH: The Chemistry and Physics of our Planet. Lecturers: Dr. Caroline Eakin, and Dr. Andrew Berry. In the geophysics module, students gain familiarity with plate tectonics and introductory knowledge of geophysics and mathematics (e.g. isostatic calculations, triangulating earthquake locations, plate motion vectors, and circuits).

Part of the (160) undergraduate students participating in the Blue Planet field trip to the Snowy Mountains! Everyone had a wonderful time looking at the rocks and correlating what they have learned in the classroom with their observations on the field. Thanks to Tiah Penny for the selfie :D

Fieldwork

You can check more about my field trips on my personal webpage seismobunji.com

Demonstrating the immersion suit onboard the Research Vessel Investigator. By my side is Astrid Wilson, the master 2 of this voyage. Photo credits: (left) Dr. Mike Coffin and (right) Dr. Caroline Eakin

Outreach

I am passionate about sharing scientific content with the general public. Please check my personal webpage seismobunji.com to find out!

Location

Research School of Earth Sciences, Jaeger 2, Room #239

Geoscience Australia, Community Safety Branch, G.217A

Publications

PEER REVIEWED

Costa de Lima, T., Phạm, T.-S., Ma, X., and Tkalčić H. (2023). An estimate of absolute shear-wave speed in the Earth’s inner core. Nature Communications 14, 4577. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40307-9

Tkalčić, H., T. Costa de Lima, T.-S. Phạm, and S. Tanaka.(2023). Inner core anisotropy from antipodal PKIKP travel times. In T. Nakagawa, T. Tsuchiya, M. Satish‐Kumar, & G. Helffrich (Eds.), Core-mantle evolution: A multidisciplinary approach, Geophysical Monograph Series (1st ed., pp. 165–189). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781119526919.ch10.

Costa de Lima, T., H. Tkalčić, and L. Waszek. (2022). A new probe into the innermost inner core anisotropy via the global coda-correlation wavefield. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127, e2021JB023540. doi. org/10.1029/2021JB023540.

Costa de Lima T., E.F. Jardim de Sá, F.A.P.L. Lins, A.F. Antunes, J.A.M. Moreira. (2017). Gravity and magnetic signature of the Transbrasiliano Lineament in the East-Central portion of the Parnaíba Basin, northeastern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Geophysics, 35 (1), doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.22564/rbgf.v35i1.970.

BLOGS

Tiny vibrations hours after large earthquakes reveal a solid, low-rigidity inner core

An Adventure on the Southern Ocean – Part I

An Adventure on the Southern Ocean – Part II

SOME OF MY CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Costa de Lima, T., Pham, T.-S., Ma, X., and Tkalčić, H.: New constraints on shear properties of the Earth’s inner core from the global correlation wavefield, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16047, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16047, 2023.

Waszek, L., Costa de Lima, T., Tauzin, B., Tkalčić, H., and Ballmer, M.: Observations of Regional Seismic Discontinuities in the Earth’s Upper Mantle from SS- and PP- precursors, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16446, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16446, 2023.

Costa de Lima T., L. Waszek, H. Tkalčić, B. Tauzin, M. Ballmer (2022), Observations of Regional Seismic Discontinuities in the Earth’s Upper Mantle from SS- and PP- precursors, AGU Fall Meeting, Chicago, United States. Poster presentation.

Costa de Lima T., L. Waszek, H. Tkalčić, B. Tauzin, M. Ballmer (2022), Search for Regional Seismic Discontinuities in the Earth s Upper Mantle using SS- and PP- precursors. Study of the Earth s Deep Interior, Zurich, Switzerland. Poster presentation.

Costa de Lima T., H. Tkalčić and L. Waszek (2022), Seismological observation of innermost inner core anisotropy from the Earth s correlation wavefield. Study of the Earth s Deep Interior, Zurich, Switzerland. Poster presentation.

Costa de Lima T., H. Tkalčić and L. Waszek (2022), Evidence for Distinct Anisotropy in the Innermost Inner Core from Coda-correlation. European Geophysical Union Meeting, Vienna, Austria. Talk. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3339

Costa de Lima T., L. Waszek, H. Tkalčić, B. Tauzin, M. Ballmer (2021), Global Constraints of Earth s Uppermost Mantle Regional Discontinuities: Insights on Temperature, Composition, and Geodynamics. AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, United States. Poster presentation.

Costa de Lima T., L. Waszek, H. Tkalčić, B. Tauzin (2021), Seismic Constraints of Uppermost Mantle Discontinuities in the Australian Region, AuScope Conference, Australia. Talk*

*Awarded the conference's most inspiring Early Career Research talk. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yxDTTHUw-s

Costa de Lima T., H. Tkalčić and L. Waszek (2020), Probing the Inner Core Anisotropic Structure Using Global Coda-correlation Wavefield. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Online poster.

Costa de Lima T., H. Tkalčić and L. Waszek (2019), Insights on Inner-Core Anisotropy Obtained from the Earth s Correlation Wavefield. 2019 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, United States. Poster presentation.

Costa de Lima T., H. Tkalčić, S. Kim, J. Julia (2017), Bayesian Inversion of Receiver Functions and Surface Wave Dispersion Data in the Brazilian Northeast. 15th International Congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Poster presentation. https://doi.org/10.1190/sbgf2017-313

PARTICIPATION IN MEDIA

Challenge accepted: talking about my Ph.D. research on the anisotropy in the innermost inner core of the Earth within 2 min at the #20PhDs20Mins program. Broadcasted Sunday across Australia on the 17th of June at 11 am (Melbourne, AEST) at 3RRR FM: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-20-phds-in-20-minutes-extr...