Mohammad Youssof

Alumni

Postdoctoral fellow until 2020

Current

Social Profile:

Research Interests

​I am interested in observational seismology, focusing on imaging the seismic structure of the Earth's interior and to interrogate the formation and evolution of the cratonic areas as well as the dynamics of large-scale tectonics. I use different seismic techniques, in particular tomographic imaging and receiver function analysis, in addition to shear wave splitting technique. 
In addition to my motivation to work in seismic data processing, I like to participate in seismic fieldwork. During my PhD period, I have been involved in different experiments in Morocco using instrumentation from the PASSCAL facility of IRIS, and in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Selected Publications

  • H. Thybo, ​M. Youssof & ​I.M. Artemieva (2019). Southern Africa crustal anisotropy reveals coupled crust-mantle evolution for over 2 billion years, Nature Communication, 10, Article number: 5445.
  • M. Youssof, H. Thybo, I. Artemieva, & A. Levander, Upper mantle structure beneath southern African cratons from seismic finite-frequency P- and S- wave tomography Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL), Vol. 420, p. 174-186, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.01.034 
  • M. Youssof, H. Thybo, I.M. Artemieva, & A. Levander, Moho depth and crustal composition in Southern Africa, Tectonophysics, Vol. 609, p. 267-287, 2013, ISSN 0040-1951, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2013.09.001.
  • M. Youssof, H. Thybo, & I. Artemieva, 2 Ga of coupled crust-mantle evolution in southern Africa from seismic anisotropy (to be submitted).
  • M. Youssof, X. Yuan, F. Tilmann, B. Heit, M. Weber, W. Jokat, W. H. Geissler, G. Laske, and R. Trumbull, Finite-frequency P-wave seismic imaging of the upper mantle beneath Northwest Namibia: evidence for a depleted fossil of mantle plume. (to be submitted). 
  • M. Youssof, and H. Thybo, The crust and mantle beneath the Siberian provinces: seismic model based on new receiver function analysis. (in progress).

Education

  • University of Copenhagen (IGN, Geology Section), Copenhagen, Denmark. Period of enrollment at the Graduate school: (February 2009-Nov. 2013). Thesis completion and submission: November 29th, 2013, Defense: February 24th, 2014.
  • Rice University, Earth Sciences Department, Houston, USA. Period of enrollment to the exchange program: August 2009-August 2010, Jan 2011-December 2011. 
  • (ICTP) the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Earth System Physics Section), Trieste, Italy. Master-Level (Pre-PhD) Degree (Earth System Physics Diploma): Feb. 2007- Oct. 2008. 
  • (SCU) Suez Canal University (Geophysics Department), Ismailia, Egypt. Pre-Master Degree (Geophysics): August 2004. B.Sc. (Geophysics): May 2003

Professional Profile

​Research Projects: 

  • Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Copenhagen (October 2015 - September 2016): Seismological interpretation of the North Atlantic region.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Copenhagen (July 2014 - May 2015): Receiver Function Analysis on Siberian teleseismic dataset.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow/Research Assistant at GFZ-Potsdam (December 2013 – June 2014): Teleseismic Tomography study for the WALPASS land and OBS dataset.
  • Joint PhD program in seismology at Rice University and University of Copenhagen (February 2009 – November 2013): Seismic Imaging of Southern African Cratons: based on teleseismic receiver functions and finite-frequency tomography.

Field Work: 

  • Seismic experiment in Morocco, April/May 2010 (18 days): ‘PICASSO project’ Program to Investigate Convective Alboran Sea System Overturn. 
  • Lithospheric scale seismic exploration project in Norway, May/June 2009: ‘MAGNUS project’ Mantle Investigation of Norwegian Uplift Structure, refraction experiments. 
  • Field trips in Egypt during 1999-2005: Sinai and the western desert educational trips in addition to magnetic and electromagnetic research surveys in Western Sinai, Egypt.

Awards

  • ​PhD scholarship 2008: Joint research program between University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Rice University (TX, USA). 
  • ICTP scholarship 2007 (Triple international funding: UNESCO- IAEA- Italy Government): Scholarship provided for conducting Pre-PhD diploma (Master Level) at ICTP. 
  • Egyptian governmental grant for the young researchers 2006: Fully funded grant to study abroad (ICTP, Trieste, Italy) for six months. 
  • Suez Canal University (Egypt) award, science day 2008:  Outstanding young researchers at the university. 
  • Faculty of Science award 2004: Science faculty award for the newly selected research assistants.