Alik Ismail-Zadeh is a mathematical geophysicist known for his contribution to computational geodynamics[1] and natural hazard[2][3] studies, pioneering work on data assimilation in geodynamics[4] as well as for outstanding service to the Earth and space science community.[5] He is Senior Research Fellow (in the rank of research professor) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.[6]
Biography and academic career
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ismail-Zadeh attended the Bulbul specialized secondary music school of the Baku Academy of Music and Baku High School #134 (specialized in mathematics) between 1967 and 1978. He graduated from the Baku State University and the Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1983 before being awarded Ph.D. degree in 1990 and D.Sc. (Habilitation) in 1997 from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. Ismail-Zadeh has been affiliated with the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geology and Geophysics (1983-1986, 1990–1992).[7] He has been chief scientist, research professor and scientific leader of research group "Computational Geodynamics and Geohazard Modeling" of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Moscow (1992–2022).[8]
Ismail-Zadeh has conducted research in the fields of geodynamics, seismology, sedimentary geology and tectonics (incl. research for hydrocarbon industry), geohazards, risk analysis, science diplomacy and history. His research methods cover multi- and interdisciplinary synthesis, theoretical analysis, and numerical experiments. He is a principal author and co-author of over 120 peer-reviewed papers and several books published by the Cambridge University Press, Springer Nature, and others.[14] Scientific results obtained by him and his group are as follows:
Inverse problems and data assimilation
Introduction of data assimilation in models of geodynamics and applications to mantle (plume) dynamics.;[15][16]
Reconstruction of sinking lithosphere in the southeastern Carpathians;[17]
Reconstruction of the western Pacific and Philippine plate subduction beneath the Japanese islands and implication on the Japan Sea opening;[18]
Reconstruction of flow and temperature inside volcanic lava flow based on surface observations;[19]
Restoration of sedimentary basin evolution complicated by salt tectonics: application to Pricaspian basin of the East European platform.[20][21]
Quantitative models of a fault network interaction in the Tibet-Himalayan region to explain seismicity and slip rates at major regional faults;[25]
Peculiarities of the Vrancea intermediate-depth seismicity[26]
Seismic and volcanic hazard and risk
Deterministic and probabilistic seismic hazard assessments for the Vrancea region (Romania), Tibet-Himalaya, and Shillong Plateau (India).[27][28][29][30] Earthquake risk assessment for the Baku city (Azerbaijan);[31]
Volcanic lava hazard evaluation based on lava flow with debris.[32]
Tectonic stress
Understanding of tectonic stress localization and its change in the lithospheric slab in terms of style of the slab subduction;[33]
Explanation of coexisting shortening - extension and seismic activity in the Central Apennines by the buoyancy of the lithosphere;[34][35]
Tectonic stress localization in the Vrancea earthquake-prone body beneath the south-eastern Carpathians.[36][37]
Sedimentary basins
Introduction of eclogitization-induced mantle flow mechanism for sedimentary basin evolution;[38]
Quantitative models of the evolution of intracratonic sedimentary basins in North America (Illinois, Michigan and Williston basins),[39] East European (Dnieper-Donets, Moscow, Pre-Ural, Timan-Pechora basins),[40][41] and Siberian (Tunguska and Viluy basins) platforms;[42][43]
Models of geothermal evolution of the Astrakhan Arch of the Pricaspian Basin.[44][45]
Numerical methods for geodynamics
New numerical methods and algorithms of an enhanced accuracy to study problems of Earth's dynamics;[46]
Numerical methodology for data assimilation in geodynamics (backward advection, variational/adjoint, and quasi-reversibility methods).[47]
Gravitational and thermal instability
Theoretical results in problems of Rayleigh-Taylor and Rayleigh-Bernard instabilities of the (geo) structures including analysis of Newtonian, Maxwell, non-Newtonian power law, and perfectly plastic rheologies;[48][49][50]
Applications to salt diapirism: Models of salt structure evolution in the Pricaspain Basin[51]
Organizational activities
Alik Ismail-Zadeh is active in promoting science research, science excellency and science for society worldwide. From 2018 to 2021, Ismail-Zadeh served as (inaugural) secretary-general of the International Science Council (ISC).[52] Also, he was (inaugural) chair of the ISC Awards Programme Committee, and currently he is a senior adviser to the ISC governing board (2021–2024).
Ismail-Zadeh was elected secretary-general of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) in 2007, and served the union for 12 years in this capacity (until 2019).[53] He also served the union as chair of the IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (2003–2007). He is chair of the IUGG Commission on Mathematical Geophysics (2019–2027).[54] He has been a member of the scientific council of the UNESCO East African Institute for Fundamental Research (EAIFR), Kigali, Rwanda, since 2018.[55]
Alik Ismail-Zadeh has been editor or member of several editorial/advisory boards, including Surveys in Geophysics, Springer Nature;[65] Special Publications of Geodesy and Geophysics series, Cambridge University Press;[66] Computational Seismology and Geodynamics, American Geophysical Union[67]
^Ismail-Zadeh, Alik; Le Mouël, Jean-Louis; Soloviev, Alexander; Tapponnier, Paul; Vorovieva, Inessa (30 June 2007). "Numerical modeling of crustal block-and-fault dynamics, earthquakes and slip rates in the Tibet-Himalayan region". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 258 (3): 465–485. Bibcode:2007E&PSL.258..465I. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.006.
^Ismail-Zadeh, Alik T.; Talbot, Christopher J.; Volozh, Yuri A. (20 July 2001). "Dynamic restoration of profiles across diapiric salt structures: numerical approach and its applications". Tectonophysics. 337 (1): 23–38. Bibcode:2001Tectp.337...23I. doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(01)00111-1.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Schubert, G., Tsepelev, I., and Korotkii, A., Inverse problem of thermal convection: Numerical approach and application to mantle plume restoration, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 145, 99-114, 2004.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Schubert, G., Tsepelev, I., and Korotkii, A., Three-dimensional forward and backward numerical modeling of mantle plume evolution: Effects of thermal diffusion, J. Geophys. Res., 111, B06401, doi:10.1029/2005JB003782, 2006.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Schubert, G., Tsepelev, I., and Korotkii, A., Thermal evolution and geometry of the descending lithosphere beneath the SE-Carpathians: An insight from the past, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 273, 68-79, 2008.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Honda, S., and Tsepelev, I., Linking mantle upwelling with the lithosphere descent and the Japan Sea evolution: a hypothesis, Scientific Reports, 3, 1137, doi: 10.1038/srep01137, 2013.
^Korotkii, A., Kovtunov, D., Ismail-Zadeh, A., Tsepelev, I., and Melnik, O., Quantitative reconstruction of thermal and dynamic characteristics of lava from surface thermal measurements, Geophys. J. Int., 205, 1767–1779, 2016.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Talbot, C.J., and Volozh, Yu.A., Dynamic restoration of profiles across diapiric salt structures: numerical approach and its applications, Tectonophysics, 337, 21-36, 2001.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Tsepelev, I.A., Talbot, C.J., and Korotkii, A.I., Three-dimensional forward and backward modelling of diapirism: Numerical approach and its applicability to the evolution of salt structures in the Pricaspian basin, Tectonophysics, 387, 81-103, 2004.
^Soloviev, A. A., and Ismail-Zadeh, A. T., Models of dynamics of block-and-fault systems, in Nonlinear Dynamics of the Lithosphere and Earthquake Prediction, Keilis-Borok, V. I., and Soloviev, A. A. (eds.), pp. 69-138, Springer, Heidelberg, 2003.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Le Mouël, J.-L., and Soloviev, A., Modeling of extreme seismic events, in Extreme Events and Natural Hazards: The Complexity Perspective, Sharma, S. A., Bunde, A., Dimri, V. P., and Baker, D. N. (eds.), Geophysical Monograph 196, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C., pp. 75-97, 2012.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Soloviev, A., Sokolov, V., Vorobieva, I., Muller, B., and Schilling, F., Quantitative modeling of the lithosphere dynamics, earthquakes and seismic hazard, Tectonophysics, 746, 624-647, 2018.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Le Mouël, J.-L., Soloviev, A., Tapponnier, P., and Vorovieva, I., Numerical modeling of crustal block-and-fault dynamics, earthquakes and slip rates in the Tibet-Himalayan region, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 258, 465-485, 2007.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Keilis-Borok, V.I., and Soloviev, A.A., Numerical modelling of earthquake flows in the southeastern Carpathians (Vrancea): Effect of a sinking slab, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 111, 267-274, 1999.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Sokolov, V., and Bonier, K., Geodynamics, seismicity and seismic hazard of the south-eastern Carpathians, Natural Hazards, 42, 493-514, 2007.
^Sokolov, V., and Ismail-Zadeh, A., Seismic hazard from instrumentally recorded, historical and simulated earthquakes: Application to the Tibet-Himalayan region, Tectonophysics, 657, 187-204, 2015.
^Sokolov, V., and Ismail-Zadeh, A., On the use of multiple-site estimations in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 106(5), 2233–2243, 2016.
^Baro, O., Kumar, A., and Ismail-Zadeh, A., Seismic hazard assessment of the Shillong Plateau, India, Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, 9(1), 841-861, 2018.
^Babayev, G., Ismail-Zadeh, A., and Le Mouël, J.-L., Scenario-based earthquake hazard and risk assessment for Baku (Azerbaijan), Nat. Hazards Earth Sys. Sci., 10, 2697-2712, 2010.
^Tsepelev, I., Ismail-Zadeh, A., Melnik, O., and Korotkii, A., Numerical modelling of fluid flow with rafts: An application to lava flows, J. Geodyn., 97, 31-41, 2016.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Mueller, B., and Wenzel, F., Modelling of descending slab evolution beneath the SE-Carpathians: Implications for seismicity, in Perspectives in Modern Seismology, Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, Volume 105, pp. 205-226, F. Wenzel (Ed.), Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2005
^Aoudia, A., Ismail-Zadeh, A., and Romanelli, F., Buoyancy-driven deformation and contemporary tectonic stress in the lithosphere beneath Central Italy, Terra Nova, 19(6), 490-495, 2007.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Aoudia, A., and Panza, G., Three-dimensional numerical modeling of contemporary mantle flow and tectonic stress beneath the Central Mediterranean, Tectonophysics, 482, 226-236, 2010.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Panza, G.F., and Naimark, B.M., Stress in the descending relic slab beneath Vrancea, Romania, Pure Appl. Geophys., 157, 111-130, 2000.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Mueller, B., and Schubert, G., Three-dimensional modeling of present-day tectonic stress beneath the earthquake-prone southeastern Carpathians based on integrated analysis of seismic, heat flow, and gravity observations, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 149, 81-98, 2005.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Naimark, B.M., and Lobkovsky, L.I., Hydrodynamic model of sedimentary basin formation based on development and subsequent phase transformation of a magmatic lens in the upper mantle, Comput. Seism. Geodyn., 3, 42-53, Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington D.C., 1996. DOI: 10.1029/CS003p0042.
^Naimark B.M., and Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Numerical models of subsidence mechanism in intracratonic basin: Application to North American basins, Geophys. J. Int., 123, 149-160, 1995.
^Lobkovsky, L.I., Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Krasovsky, S.S., Kuprienko, P.Ya., and Cloetingh, S., Origin of gravity anomalies and possible forming mechanism of the Dnieper-Donets Basin, Tectonophysics, 268, 281-292, 1996.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Kostyuchenko, S.L., and Naimark, B.M., The Timan-Pechora Basin (northeastern European Russia): tectonic subsidence analysis and a model of formation mechanism, Tectonophysics, 283, 205-218, 1997.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Naimark, B.M., and Kostyuchenko, S.L., Quantitative modelling of the Tunguska Basin evolution in the Palaeozoic: A role of eclogitization within the uppermost mantle, J. Geodyn., 23, 47-63, 1997.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., The Devonian to Permian subsidence mechanisms in basins of the East-European platform, J. Geodyn., 26, 69-83, 1998.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Wilhelm, H., and Volozh, Yu, Geothermal evolution of the Astrakhan arch region of the Pricaspian Basin, Int. J. Earth Sci., 97, 1029-1043, 2008.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Wilhelm, H., Volozh, Y., and Tinakin, O., The Astrakhan Arch of the Pricaspian Basin: Geothermal analysis and modelling, Basin Research, 22, 751–764, 2010.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., and Tackley, P. J., Computational Methods for Geodynamics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A., Korotkii, A., and Tsepelev, Data-driven Numerical Modeling in Geodynamics: Methods and Applications, Springer, Heidelberg, 2016.
^Naimark, B.M., and Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Gravitational instability of Maxwell upper mantle, Comput. Seism. Geodyn., 1, 36-42, Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington D.C., 1994. DOI: 10.1029/CS001p0036.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Gravitational instability and propagation of tectonic waves in a two-layer model of the upper mantle, Comput. Seism. Geodyn., 2, 76-80, Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington D.C., 1994. DOI: 10.1029/CS002p0076.
^Doglioni, C., Ismail-Zadeh, A., Panza, G., and Riguzzi, F., Lithosphere-asthenosphere viscosity contrast and decoupling, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 189, 1-8, 2011.
^Ismail-Zadeh, A.T., Huppert, H.E., and Lister, J.R., Gravitational and buckling instabilities of a rheologically layered structure: Implications for salt diapirism, Geophys. J. Int., 148(2), 288-302, 2002.
^Ismail-Zade, Alik; Nyland, Edo; Odom, Robert; Sen, Mrinal; Keilis-Borok, V. I.; Levshin, A. L.; Molchan, G. M., eds. (1 January 2008). "Selected Papers From Volumes 33 and 34 ofVychislitel'naya Seysmologiya". Computational Seismology and Geodynamics. 8. doi:10.1002/9781118667811. ISBN9781118667811.
