Will F.J. Fortin
Active Source Seismologist
My research aim is to extract as much quantifiable information as possible from seismic data anywhere within reach of human interaction, from the ocean interior to our deepest drilling projects (and eventually beyond).
Check out my research pages for more information.
Recent Happenings
-2019 Nov. Invited Speaker, ConocoPhillips department seminar at Texas A&M university
-2019 Sept. Invited Panelist at Platform Strategies 2019 hosted by Silverchair at the NY Academy of Sciences
-2019 August. Invited Speaker at the Schmitt Symposium on Oceanography in Woods Hole, MA
-2019 August. Attended TACC's Machine Learning Institute in Austin, TX
-2019 April - June. At sea on the R/V Marcus G. Langseth seismic cruise doing research at the Emperpor Seamount chain in the North Pacific
-2019 April. Attended NSF Future of US Academic Marine Seismic Data Acquisition workshop in Alexandria, VA
-2018 Dec. Presented at the AGU fall meeting in Washington DC
-2018 Oct. Presented at the GHGT conference in Melbourne Australia
- 2018 Sept. 26, Presented the MGG Seminar at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- 2018 Sept. Paper Published, "Carbon Capture and Storage Potential Offshore the U.S. East Coast: New Methods and Insights from Legacy Seismic Data" GHGT Proceedings
- 2018 Aug: Awarded first NSF grant examining slope stability off the US East Coast
- 2018 June: Successful Fastest Known Time run on 358-mile Long Path
- 2018 April: Invited Speaker at EGU, Vienna, Austria
Natural Hazards Risk Analyses
Seabed Stability and Slope Failure
I am working with collaborators to investigate fluid overpressure off the U.S. east coast and its role in large submarine landslides. Such slides occur frequently, covering ~20% of the seafloor, and are capable of producing tsunamis along the heavily populated coast. Using advanced computational techniques like prestack waveform inversion and machine learning, we gain quantitative insight into seabed conditions and work toward a comprehensive understanding of risk associated with regional submarine landslides.
Carbon Sequestration
Investigating Basaltic Storage
By applying modern processing techniques to legacy data, I have been examining the CO2 storage potential of Mesozoic rift basins offshore the US east coast. Detailed prestack waveform inversion sheds insight into basin compositions, and thus the character of the rock infill and volumetric storage potential.
Seismic Oceanography
Ocean Mixing and Turbulence
My research goal is the explore energetics in the oceanic interior by mapping diapycnal diffusivity of meso- and sub-mesoscale ocean structures in conjunction with temperature and salinity profiles inverted from seismic data. I am particularly interested in regions with high internal wave activity, seamounts, rough bathymetry, and large eddies. Field sites include the Caribbean, South China Sea, Adriatic, and the North Pacific.
Rock Properties from Seismic
Estimating Pore Properties
Using machine learning on seismic, borehole, and empirical data I am developing and applying methods to estimate rock properties such as pore fluid pressure, porosity, and hydrate concentrations from inverted seismic data. The aim of this research is primarily to address natural hazards along continental margins.
Methane Hydrate Systems
Determining Hydrate Concentraions
Using prestack waveform inversion, my research goal is to detail the distribution of methane hydrates and free gas. Then by leveraging detailed velocity information, move toward making quantitative estimates of hydrate concentration, particularly in coarse grained sands. My study areas have been at Blake Ridge and various sites in the Gulf of Mexico.
Contact
61 Route 9W
Palisades, NY
10964
USA
+1 (845) 365 8682