ABOUT
The subsurface structure is fundamental knowledge required for water and hydrocarbon exploration, mineral and ore mining, seismology and civil engineering, stratigraphic and tectonic research, etc. Accordingly, the lab has four missions: to build and manage a subsurface database, to systematically map the subsurface onshore and offshore Israel, to conduct fundamental studied related to the regional geology, and to continuously develop research capabilities.
Most of our efforts and resources of the subsurface lab are currently invested in seismic interpretation. We have a seismic interpreter and two working stations with industry-standard seismic interpretation software - Kingdom, generously donated by IHS Markit LTD. In addition, we continuously develop basin analysis abilities, such as backstripping, flexural modeling, and stratigraphic simulation emphasizing sediment transport and sequence stratigraphy.
TEAM
Zohar Gvirtzman
Group leader
PhD (1997) from the Hebrew University; Post-doc (1999) at Stanford University.
A senior researcher at GSI and an adjunct professor of geology at the Hebrew University.
Gvirtzman is primarily a tectono-stratigrapher studying vertical motions and sedimentary basins. He established the seismic interpretation laboratory at GSI and served as the Head of the
Stratigraphic and Subsurface Research Division for 5 years.
In recent years he focuses on Levant and Middle-East geology and geo-hazards related to the marine environment and particularly to salt tectonics.
Oded Bar
Researcher
Research interests:
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Geological history of Israel and the Levant.
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Uplift of the Arabian Plateau.
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Landscape evolution of Israel.
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Mesozoic tectonics along the Levant continental margin.
Yael Sagy
Researcher
Research interests:
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Tectonic evolution of the Levant basin and its margins
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Submarine paleogeomorphology
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Improving seismic reflection imaging (acquisition and processing)
Students
Noam Frankin , M.Sc. (noamfrankin@gmail.com)
Thesis: Creation processes of the Levant continental shelf sins the Messinian, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman (Hebrew University) and Yael Sagy (GSI)
May Laor, PhD. (may.laor@huji.ac.il)
Thesis: Thin-skinned deformation offshore Israel: tectonics and hazards, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman
(Hebrew University)
Jimmy Moneron , Phd. (jimmymoneron@gmail.com)
Thesis: Salt tectonics in the Levant Basin, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and Einat Aharonov
(Hebrew University)
Former team and graduated students
Florencia Krawczyk
Seismic interpreter and lab manager
M.Sc in Geology from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, graduated 2020.
M.Sc in Geology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduated 2016.
Elisheva Paldor
Seismic interpreter and lab manager
Ido Sirota , Post Doctorate. (ido.sirota@mail.huji.ac.il)
Research: Sources, transport pathways, and current distribution of the Late Cenozoic reservoir rocks in the Levant Basin, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman
Itzhak Hamdani, MSc. 2020 (itzhak.hamdani@mail.huji.ac.il)
Thesis: Understanding the mechanism for normal faulting in a young salt basin using numerical simulations, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and Einat Aharonov (Hebrew University)
Yechiel Ben Ze'ev, MSc. (yechiel212@gmail.com)
Thesis: Updip extension versus downdip contraction as indicators for forces driving salt tectonics in the Levant Basin, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman
Elchanan Zucker, PhD, 2020. (elchanan.zucker@mail.huji.ac.il)
Thesis: Sediment transport into the Levant Basin in the Late Cenozoic, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and Yehouda Enzel (Hebrew University)
Yonatan Elfassi, MSc. (yonatan.elfassi@gmail.com)
Thesis: Rate of motion along normal faults displacing the Plio-Quaternary section offshore Israel: implications to salt tectonics, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman, Einat Aharonov (Hebrew U.) and Oded Katz (GSI)
Current position: Geo-prospect
Omri Volk, PhD, 2016. (omrivolk@gmail.com)
Thesis: 3D seismic propagation of seismic waves in Israel coastal plain, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and Michael Tesarsky (Ben Gurion University).
Current position: PhD. candidate, Cambridge University, UK.
Shahar Shani - Kadmiel, PhD, 2015. (kadmiel@post.bgu.ac.il)
Thesis: Seismic wave propagation analysis in the Dead Sea Transform associated basins, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and with Michael Tesarsky (Ben Gurion University).
Current position: post-doc, Department of Geoscience and Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Yael Sagy, PhD, 2016. (sagy.yael@gmail.com)
Thesis: Tectono-sedimentary processes in the deep Levant Basin. Guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman and Moshe Reshef (Tel Aviv University)
Current position: Geophysical Institute of Israel.
Orna Buch-Levitan,
Seismic interpretor and lab manager, (2012-2014)
Current position: Zion Oil
Josh Steinberg, PhD, 2011. (josh@ratioil.com)
Thesis: Vertical Motions of the Levant Continental Margin alongside the Arabian-African Breakup: Tectono-stratigraphic Basin Analysis, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman, Zvi Garfunkel (Hebrew University), and Haim Gvirtzman (Hebrew University).
Current position: Chief Geologist, Ratio Oil Exploration, Tel Aviv, Israel
Thesis: The Shaping of the Continental Margin of Central Israel Since the Late Eocene: Tectonics, Morphology and Stratigraphy, guidance by Zohar Gvirtzman, Shimon Feinstein (Ben Gurion University) and Ezra Zilberman (GSI).
Current position: Researcher, Geological Survey of Israel.