Éric Calais is a French geologist-geophysicist, born in 1964, internationally recognized practitioner of high-precision space geodesy (GPS and InSAR radar interferometry) and a pioneer in its applications to measure seismic deformations at the boundaries of tectonic plates and in their interiors. He has been a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 2017.
Biography Éric Calais graduated from the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud in 1987, holds a DEA in Earth Sciences from the University of Western Brittany (Brest, France) in 1988 and a doctorate from the University of Nice (France) in 1991. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (San Diego, United States) until 1995, a researcher at the CNRS (Nice, France) until 2001, a professor of geophysics at Purdue University (United States) until 2012, when he joined the École normale supérieure as a professor and head of the Earth Sciences Department.
He received the Jacob-Fallot-Jérémine Prize from the French Academy of Sciences in 2008 and the Frank Press Prize from the American Seismological Society in 2012. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences and a senior member of the Institut universitaire de France.
Research Eric Calais' research interests are in the physics of geological processes in seismically active regions at the edge of tectonic plates or in their interior. He uses high-precision spatial geodetic techniques such as GPS and radar interferometry, which it combines with seismology and physical models of rock deformation. He has conducted field experiments around the world – for example in the Caribbean, Central Asia and East Africa – where he has deployed networks of geodetic sensors to study active deformation processes on spatial and temporal scales ranging from individual earthquakes or volcanic events to plate boundary deformation or tectonic plate movement.
Its work has established the framework for interpreting current seismicity in the Caribbean,S. Symithe, et al., « Current block motions and strain accumulation on active faults in the Caribbean », Journal of Geophysical Research, 2015E. Calais, et al. », « Plate boundary segmentation in the northeastern Caribbean from geodetic measurements and Neogene geological observations », C.R. Geoscience, 2016 Asia,E. Calais, et al., « GPS measurements of crustal deformation in the Baikal‐Mongolia area (1994–2002): Implications for current kinematics of Asia, », Journal of Geophysical Research, 2003E. Calais, et al., « Continental deformation in Asia from a combined GPS solution », Geophys. Res. Lett.,, 2006 the Western MediterraneanJ.M. Nocquet, et al., « Geodetic Measurements of Crustal Deformation in the Western Mediterranean and Europe », Pure and Applied Geophysics, 20046A. Bougrine, et al., « Active deformation in Algeria from Continuous GPS measurements », Geophysical Journal International, 2019 and East Africa.Éric Calais et al., « Strain accommodation by slow slip and dyking in a youthful continental rift, East Africa », Nature, no 456, 11 décembre 2008, pages 783–787 (, lire en ligne)E. Saria, et al., « Present‐day kinematics of the East African Rift », Journal of Geophysical Research, 2014 He identified the role played by the Earth's mantle in large-scale geological deformation in AfricaA. Koptev, et al., « Dual continental rift systems generated by plume–lithosphere interaction », Nature Geoscience, 2015D.S. Stamps, et al., « Role of Mantle Flow in Nubia-Somalia Plate Divergence », Geophys. Res., 2014 and AsiaM. Vergnolle, et al., « Dynamics of continental deformation in Asia », Journal of Geophysical Research, 2007 and deciphered the complex mechanism of the Haiti earthquake in 2010.E. Calais, et al., « Transpressional rupture of an unmapped fault during the 2010 Haiti earthquake », Nature Geoscience, 2010 His work on earthquakes in intraplate regionsE. Calais, et al., « Time-Variable Deformation in the New Madrid Seismic Zone », Science, 2009E. Calais, et al., « Triggering of New Madrid seismicity by late-Pleistocene erosion », Nature, 2010T. J. Craig, et al., « Hydrologically-driven crustal stresses and seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone », Nature Communications, 2017 leads to a paradigm shiftE. Calais, et al., « A new paradigm for large earthquakes in stable continental plate interiors », Geophys. Res. Letters, 2016 with implications for seismic risk estimation in these contexts – including in metropolitan France. During his stay in Scripps with Bernard Minster, Eric Calais initiated the use of GPS to detect ionospheric disturbances triggered by earthquakesE. Calais, J.B. Minster, « GPS detection of an ionospheric perturbation following the January 17, 1994, Northridge earthquake », Geoph. Res. Lett., 1995, 22, p. 1045–1048 volcanoes and man-made explosions.
Eric Calais was heavily involved in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, both as a scientistAmerican Geophysical Union « Haiti After the Earthquake: Eos Interviews Seismologist Eric Calais » and as an advisor to the Haitian government and its international partnersScience Magazine « On the Ground With Eric Calais, UN's Geophysicist in Haiti » He co-chaired the Working Group on the Haiti Earthquake at the United Nations in 2010 and worked in Haiti from 2010 to 2012 as a scientific advisor to the United Nations, where he promoted and applied disaster risk reduction practices in the country's reconstruction.Un Multimedia « Un seismologist outlines efforts to improve Haiti's earthquake preparedness » He describes his experience in a book in French entitled Science et conscience dans le post-urgence du séisme d'Haïti.Eric Calais, Science et conscience dans la post-urgence du séisme d'Haïti., 2017 (lire en ligne), p. L'Harmattan Eds,
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