Assistant Professor
Geographic Information Systems, Marine & Exploration Geophysics, Mathematical Geology, Basin Analysis

Office: SCI 3xx
Phone: 806-742-3102
email: seiichi.nagihara@ttu.edu

My primary interest for the past several years has been the geology of the Gulf of Mexico. Using mainly geophysical data (seismic reflection and refraction, geothermal heat flow, and gravity measurements), I have been investigating the development of this sedimentary basin as a whole and the methods for oil and gas exploration on its northern continental slope. Also, I have been compiling a GIS (geographic information systems) database of the geological, geophysical, oceanographic, and engineering data from the Gulf of Mexico.

Currently I have projects studying the thermal history of deep sediments on the continental slope and their influence in the hydrocarbon maturation processes. Two graduate students and I are examining hundreds of well logs and geothermal data for these projects. I also work on developing new computational algorithms for inverse modeling of potential field and geothermal field data with specific application to the sub-salt petroleum exploration in the Gulf.

My another area of research is three-dimensional laser scanner of geologic objects. Texas Tech University has a state-of-the-art 3-D laser scanner (Cyrax 2500) which can digitally capture the topographic/geometry of the target object with 6-mm accuracy. Using this instrument, I perform 3-D scanning experiments in the field and later recreate the environment in the computer.

GIS Laboratory

I am the primary coordinator of the teaching and student research activities that involve use of geographic information systems (GIS) at the Texas Tech Department of Geosciences. Visit the GIS Laboratory Homepage for more information on current research activities & courses offerred in GIS.