I am interested in the topics about Neotectonics, seismic hazards and fault behaviours. My DPhil project aims to study the huge palaeo-earthquake ruptures and the subtle crustal deformation in Altay and Dzhungaria (the northern Tien Shan), Central Asia. I am investigating the Dzhungarian fault and the Lepsy faults, the large right-lateral strike-slip faults bonding the northern tip of the highly deformed Tien Shan, and the large fault scarps at the range front of the Altay mountain. From the topographic analysis, field survey, geochronology and modern satellite-based technology (optical imagery and InSAR), we hope to reveal the rupture patterns and the slip-rates of the faults for understanding more about the characteristics of intraplate earthquakes and the potential seismic hazards they might trigger. By examining the behaviours of the faults, we also hope to build a kinematic model of the crustal deformation around the Dzhungarian Basin to see how the N-S shortening from India-Asia collision is accommodated in this region.
I am from Taiwan and previously studied at the Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University. My master project aimed to study the sedimentary sources in the southern Taiwan and the crustal evolution of Luzon Island, the Philippines, from zircon U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic analysis.
Supervisors: Prof. Richard Walker, Dr. Simon Daout and Dr. Christoph Grützner
College: University College (Oxford-Radcliffe Scholar)
View Selected Publications
Tsai, C. H., Abdrakhmatov K., Mukambayev A., Elliott A. J., Elliott J. R., Grützner C., Rhodes E. J., Ivester A. H., Walker R. T. & Wilkinson R. (2022). Probing the Upper End of Intra-continental Earthquake Magnitude: a Prehistoric Example from the Dzhungarian and Lepsy Faults of Kazakhstan. Tectonics. (link)
Tsai, C. H., Shyu, J. B. H., Chung, S. L., & Lee, H. Y. (2020). Miocene sedimentary provenance and paleogeography of the Hengchun Peninsula, southern Taiwan: Implications for tectonic development of the Taiwan orogen. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 104032. (link)
Tsai, C. H., Shyu, J. B. H., Chung, S. L., Ramos, N. T., & Lee, H. Y. (2019). Detrital zircon record from major rivers of Luzon Island: Implications for Cenozoic continental growth in Southeast Asia. Journal of the Geological Society, jgs2019-003. (link)
View Extended Publications
Li, H. C., Zhao, M., Tsai, C. H., Mii, H. S., Chang, Q., & Wei, K. Y. (2015). The first high-resolution stalagmite record from Taiwan: Climate and environmental changes during the past 1300 years. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 114, 574-587. (link)