On February 3, 2026, the public defense of Izabela Nowaczyńska’s doctoral dissertation entitled  Identification of Characteristic Features of Seismic Processes as a Tool for Differentiating Tectonic Phenomena from Human Induced Events took place at the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

The aim of this dissertation was to determine the reservoir’s impoundment influence on the triggering of seismic events using integrated seismological methods and geomechanical modeling. For this purpose, two reservoirs in Vietnam with different background seismicity were selected: Lai Chau (with significant tectonic activity) and Song Tranh2 (with low tectonic activity).

Izabela Nowaczyńska demonstrated that the impact of Lai Chau reservoir exploitation on changes in seismic activity is small and affects mainly areas close to the lake. Tectonic seismicity dominates in the broader vicinity of the lake. In the case of Song Tranh2 reservoir, she demonstrated that the reservoir significantly influences seismicity around the lake.

Furthermore, she determined that some of the tremors are triggered as slip on existing faults, due to changes in rock parameters resulting from cyclical filling and emptying of the reservoir. She identified also cluster of seismic events dominated by the process of fracture opening caused by water level increase and following increase of the mass loading and pore pressure in the rock medium. It can be interpreted as a process induced by the exploitation of the Song Tranh 2 reservoir. Based on the above results, the PhD candidate demonstrated that the interpretation scheme proposed and the set of methods used can effectively help in the identification of anthropogenic seismicity and distinguish it from tectonic seismicity.

Supervisor:

  • Dr inż. Grzegorz Lizurek (IG PAS)

Reviewers:

  • Prof. dr hab. Adam Idziak (Uniwersytet Śląski)
  • Dr  Jannes Kinscher (INERIS, France)
  • Prof. dr hab. inż. Grzegorz Mutke, (GIG-PIB)

The public defense attracted a large audience, and after the discussion, the Scientific Council of IGF PAN made a positive decision to award Izabela Nowaczyńska, M.A., a doctoral degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences.