Francesco Rappisi

Published on Monday March 17, 2025

Research interests

Geophysicist expert in seismology and geodynamics, fascinated by the dynamics of the solid Earth. My research focuses on tomography, observational and computational seismology, with a particular interest in subduction zones and active volcanoes. For further updates and insights, feel free to follow me on BlueSky @seismofra.bsky.social

Education

2022 – PhD in Earth Sciences, University of Padova (Italy)

2017 – Msc in Applied and Exploration Geophysics, University of Pisa (Italy)

2014 – Bsc in Geology, University of Palermo (Italy)

Previous professional experiences

2025 – present -> Postdoctoral researcher at ECGS

2023 – 2025 -> Postdoctoral researcher at University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment, UK

2022 – 2023 -> Postdoctoral researcher at University of Padova, Geosciences Department, Italy

2018 – 2022 -> PhD researcher at University of Padova, Geosciences Department, Italy

Publications (peer-reviewed)

Faccenda, M., VanderBeek, B. P., de Montserrat, A., Yang, J., Rappisi, F., & Ribe, N. (2024). ECOMAN: an open-source package for geodynamic and seismological modelling of mechanical anisotropy. Solid Earth, 15(10), 1241-1264.

Lo Bue, R., Rappisi, F., Firetto Carlino, M., Giampiccolo, E., Cocina, O., Vanderbeek, B. P., & Faccenda, M. (2024). Crustal structure of Etna volcano (Italy) from P‐wave anisotropic tomography. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(13), e2024GL108733.

Rappisi, F., Witek, M., Faccenda, M., Ferreira, A. M. G., & Chang, S. J. (2024). Artificial age-independent seismic anisotropy, slab thickening and shallowing due to limited resolving power of (an) isotropic tomography. Geophysical Journal International, 237(1), 217-234.

VanderBeek, B. P., Bue, R. L., Rappisi, F., & Faccenda, M. (2023). Imaging upper mantle anisotropy with traveltime and splitting intensity observations from teleseismic shear waves: insights from tomographic reconstructions of subduction simulations. Geophysical Journal International, 235(3), 2640-2670.

Lo Bue, R.†, Rappisi, F.†, Vanderbeek, B. P., & Faccenda, M. (2022). Tomographic image interpretation and Central-Western Mediterranean-like upper mantle dynamics from coupled seismological and geodynamic modeling approach. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 884100. †shared first authorship

Rappisi, F., VanderBeek, B. P., Faccenda, M., Morelli, A., & Molinari, I. (2022). Slab geometry and upper mantle flow patterns in the Central Mediterranean from 3D anisotropic P‐wave tomography. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(5), e2021JB023488.

Xing, Z., Rappisi, F., & Mazzotti, A. (2018, September). A new workflow for surface wave FWI combining genetic algorithm and gradient-based optimization algorithms. In 24th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics (Vol. 2018, No. 1, pp. 1-5). European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

+ under review

Rappisi, F., Bue, R. L., VanderBeek, B. P., Confal, J. M., Erman, C., Baccheschi, P., … & Faccenda, M. (2024). 3-D Mantle Flow and Structure of the Mediterranean from Combined P-wave and Splitting Intensity Anisotropic Tomography. Authorea Preprints. Already under review in JGR.

Del Piccolo et al. (2025). Pressurized magma storage in radial dike network beneath Etna volcano. Under review in Communication Earth and Environment.

+ in preparation

Rappisi et al. SubBridge: a 3-D Subduction and Ridge Model with Synthetic Seismic Waveforms for Benchmarking.

Rappisi et al. Distant Seismic Arrays Reveal Slow Slip Potential in Mexico and Chile.