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Geodynamics

Geodynamics

Unraveling volcanic patterns between adjacent rift zones

Unraveling volcanic patterns between adjacent rift zones

Continental rifts are a prime example of how the forces at work beneath our feet are constantly shaping our world, and often host volcanic activity. The patterns and distribution of volcanism in rift settings, however, is far from intuitive. The picture gets even more complicated if we look between the segments that often make up a rift. This week, Valentina Armeni from the University of Potsdam, ...[Read More]

Don’t Stop Me Now: A Fracture Mechanics Perspective on Earthquake Nucleation

Schematic for a possible earthquake nucleation scenario. Inset figure adapted after Lebihain et al. (2021) and McLaskey (2019).

How do earthquakes start? Earthquakes occur when a block of rock rapidly slides past another along an interface or a discontinuity in the medium and release energy in the form of seismic waves. Turns out, the surface of the earth is riddled with a lot of these discontinuities, which we call “faults”. If we plot the locations of earthquakes on a world map (Figure 1a), we will see that they highligh ...[Read More]

Happy 8th blog birthday and introducing the new blog team!

Happy 8th blog birthday and introducing the new blog team!

Hello there! It’s Constanza and Michaël your GD editors-in-chief once again. End of June marks the 8th anniversary of the blog, so happy birthday to the blog! It’s been some pretty busy weeks of preparation behind the scenes after the EGU General Assembly to bring together the new blog team for the year 2025-2026. We are a team of early career scientists who are very enthusiastic about ...[Read More]

What drives the extensional deformation in the central Apennines (Italy)?

What drives the extensional deformation in the central Apennines (Italy)?

The central Mediterranean is a geodynamically complex region shaped by the interaction of multiple active subduction zones. In Italy, the central Apennines display a distinctive pattern of surface deformation that is proposed to be linked to a slab break-off beneath the area. In this week’s blog post, Maaike, a PhD student at ISTerre in Grenoble, France, explores the key processes driving surface ...[Read More]