Geodynamics

Ambrosio Vega-Ruiz

Ambrosio Joaquin Vega Ruiz is a geologist born and raised in Concepcion, Chile, also formed at the Universidad de Concepcion (Concepcion, Chile). He got his PhD at Freie Universität Berlin (Berlin, Germany) in 2025 while researching about the Neotectonics along the Chilean forearc at the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (Potsdam, Germany). He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Section 4.7 of the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences. Currently working on the Active Tectonics and Landscape Evolution of the Andean forearc along Northern Chile and Ionian Islands, Western Greece. He likes analog photography of urban and natural landscapes and portraits of his friends. He enjoys running, hiking and swimming, as well as amateur guitar playing and digital drawing.

The pulsed rise of the Nahuelbuta Range: How glaciers indirectly built a mountain in Patagonia

Ambrosio Vega-Ruiz, edited by Lorenzo Mantiloni and Editorial Team 2 July 29, 2026

Mapuche creational myth of the struggle between Caicai Vilu (water snake) and Trentren Vilu (earth snake), which shaped the Patagonian forearc. Credit: Ambrosio Vega-Ruiz.

Forearc ranges are a striking example of how tectonic processes shape our planet. The Nahuelbuta Range in southern Chile is one of such settings. This week, Ambrosio Vega-Ruiz from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Germany, is telling us the story of this remarkable range, exploring how climate feedback can influence tectonic uplift across coastal forearcs. Tectonic uplift before tectonic ...[Read More]