GD
Geodynamics

Conor Farrell

Conor Farrell is a PhD student at the University of Florence specialising in continental rift segmentation, with the Main Ethiopian Rift serving as his primary study region. His research combines analogue modelling and remote sensing techniques to investigate how rift segments evolve and connect during extension. This work is motivated by its applications to geothermal energy development. His broader research interests include the transition from continental to oceanic rifting, volcanic hazard assessment, and geothermal exploration.

Building the Earth in a sandbox

Fentale Volcano

  Building the Earth in a sandbox   The Main Ethiopian Rift stretches for hundreds of kilometers through Ethiopia, a massive fracture where Africa is slowly tearing apart to birth a new ocean. However, the processes driving this continental breakup remain hidden deep beneath layers of volcanic rock and millions of years of geological history. …[Read More]