GD
Geodynamics

Manel Ramos

Manel Ramos is a PhD student at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (France) and the University of Bergen (Norway). His research focuses on the numerical modelling of salt tectonics, particularly the architecture and controlling factors of diapiric structures, with a special interest in intra-salt deformation. His work has direct applications to the Zechstein Basin in the North Sea and other evaporite basins worldwide.

Growing geological Christmas trees: salt ‘Christmas-tree’ structures explained

and December 3, 2025
Regional profile through salt structures in the eastern part of the Dutch graben, southern North Sea
Figure 1: Regional profile through salt structures in the eastern part of the Dutch graben, southern North Sea (adapted from Butler, 2022).

As geoscientists, we tend to see geology everywhere. Around Christmas, many people stare at decorated fir trees and twinkling lights; salt tectonicists stare at seismic lines and outcrops and see… trees as well. Tall stems, branching limbs, stacked “tiers” of material; a whole forest of geological Christmas trees hiding in the subsurface. In salt provinces around the world, from the Flinders Range ...[Read More]

One Ring to Rule Them All: The Geology of Middle-earth

August 13, 2025
One Ring to Rule Them All: The Geology of Middle-earth

Few fantasy worlds have captured the imagination of readers and viewers like J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Whether you first encountered it through The Lord of the Rings or the sweeping visuals of Peter Jackson’s films, chances are your eyes lingered on the same thing geologists can’t help obsessing over: the mountains. Towering, treacherous, mysterious — the Misty Mountains, the White Mountains, ...[Read More]