Geodynamics

Orphaning: Discovering New Subduction Processes

Antoniette Greta Grima and edited by Kiran Chotalia November 24, 2021

Figure 1: P-Wave tomography by Obayashi et al. (2013) and Fukao & Obayashi (2013) for Tonga. Note the deflected slab at 660 km depth underlain by deeper slab material, possibly orphan slabs.

Science is all about discovering new things. But how do we make these discoveries, adding to the ever growing pantheon of knowledge? This week, we sit with one of our editors Antoniette Greta Grima, a Postdoctoral Fellow from the University of Texas at Austin, to understand what it takes to discover a new slab process. Thanks for sitting down with us this week! First things first, which subductio ...[Read More]

The Sassy Scientist – To A Galaxy Far Far Away

The Sassy Scientist November 19, 2021

Jesper has a lot of green on his mind. No not money, you capitalists. Nature. The environment. Basil and chives. With the recent advent of billionaires finding new ways to caress their egos, and in a totally-not-aiming-to-start-mining-other-celestial-bodies kinda way, Jesper has some troubled thoughts: Should we really colonize other planets? We are already destroying this one… Dear Jesper, Sure. ...[Read More]

Magma-Assisted Flexure in Hawaiian Lithosphere?

Daniel Douglas and edited by Menno Fraters November 17, 2021

This week Daniel Douglas, who is now a PhD student at New Mexico Tech, discusses his master thesis research while at the university of Hawaii. He investigated the role of magma in the flexure of the Hawaiian lithosphere. When a topographic load is applied to the lithosphere, the lithosphere accommodates the load by flexing. The observed flexure can be measured through seismic methods, gravity anom ...[Read More]

The Sassy Scientist – Stating The (not so) Obvious

The Sassy Scientist November 12, 2021

Applying for tenure-track (or something close to that) positions is the very reason for many brilliant scientists to eventually run away from academia as fast as they can. Finding an opening, preparing your application and bracing yourself for the n-th `no thank you, but you should really try again!’ is a tedious, time-consuming, numbing, soul-destroying, kill-me-now process. Among the many ...[Read More]