geodynamics

Interview ECS GD Awardee 2026 – Sia Ghelichkhan

Sia Ghelichkhan and edited by Lorenzo Mantiloni March 25, 2026

Dr. Siavash Ghelichkhan is the 2026 EGU ECS Awardee for the Geodynamics divison. Congratulations, Sia! The image in the upper-right corner is the present-day thermal structure predicted from a global mantle convection simulation in G-ADOPT (see https://gadopt.org/).

The Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Awards highlight exceptional scientific contributions made by an Early Career Scientist in the fields of Earth Sciences associated with each division. This year, the prestigious recognition for the Geodynamics Division has been awarded to Dr. Sia Gelichkhan, from the Australian National University. Today we have the pleasure of interviewing him on hi ...[Read More]

What’s blobbing inside the Earth? – insights from numerical modelling

Poulami Roy and edited by Pauline Gayrin March 4, 2026

Figure 1: Snapshot from a mantle convection simulation showing sinking tectonic plates at subduction zones and rising mantle plumes originating from deep LLSVPs (large low-shear-velocity provinces). These BLOBs at the base of the mantle influence plume formation and seismic anisotropy. (taken from Roy et al., 2025)

Seismic waves tell us that something unusual is happening in the lowermost few hundred kilometers of Earth’s mantle. Beneath Africa and the Pacific lie two enormous thermochemical structures known as Large Low-Shear-Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs). These “large blobs” are slower to transmit shear waves, but beyond that, their physical nature remains one of the biggest open questions in deep Earth geod ...[Read More]

Bored by the Lower Mantle? Think Again!

Poulami Roy and edited by Pauline Gayrin October 22, 2025

Conceptual sketch illustrating the complexity of upwellings observed beneath hot spots. From Wamba et al 2023. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade3723

Is the lower mantle boring? For a long time, the lower mantle was thought to be relatively featureless and uniform compared to the more dynamic upper mantle. But recent seismic observations are challenging that idea, especially when we look near the base of the mantle. Recent studies from Maureen Long’s group (Creasy et al. 2017, Wolf et al. 2019, Reiss et al. 2019, Wolf & Long, 2023) and othe ...[Read More]

From Mountains to Oceans: How the memory of ancient orogens guides the rupture of continents

Kai Li and edited by Pauline Gayrin October 15, 2025

Picture showing an orogen that transform in a rift

Modified from François et al., 2022.

In this new blog, Dr. Kai Li (GFZ Potsdam) talk about his PhD work, where he used accordion numerical models to explore the tectonic history of the South China Sea. His PhD research focuses on the impact of orogenic inheritance on rifts and rifted margins, employing advanced geodynamic modeling techniques. Have you ever tried to fit the west coast of Africa and the east coast of South America toge ...[Read More]