modelling

Modeling the Early Earth: Idealization and its Aims I

Junjie Dong and edited by Rajani Shrestha July 10, 2024

An artist’s impression of the early Archean Earth, with minimal landmasses and a global ocean. Image credit: Alec Brenner.

The question of how we came to be is closely tied with how the Earth became what it now is. What was the early Earth like? How did it evolve to become a habitable world? Given a fragmentary rock record, how can we investigate the early Earth and its evolution? Dr. Junjie Dong from Caltech writes about modeling the early Earth in a two-part blog. For the first part, he introduces the approach to e ...[Read More]

Modelling Magma Propagation in Three Dimensions – Or: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love Simplicity

Lorenzo Mantiloni and edited by Michaël Pons November 22, 2023

Nature is complex, models not as much. A real eruptive fissure at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, in 2022 (photo by Drumstick21, Wikipedia) is "fed" by a simulated dyke (modelled with SAM, Mantiloni et al., 2023) advancing in a stress field.

The crisis unfolding these days in Grindavík, Iceland reminds us of how important it is to forecast volcanic activity. Predicting the outcomes of volcanic unrest, or a magmatic intrusion making its way towards the surface, essentially amounts to three questions. Will there be an eruption? How much time before it starts? Where exactly will the eruption occur? Answering any of these questions is a d ...[Read More]

Biogeodynamics

Taras Gerya, Bob Stern, Loïc Pellissier and edited by Ágnes Király December 14, 2022

Would you like to participate in the development of a completely new research field? Here is the opportunity – Biogeodynamics! Biogeodynamics is an emerging field with exciting research opportunities. In this blog post professors Taras Gerya, Loïc Pellissier, and Robert Stern talk about what is Bio-Geo-Dynamics, how this field is developing, and what are the challenges and opportunities ahead. A n ...[Read More]

Journey of the Indian plate

Jyotirmoy Paul March 30, 2022

From the top of one of the largest monoliths in the Southern Indian craton | PC: Samik Sadhu | https://samiksadhu.weebly.com

Plume craton interaction is a fascinating geological phenomenon. The Indian plate, which has experienced several plume eruptions underneath it, is one of the best locations to study the effect of plume craton interaction. In this week’s news and view, I will provide an overview of the controversy and hypotheses related to the plume craton interaction within the Indian plate since the mid-Cre ...[Read More]