GD
Geodynamics

outstanding questions

The Sassy Scientist – Publication FOMO

The Sassy Scientist – Publication FOMO

In between homeschooling three children, Zoom meetings, online teaching, Skype vivas, and emergency grant reviews, Alex wonders: How do I keep track of all the newly published research out there? Dear Alex, I am sure it’s on the minds of many of our fellow academics, who just reside bored in their homes at these times. What else to do during a pandemic other than scouring Twitter for the new ...[Read More]

Enigmas at depth

Enigmas at depth

The Geodynamics 101 series serves to showcase the diversity of research topics and/or methods in the geodynamics community in an understandable manner. In this week’s Geodynamics 101 post, Marcel Thielmann, Senior Researcher at the University of Bayreuth, discusses the possible mechanisms behind the ductile deformation at great depths that causes deep earthquakes.  Earthquakes are one of the expre ...[Read More]

What controlled the evolution of Plate Tectonics on Earth?

Great Unconformity - Immensity River, Grand Canyon

Plate tectonics is a key geological process on Earth, shaping its surface, and making it unique among the planets in the Solar System. Yet, how plate tectonics emerged and which factors controlled its evolution remain controversial. The recently published paper in Nature by Sobolev and Brown suggests new ideas to solve this problem…. What makes plate tectonics possible on contemporary Earth? It is ...[Read More]

Searching for future directions in tectonic modelling

Searching for future directions in tectonic modelling

Geoscientists frequently use forward geodynamic simulations to test hypotheses derived from geophysical and geologic observations. While numerical simulations of lithospheric deformation have lead to key advances in our understanding of tectonic processes, in many cases it remains difficult to ascertain whether numerical models reproduce observations for the correct underlying regions.  This week, ...[Read More]