Tectonics and Structural Geology

The Makran accretionary wedge: an ideal natural laboratory to study accretionary processes.

Jonas Ruh June 16, 2020

Lower Miocene turbiditic (layered shale and sandstone) sequences of the Makran acretionary wedge. Credits: Jonas Ruh.

How does an accretionary wedge form? For this edition of Minds over Methods, we have invited Jonas Ruh, lecturer in the Structural Geology and Tectonics group of the Geological Institute at the Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, to tell us about the Makran accretionary wedge, one of the largest on Earth. He explains how the use of field observations and numerical modelling helped him to bet ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Dating deformation with U-Pb carbonate geochronology

EGU Guest blogger August 16, 2019

Cathodoluminescence image of calcite vein in background, with 100 micron laser ablation spots overlain top right and U-Pb isochron overlain left. Image credit: Nick Roberts

For this edition of Minds over Methods, we have invited Nick Roberts, a research scientist at the British Geological Survey, working within the Geochronology and Tracers Facility (GTF) running a LA-ICP-MS laboratory. Nick has a background in ‘hard-rock’ geology, incorporating geochemistry, geochronology, and magmatic and metamorphic petrology across a wide range of tectonic settings, and is now in ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: The faults of a rift

Åke Fagereng June 5, 2019

Looking south along the Malawi rift, with escarpment to the right and Chilwa Intrusions in the valley floor. Credit: Åke Fagereng

Do ancient structures control present earthquakes in the East African Rift? Åke Fagereng, Reader in Structural Geology, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University For this edition of Minds over Methods, we have invited Åke Fagereng, reader in Structural Geology at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University. Åke writes about faults in the Malawi rift, and the seismic ha ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Massively dilatant faults in Iceland – from surface to subsurface structures

Michael Kettermann & Christopher Weismüller January 29, 2019

View towards Ármannsfell (North) at Thingvellir. Lake Thingvallavatn on the right and the southern part of the Almannagjá massively dilatant fault on the left. Note the tilted blocks dipping towards the lake. Credit: Michael Kettermann.

In this Minds over Methods we don’t have one, but two scientists talking about their research! Michael Kettermann and Christopher Weismüller, both from Aachen University, explain us about the multidisciplinary approach they use to understand more about massively dilatant faults. How do they form and what do they look like at depth? Massively dilatant faults in Iceland – from surface to subsu ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Tectonochemistry of Melting Mud in the Mantle, evidence from the Oman/UAE ophiolite

Christopher Spencer January 1, 2019

A lonely road in Wadi Al Hoqain, Oman. To the right: a date palm farm. To the left: mantle peridotite. The mantle section in the Haylayn massif can be as much as 15 kilometres thick. Credit: Christopher Spencer.

For this first Minds over Methods of 2019, we invited Christopher Spencer, Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University in Australia, to tell us something about tectonochemistry. By applying geochemistry to tectonic processes, it is possible to get more insight into the different stages of the rock cycle. By combining fieldwork and geochemical analyses of the Oman/UAE ophiolite, Chris and his co-wo ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Linking microfossils to tectonics

Sarah Kachovich July 3, 2018

Sarah at a chert outcrop in the field. Credit: Sarah Kachovich

This edition of Minds over Methods article is written by Sarah Kachovich and discusses how tiny fossils can be used to address large scale tectonic questions. During her PhD at the University of Brisbane, Australia, she used radiolarian biostratigraphy to provide temporal constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Himalayan region – onshore and offshore on board IODP Expedition 362. Sarah ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Reconstructing oceans lost to subduction

Derya Gürer March 12, 2018

Enjoying the views of the Aladağ range during fieldwork. Credit: Derya Gürer.

Our next Minds over Methods article is written by Derya Gürer, who just finished a PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. During her PhD, she used a combination of many methods to reconstruct the evolution of the Anadolu plate, which got almost entirely lost during closure of the Neotethys in Anatolia. Here, she explains how the use of these multiple methods helped her to obtain a 3D understa ...[Read More]