Tectonics and Structural Geology

Minds over Methods: studying dike propagation in the lab

Stefano Urbani December 7, 2016

Fig 1. Fissure eruption at Bardabunga in 2014. Photo by Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson.

Have you ever thought of using gelatin in the lab to simulate the brittle-elastic properties of the Earth’s crust? Stefano Urbani, PhD student at the university Roma Tre (Italy), uses it for his analogue experiments, in which he studies the controlling factors on dike propagation in the Earth’s crust. Although we share this topic with our sister division ‘Geochemistry, Mineralogy ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Experimental earthquakes

Giacomo Pozzi November 2, 2016

Microscopic cross section of a slip zone

After our first edition of Minds over Methods, which was about Numerical Modelling, we now move to Rock Experiments! How can rock experiments be used to study processes within the Earth? We invited Giacomo Pozzi, PhD student at Durham University, to explain us how he uses rock experiments to study fault behaviour during earthquakes. Experimental earthquakes to understand the weak behaviour ...[Read More]

Minds over Methods: Numerical modelling

Anouk Beniest September 21, 2016

Minds over Methods is the second category of our T&S blog and is created to give you some more insights in the various research methods used in tectonics and structural geology. As a numerical modeller you might wonder sometimes how analogue modellers scale their models to nature, or maybe you would like to know more about how people use the Earth’s magnetic field to study tectonic processes. ...[Read More]