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Tectonics and Structural Geology

Must read papers

TS Must-Read – Mckenzie and Parker (1967) The North Pacific: an example of tectonics on a sphere

September 30, 2020
TS Must-Read – Mckenzie and Parker (1967) The North Pacific: an example of tectonics on a sphere

The paper describes how large, rigid, aseismic regions can be defined with Euler’s theorem, which describes the geometry of motion on a sphere, i.e. the Earth’s surface. Points on these large and rigid blocks move in relation to other blocks describing small circles set by their rotation pole. The paper describes this as “paving stone theory”, where tectonic plates are “paving stones”, and success ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Wilson (1965) A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift

September 15, 2020
TS Must-Read – Wilson (1965) A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift

In 1965, JT Wilson published “A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift” (https://doi.org/10.1038/207343a0). This is one of the papers that led to a paradigm shift in Earth Sciences and would become one of the bases of plate tectonics. The concept of the transform fault, introduced in this paper in a very smart way, is fundamental in tectonics textbooks nowadays. Indeed many of ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Dietz (1961) Continent and ocean basin evolution by spreading of the sea floor

September 2, 2020
TS Must-Read – Dietz (1961) Continent and ocean basin evolution by spreading of the sea floor

Dietz 1961 “Continent and Ocean Basin Evolution by Spreading of the Sea Floor” paper was ground-breaking for plate tectonics. Almost literally, as it discussed the sea-floor spreading theory. Certainly away from the consensus at the time, this article is a classic in divergent tectonic settings and it may be an interesting piece of work for ECS working in tectonics and, more particularly, in conti ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Hubbert and Rubey (1959)

August 13, 2020
TS Must-Read – Hubbert and Rubey (1959)

“The Role of Fluid Pressure in Mechanics of Overthrust Faulting” by Hubbert and Rubey is a “groundbreaking” article from the end of the 1950s. It’s a remarkable piece of research, written in an old-fashioned way, for modern standards. Many ECS that may not have read the original paper yet are certainly familiar with its textbook content. Let’s go quickly through it!   The article, as a key po ...[Read More]

Must-read papers in tectonics and structural geology – Introduction

and June 9, 2020
Must-read papers in tectonics and structural geology – Introduction

The “TS Must-read papers” activity can be described as a virtual paper-discussion forum. A total of 103 voters within the TS community nominated 381 “Must read” papers researching topics within tectonics and structural geology, and we, early-career scientists with diverse backgrounds, a.k.a. the TS Must-read papers team (see below), promote in different media the contributions that were the most v ...[Read More]

Call for must-read papers!

and May 14, 2020
Call for must-read papers!

    Have you ever read a paper and thought “Why didn’t I find this 3 years ago?!” ? Did you stumble upon TS early-career scientists or colleagues who are unaware of seminal or fundamental (old and new) articles? Or are you simply willing to give some good reading advice about tectonics and structural geology?   IF YOU ANSWERED YES AT LEAST ONCE, THEN THIS IS FOR YOU!   What’s t ...[Read More]