Tectonics and Structural Geology

Exploring Earth’s interior with analogue models: The case of slow earthquakes

Yuto Sasaki April 2, 2026

Analogue experimental setup of spherical hydrogel suspension.

Analogue experiment using hydrogel spheres dispersed in a viscous fluid. The inner cylinder rotates and applies shear to the particle layer, a fault gouge analogue.

Have you ever heard of “analogue modelling”? In solid Earth science, directly observing the Earth’s interior is challenging, and the analogue modelling approach often overcomes this limitation by using alternative systems analogous to natural phenomena. By identifying fundamental mechanisms in these tractable systems, we can apply physical scaling laws to understand processes dee ...[Read More]

Geomythology and Science: a long lasting yet hidden relationship

Filippo Carboni and Tim Burbery March 19, 2026

World maps obtained from Google Earth Pro Desktop

The links between geomythology and science are considerable and officially began with the works of Vitaliano (EGU Blog – Geomythology. True science and/or strong communication medium ?!) and continues nowadays thanks to the Geoheritage Journal edited by Springer Nature, and evident in two proposed sessions to the EGU sessions, including one from the 2025 conference entitled “Geomythology: Bridging ...[Read More]

Tuna and Tufo: The geology and history of the Aegadian Islands near Sicily

Hannah Davies March 12, 2026

an image of a sea cove with rugged rocks to the right and bottom right of the image and clear blue sea water to the left and upper left of the image

Cala Rosa, "The red cove", in Favignana, Italy (By giomodica, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47696822)

The Aegadian or Egadi islands (not to be confused with the Aegean islands situated between present day Greece and Türkiye) is a small archipelago of islands around 20 km off the Western coast of Sicily. These islands are most known for their historic industries, namely for a type of rock quarried from the largest island (Favignana) and the large tuna fishery around the island. In recent times this ...[Read More]

Finding Geothermal Energy with Structural Geologists!

Dripta Dutta February 19, 2026

A structural geologist contributes by mapping the fractures, identifying the stress field, estimating rock strengths, and overall lithologic mapping. These can be used as inputs to numerical simulations predicting the evolution of a variety of subsurface characteristics over the course of the geothermal project. Modified after Philipp et al. (2007).

Imagine harnessing the Earth’s natural warmth to heat our homes and generate clean electricity. That is the promise of geothermal energy. It taps into the heat from beneath the Earth’s surface, providing a consistent and low-carbon power source. Geothermal energy plays a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions because it produces very little greenhouse gas over its entire lifecycle. Studie ...[Read More]

Using drones for geological mapping

Ritabrata Dobe February 12, 2026

This image shows a drone operator guiding a drone to its landing spot.

Dr. Duccio Gheri operating a drone and guiding it to its landing spot marked with an H. Image courtesy Dr. Duccio Gheri.

Geological teaching and education is fast-changing in the 21st century. While fieldwork has long been considered to be the bedrock of geological instruction, over time an increased acceptance has developed for the need to make geological education and training more accessible, especially with regard to fieldwork as this can often involve days and weeks of arduous treks over inhospitable terrain, t ...[Read More]

Our epic battle with ever-changing weather forecasts while deploying ocean bottom instruments

Bernhard Steinberger, Zoltán Erdős and edited by Pauline Gayrin February 10, 2026

Deployment of an electromagnetometer (OBEM) from the institute GEOMAR. Photo by Bernhard Steinberger.

The question what drives tectonic plates has been around since plate tectonics was first developed. In principle, the fluid dynamics is well-known but what is not well known are the material properties, especially mantle viscosity structure which determines how much force is needed to pull a plate with a certain speed, but also how fast mantle convection, which may act as a driving force can occur ...[Read More]

TS Must-read – wrap up and tectonics history

The Must-read team January 22, 2026

TS Must-read series, the wrap up In 2020, we started the Must Read activity by asking the TS community a simple question: which papers do you think every tectonics and structural geology student should read? that led to more than a thousand nominations and lively debate. A short list of 48 Must Read papers was distilled by adding 3 complementary contributions to the 45 entries that had the larges ...[Read More]

Why Strike and Dip Conversions Confuse Even Professional Geologists ?

Nkodia Hardy January 16, 2026

Geologists taking structural measurements in the Congo River, with the overlay title: Why Strike and Dip Conversions Confuse Even Professional Geologists?

Photo: Nkodia Hardy

Whether you are a student, educator, or industry professional, you have likely encountered the myriad conventions used for recording geological orientations. For students, this landscape can be perplexing; for professionals, it may lead to the sinking feeling that a crucial undergraduate lecture was missed. Indeed, converting strike and dip measurements between different systems, such as Quadrants ...[Read More]

How Lava Domes Grow: Field Observations and Thermo-Mechanical Insights from the 1979 Soufrière Eruption

Takafumi Maruishi January 8, 2026

Photographs of the Soufrière lava dome from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program: GVP-05128.

To kick off the New Year, we have invited a guest author, Takafumi Maruishi, a researcher in the Research Division for Volcanic Disasters / Center for Volcano Research Promotion, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, Japan. He explains the scaling law of lava dome growth and its physical insight. Effusive eruptions—when magma reaches the surface and is extruded as ...[Read More]

Berlin – the city of unusual geology

Lauretta Kaerger December 18, 2025

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin (Credits: Lauretta Kaerger)

“There is no geology here – just dirt!” or “It’s only a large sandbox.” are two common narratives told about the geology of the Berlin region. But is that true? Is there really nothing interesting to find and see for a geologist in the German capital? Let’s start digging! The hard rock One narrative is definitely true, Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, like entire northern Germany, is a l ...[Read More]