TS
Tectonics and Structural Geology

Field Geology

Where earthquake faults reach the ground surface: insight from 2016 Kumamoto event

Where earthquake faults reach the ground surface: insight from 2016 Kumamoto event

What does a seismogenic fault look like? We can sometimes observe surface earthquake faults, which propagate ruptures from the hypocenter to the ground surface. In 2016, intense seismicity was observed during the Kumamoto earthquake sequence in Japan. This sequence consisted of many shallow earthquakes, including a strong foreshock and the subsequent mainshock with numerous aftershocks. The earthq ...[Read More]

Throwback Summer – retracing student steps at the Pic Saint-Loup, France

picture pic Sant Loup

The region around the Pic Saint-Loup is a popular destination for many European universities to teach mapping field courses – and there is a reason for it, even besides the great landscape, good food and nice weather. Let’s take a tour to discover why! The Pic Saint-Loup itself is indeed so impressive that some former students return at later stages in life “dragging” along other geologists ...[Read More]

Remembering Janos Urai – A master of all scales

Remembering Janos Urai – A master of all scales

As many will know, on Sunday, 28 May 2023, one of the most prominent, energetic and valued members of the Tectonics and Structural Geology community, Emeritus Professor Janos Urai, was lost in a tragic climbing accident in Belgium. Here we remember Janos for the amazing scientist that he was and for the huge legacy that he has left, in the form of his own transformative contributions and the inspi ...[Read More]

Features from the Field: Sheath Folds

Features from the Field: Sheath Folds

Shear zones are areas of intense deformation that localize the movement of one block of the crust with respect to another. In previous posts, we have seen that shear zones contain some very deformed rocks called mylonites, lineations that tell us the direction of movement, and useful kinematic indicators, such as S-C fabrics, that allow geologists to understand which way the rocks moved. However, ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Armijo et al. (1986) Quaternary extension in southern Tibet: field observations and tectonic implications

TS Must-Read – Armijo et al. (1986) Quaternary extension in southern Tibet: field observations and tectonic implications

This contribution is a very detailed field report of the Sino-French expedition in eastern Tibet that took place in 1980-1982. Armijo and coauthors accurately analyse the different tectonic styles present in the north and south of the Yarlung-Zangbo Suture Zone, frequently defined as the “chord” joining the eastern and western syntaxes of the Himalayan orogen (Fig. 1). North of the chord, strike-s ...[Read More]

Josefa Cuevas de Sansores (24-02-1920 – 2010) – Mexico’s first woman geological engineer

Josefa Cuevas de Sansores (24-02-1920 – 2010) – Mexico’s first woman geological engineer

Josefa Cuevas Sansores was born on the 24th of March, 1920 to Andrea Aguilar Argüello. Andrea was a professor herself and graduated in 1929 specializing in ‘Instrucción Primaria Inferior y Superior’. She used the knowledge she had gained during her studies to found several kindergartens in Yucatán, one still carrying her name). Josefa had three older sisters, two of which became school teachers, w ...[Read More]

Janet Vida Watson (1 September 1923 – 29 March 1985): The woman who could translate the story of Precambrian rocks into a crystal-clear message

Janet Vida Watson (1 September 1923 – 29 March 1985): The woman who could translate the story of Precambrian rocks into a crystal-clear message

On a late summer day in September 1923, Janet Vida Watson was born. With a father working in palaeontology and a mother who did research in embryology until her marriage, Janet grew up with science all around her. She went to South Hampstead High School, known for its science teaching and continued her education in General Science at Reading University. She graduated in biology and geology in 1943 ...[Read More]

Features from the Field: Shear Zones and Mylonites

Features from the Field: Shear Zones and Mylonites

The San Andreas Fault in California, the Alpine Fault in New Zealand, or the Main Frontal Thrust in the Himalayas are some of the most famous and largest fault zones that accommodate the relative displacement between two adjacent crustal blocks. Such faults, however, represent only the shallower expression of something much bigger: a crustal shear zone. In the first 10 kilometers or so of the crus ...[Read More]

#OnTheRocks – Because Earth is just beautiful!

#OnTheRocks – Because Earth is just beautiful!

From the time the first Kodak camera in 1888 went on sale we can say with confidence a geologist somewhere was trying to capture field photographs. We love to capture the beauty of the field and every geologist has a story to tell. The EGU would like to connect these stories globally in our new #OnTheRocks series. #OnTheRocks will produce a compilation of geological photographs on different scales ...[Read More]

Beyond Tectonics: Fishing for Continents in the Furious Fifties and Roaring Forties

Beyond Tectonics: Fishing for Continents in the Furious Fifties and Roaring Forties

This edition of “Beyond Tectonics” is brought to you by Dr. Derya Gürer and Luca Magri. Derya is a Lecturer in Earth Sciences at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Tasmania, and Luca is a PhD student at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. In early 2020, they participated in a research voyage to one of the most remote places on the plane ...[Read More]