Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

Tectonics, Volcanology, and Petrology

Understanding tectonic and volcanic processes and their high-temperature rock record.

We use geophysical and geochemical methods to investigate a wide variety of geological problems that shape Earth’s interior and surface through volcanism and tectonism. We employ observational, experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches. Active research areas include: microstructural analysis of deformed rocks and xenoliths to investigate deformation mechanisms and the rheology of the crust and mantle; the chemical and physical processes associated with magma formation, migration, and eruption; geodynamics of ice sheets and mantle rebound; the seismic structure of the lithosphere and mantle; mechanics of faulting and earthquakes.

Faculty