Earth Processes and Geohazards

We aim to minimise the damage caused by natural geological events and prevent artificial geohazards. To do this we study and forecast destructive phenomena and processes that impact human life, from earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides to rock stability in mines and how rock becomes weathered and eroded over time. 

We also dig deeper into how the Earth works, exploring:

• deep mantle structure;
• plate tectonics;
• geomagnetism;
• continental margins; and more.

We’re especially interested in how surface processes — tectonics, erosion, sedimentology — are influenced by Earth's changing climate and the active processes occuring within and beneath the planet's crust. This also extends to how hazardous events have impacted other bodies in the Solar System (for example, flooding on Mars, or meteorite impacts on the icy moons of Jupiter).

If you are interested in one of the projects listed below, we encourage you to contact the primary project supervisor or the alternative contact person for further information.

Current projects

New generation data assimilation and rapid response models for urban flooding [Info Sheet - Fang Flooding]

Supervisors: Dr Fangxin Fang, Professor Christopher Pain

Mapping thermal and compositional structure of cratons [Info Sheet - Goes Cratons]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Ian Bastow

Structure and Evolution of the African Plate from Geophysical Observations [Info Sheet - Goes Africa Joint Tomography]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Gareth Roberts

Earthquake Forecasting Using Machine Learning [Info sheet - Earthquake Forecasting]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes,  Dr. Alexandra Renouard, Prof. Peter Stafford (Civil), Dr. Alex Whittaker

Fluid dynamics of magma reservoirs [Info Sheet - Jackson CFD]

Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Dr Haiyang Hu, Professor Jon Blundy (University of Oxford)

Rapid modelling of reactive flow using machine learning and dynamic mesh optimisation [Info Sheet - Jackson Reactive Flow]

Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Professor Chris Pain, Dr Claire Heaney

Journey to the Core-Mantle Boundary Region: Uncovering Earth’s Hidden Structures through Seismology [Info Sheet - Kim Deep Earth]

Supervisors: Dr Doyeon Kim

Shaking Worlds: Exploring Planetary Quakes and Deep Interiors [Info Sheet - Kim Planetary]

Supervisors: Dr Doyeon Kim

Fundamentals of carbon dioxide storage by mineralisation to carbonate minerals [Info Sheet - Krevor CO2Mineralisation]

Supervisor: Prof Sam Krevor

Integrating Multimodal Very-High-Resolution Data for Ecosystem Intelligence and Natural Capital Monitoring [Info Sheet - Plancherel AI4UAV]

Supervisors: Dr Yves Plancherel, Matt Piggott

Quantifying how earthquakes and impacts are magnetically recorded by rocks and meteorites [Info Sheet - Muxworthy mitchell stress]

Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, and Prof. Tom Mitchell (UCL)

Determining ancient field intensities from chemical remanent magnetisations in rocks and meteorites [Info sheet - Ancient Field Intensities]

Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, Prof. Dominik Weiss, and Dr. David Heslop (ANU, Canberra)

Geophysical studies of the spreading structure of the Troodos Ophiolite, Cyprus [Info sheet - Troodos Ophiolite, Cyprus]

Supervisors: Prof. Adrian Muxworthy, Prof. Jenny Collier, and Simon Allerton (Cardiff)

Teleseismic full-waveform imaging of active volcanoes [Info Sheet - Paulatto TSFWI]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Dr Lluis Guasch, Professor James Hammond (Birkbeck University of London)

Mantle Dynamic Impacts on Cenozoic Sea-Level Evolution [Info Sheet - Richards mantle]

Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards

Mapping the Continental Hydrogen Kitchen [Info Sheet - Richards mapping]

Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards, Ann Muggeridge, Rebecca Bell, Valentin Laurent, and Michele Paulatto

Uncovering the impact of mantle dynamics on Cenozoic ocean circulation [Info Sheet - Richards uncovering]

Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards

Megathrust Earthquake Hazards and Coastal Erosion of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (Pacific Northwest, USA) [Info Sheet - Rood Megathrust]

Supervisors: Dr Dylan Rood, Dr. Martin Hurst (University of Glasgow); Dr. Devin McPhillips (U.S. Geological Survey); Dr. Anna Rood (Global Earthquake Model - GEM - Foundation)

Validating Earthquake Hazard Models For Critical Engineered Structures Using Geologic Data And Cosmogenic Isotopes [Info Sheet - Rood Earthquake Engineering]

Supervisors: Dr Dylan Rood, Dr John-Paul Latham and Dr Peter Stafford

Will climate change make coastal erosion rates faster? Comparing historic and Holocene cliff retreat rates using cosmogenic isotopes with numerical models [Info Sheet - Rood Coastal Erosion]

Supervisor: Dr Dylan Rood

Current projects in the Environmental Geochemistry Group for the Academic Year 2026/2027 [Info Sheet - Weiss PhD projects]

Supervisor: Professor Dominik Weiss

Characterising the Importance of Aseismic Creep and Slow Slip Events on Normal Faults [Info Sheet - Whittaker Slow slip]

Supervisor: Dr Alexander Whittaker, Dr Rebecca Bell, Dr Philippa Mason

Reconstructing erosion rates and sediment supply from mountain belts using palaeo-topographic and palaeo-hydrological constraints [Info Sheet - Whittaker PalaeoHydrology]

Supervisor: Dr Alexander Whittaker, Prof Gary Hampson, Dr Rhodri Jerrett (St Andrews)