This virtual event will offer a chance to share and engage with the Independent Mapping Projects completed by third-year Geology students in ESE this year. A seminar by Professor Laurent Jolivet will open the event, after which third-year student Athanasios Klidaras will present the outcome of his highly successful Independent Project.

The event will be held online, with no need to register – an access link will soon be added to this event listing.

The event has now ended. A recording of Prof. Jolivet’s seminar can be found here, and a recording of Athanasios’ project (as presented by ESE Senior Teaching Fellow Dr. Valentin Laurent) can be found here.

Professor Laurent Jolivet (Sorbonne University) will present a seminar on “Lithospheric deformation and mantle convection: a geological approach”.

The cause of crustal deformation is a long-standing question in geology. Was it caused entirely by stresses transmitted horizontally from plate boundaries through the lithospheric stress guide, or also by viscous coupling with the asthenosphere flowing underneath? Observations and modelling — from modern seismic reflection profiles to crustal-scale strain field analysis to 2D/3D numerical flow models — are increasingly tipping the scale towards the second option.

Professor Jolivet will review the different contexts in which this, and related, questions are debated to understand the history of Earth’s crustal deformation.

By seeking evidence of coupling between the tectonic history of wide regions and mantle convection in parallel with numerical modelling, we can find clues on how convection drives crustal deformation. The only record (albeit indirect) of past mantle convection that is also able to provide information on timing is the geological history of basins and orogens. However, recent advances in numerical modelling can now match regional models based on geological observations and provide information on event timing and sequence, allowing us to test many complex and long-standing geological concepts.