The Geodynamics & Tectonics group has four academic staff members:
Anouk Beniest, Assistant Professor of Tectonics and Structural Geology
Thanushika Gunatilake, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Geoscience of the Subsurface
Wouter Schellart, Professor of Geodynamics and Tectonics
Dr. Bernd Andeweg, Lecturer tectonics
Members of the Geodynamics & Tectonics group focus on five main research topics:
- Geodynamics & plate tectonics (subduction, orogenesis, lithospheric extension, plate motions)
- Crustal tectonics and sea floor mapping
- Natural hazards (giant subduction zone thrust earthquakes)
- Human-induced hazards (induced seismicity)
- Subsurface clean energy solutions (geothermal energy, CO2 storage)
The group studies the Earth from the microscale to the mantle scale, and uses laboratory-based experimental techniques, numerical modelling techniques, field studies, seismological data, marine expeditions, tectonic reconstructions and statistical methods to investigate and quantify the Earth's evolution and its processes.
The Geodynamics & Tectonics group focuses on both generic, process-oriented, research and research applied to specific geological settings and geographical locations (e.g. Andes, Himalaya-East Asia, Scotia Sea, Pyrenees, Southwest Pacific, Cyprus, Aegean).
The group manages the Kuenen-Escher Geodynamics Laboratory (KEG Lab), which is a modelling facility in which crustal and mantle-scale geodynamic processes are simulated using analogue experiments at small spatial scales and short temporal scales.