Earth Surface Systems
Research in the Earth Surface Systems theme increasingly focuses on the interactions and feedbacks between different compartments of the surface Earth.
We study topics ranging from physics of the deformation of the Earth's crust to the interactions between tectonics, erosion, biogeochemical cycles and climate. We investigate fundamental questions such as the driving mechanisms of volcanism and their links to sources and sinks of surface volatiles, and explore the complex network of physical, chemical and biological processes that cycle carbon, oxygen, sulphur and other important elements through major reservoirs, now and in the past.
Highlights and achievements
- The development to full capacity of the new Biogeoscience research discipline in organic geochemistry, including molecular and isotopic approaches to carbon cycling.
- The addition of new expertise in chemical oceanography and other aspects of Earth Surface Geochemistry.
- New approaches to the numerical modelling of landscape development within the Earth Surface Dynamics research group.
- Novel insights into the controls on atmospheric CO2 on timescales from thousands to 10s of millions of years.
- The Structural Geology and Tectonics research group created a new understanding and new thermo-mechanical models of collisional wedges following closure of Tethys.