Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Long-term geological and planetary processes are in most cases too slow and occur too deep inside a planet for their dynamics to be directly observed.
Therefore geophysicists investigate the fluid dynamics of the different kinds of flow and deformation processes in the Earth and terrestrial planets using numerical models. This research includes the computation of two and three-dimensional simulations as well as the analysis of the results and their comparison to ob-servational data, from field work or from the laboratory. Not only Earth deformation is studied, but also the geochemical and mineralogical evolution of the planet over periods of up to billions of years.
The group led by Paul Tackley specialises in the development of such numerical models. For this purpose it is a partner owner of ETh's high-performance cluster Brutus, a powerful computer consisting of thousands of processors. The use of such a cluster is necessary to perform high-resolution, three-dimensional numerical simulations.
The group works in different teams. One dedicates itself mainly to the dynamics of the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. These researchers examine the processes that occur in this litho-spheric region of the Earth. They develop realistic two and three-dimensional models of rock deformation and heat transport that include mineralogical phase transitions, in order to model so-called subduction, in which one tectonic plate drops under another, the collision of conti-nents, which builds mountains, and processes at mid-ocean ridge spreading centres.
How did the Alps or the Himalayas develop? How does a volcanic island chain develop? What happens at a mid-ocean ridge? Such questions modellers can answer using realistic simulations, which can be validated by geological, geochemical and geophysical observations.