Research
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to collaborate on an existing or new research project
My research interests include the long-term evolution of rocky planets and how interior processes are linked to a planet’s tectonics, volcanism, and, ultimately, atmosphere. For the big picture, I’m keen to learn how these processes ultimately affect the planet’s (in)habitability. I strive to integrate observations from space missions, geophysics, geology, and geo/cosmo-chemistry into a physics-based framework using numerical modeling techniques. While I have worked on Venus and Earth for now, I am keen on exploring interior evolution, tectonics, volcanism, and/or atmospheres on any celestial body and welcome collaborations. You can find more details on my current and past research projects below.
Venus: Earth's mysterious sister planet
Our neighbouring planet Venus presents a clear tectonic contrast to the Earth, despite similar interior structure and composition. Even in the absence of plate tectonics, Venus’ surface is covered with volcanic and tectonic structures both in familiar and exotic forms. To what extent these features reflect the current state of the planet’s interior remains uncertain. Understanding the dynamic interior processes at play and their link to Venus’ surface is key for our understanding of the evolution of rocky planets (such as Earth), and even their habitability.
Venus holds the key to Earth's past - or future?
Venus and Earth may have resembled each other in their earliest history. Yet, they took divergent evolution paths, leaving Earth and Venus with surface environments that could not be more different. Whereas Earth’s environment is habitable and allows for liquid water, Venus obtains a crushingly thick atmosphere over a hellish, hot surface. Understanding the dynamic mechanisms behind Venus’ geological history is a key objective in planetary sciences, as it helps to explain why Earth and Venus have diverged in towards their (in)habitable states.
You can find extensive Venus science reviews in our 2022, 2023, and 2024 Space Science Reviews papers (chapters) in the Open Access collection ‘Venus: Evolution Through Time‘, as well as in our 2025 Treatise in Geochemistry paper/chapter.
Top: image from our 2023 review paper
The peculiar case of coronae on Venus
An updated database of coronae on Venus
Coronae (latin for “crowns”) are large, quasi-circular volcano-tectonic structures abundant on the Venusian surface, characterized by a (partial) concentric annulus of closely spaced fractures. A new systematic analysis of the Venus surface reveals at least 741 coronae on Venus, significantly more than previously documented! Our new and extensive database will soon be ready for the public to use and augment.
Paper under review
Evidence for ongoing plume activity on Venus
Assuming coronae are formed by hot thermal upwellings, we use 3D computer models of plume-lithosphere interactions on Venus to assess their origin. We find that corona morphologies not only represent different tectonic styles, but also different evolution stages. We suggest that topography can distinguish active from inactive coronae, and reveal widespread and ongoing plume activity on the planet. The global distribution of this geological activity raises intriguing questions on Venusian deep interior circulation and dynamics.
Published in our 2020 Nature Geoscience paper; lay article: 2021 The Science Breaker paper
Diverse tectonic processes at Venus’ coronae revealed by gravity and topography
We leverage 3D geodynamic models (from our 2020 paper) to predict free-air and Bouguer gravity signals under different corona tectonic scenarios. Of the 76 coronae considered resolved by the current Venus gravity dataset (from the Magellan mission), gravity data suggest buoyant mantle material beneath 52 at present-day. Fitting observations to models reveals a spectrum of plume-lithosphere interactions and activity stages across these coronae. We also find that the limited resolution of the Magellan gravity field can obscure gravity signatures indicative of plume activity at large coronae. Finally, we predict that the gravity dataset from the upcoming VERITAS mission will resolve 428 coronae, and identify sites of interest for upcoming missions.
Paper under review
Prolonged magmatic activity and eclogite recycling at asymmetric coronae
Most large coronae on Venus are radially asymmetric and located at a topographic transition between a lowland and plateau (‘margins’). We present the first 3D numerical models of plume-margin interactions on Venus, revealing various tectonic evolution scenarios. Interestingly, asymmetric coronae are generally longer-lived structures than symmetric ones. Additionally, we find that the basalt-to-eclogite phase change is crucial for the recycling of crustal material into the mantle.
Published in our 2023 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets paper
Rift tectonics on Venus
One of the most prominent tectonic features on Venus is the extensive network of rift structures, or “chasmata,” which span over ten thousand kilometers and often feature complex morphologies such as rift branching, lateral offsets, and variable fracturing patterns. We present the first 3D geodynamic models of Venus rift tectonics, exploring how crustal rheology, crustal thickness, and lithospheric thermal structure influence rift morphology. We identify five primary rift modes of which the “wide-troughs”, “multiple” and “branching” modes most resemble observations. The explored lithospheric properties play a key role in shaping rift morphologies, and their lateral and/or temporal variations may explain regional rift morphology differences across Venus. Importantly, our results show that along-axis rift geometry variations can emerge even in symmetric, uni-axial extension settings. Moreover, Venus rifts are best reproduced by various model evolution stages, typically under conditions of a thin lithosphere, supporting the idea that Venus rifts are currently active.
Paper under review
The potential for seismic activity and its detection
Given Venus’ likely tectonic and volcanic activity, it is plausible that the planet also experiences seismic activity despite its high surface temperatures. As part of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) working group “Seismicity on Venus: Prediction & Detection“, we assess the likelihood and diversity of seismic activity on Venus. In addition, we evaluate the feasibility, advantages, and limitations of various seismic observation techniques, including surface-based methods (e.g., broadband seismometers, distributed acoustic sensing), balloon-based platforms, and orbital approaches. Furthermore, in an exciting collaboration with the NORSAR AIR (“Airborne Inversion of Rayleigh waves“) team, we delve deeper into the potential of balloon/air-borne seismology for probing Venus’ interior.
Published in our 2024 Earth and Space Science paper, and more coming soon!
Earth's interior and tectonics
Earth’s mantle hosts mantle convection, a process that governs the long-term evolution of our planet. Constraining the composition, structure, and dynamics of Earth’s mantle, however, remains a scientific challenge that requires cross-disciplinary efforts.
Diverse origins of lower mantle positive wave speed anomalies
Positive wave speed anomalies in the mantle often align with expected subducted slab locations, a correlation widely used in plate reconstructions and geodynamic modeling. However, global travel-time tomography is highly dependent on source-receiver geometry. We demonstrate that global full-waveform inversion is less sensitive to this geometry and uncovers many previously undetected anomalies in the lower mantle. These anomalies, often beneath major oceans and continental interiors without a subduction history, show no significant correlation with past subduction.
Published in our 2024 Nature Scientific Reports paper
Strain-weakening rheology in the lower mantle: "cool" mantle plumes
Earth’s lower mantle’s main constituents are the strong mineral Bridgmanite (~80%) and the weaker Ferropericlase (~20%). The viscosity of such a multiphase rock depends on the modal abundance of weak versus strong minerals as well as the fabric of the rock. Using geodynamic models with a newly implemented strain-weakening (SW) rheology, we study the effect of strain-weakening rheology on global-scale mantle convection. We find that SW rheology particularly influences mantle flow patterns, thermochemical pile stability, and the features of mantle plumes. We ultimately propose that weakened plumes could explain the long-known discrepancy between expected and observed thermal anomalies of deep-seated mantle plumes on Earth.
Published in our 2022 Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems paper
Compositional heterogeneity in Earth's lower mantle
We address the nature of chemical lower-mantle heterogeneity, how it has evolved, and how it has affected our planet’s evolution. We do so by the integration of numerical models of long-term mantle convection with interdisciplinary observations of the deep Earth.
Coupled dynamics of primordial and recycled heterogeneity in Earth's lower mantle
We investigate the coupled dynamics and evolution of primordial domains and recycled materials in Earth’s mantle. Primordial and recycled materials are robustly predicted to co-exist with each other. This study provides a new integration of independent hypotheses of present-day lower-mantle heterogeneity, which we link to geochemical and geophysical observations.
Published in our 2021 Solid Earth paper
Dynamic styles of primordial material preservation in Earth's interior
Cosmo- and geochemical constraints indicate that Earth’s lower mantle hosts an ancient primordial reservoir enriched in silica with respect to the upper mantle. Here, We explore the effects of composition-dependent rheology on heterogeneity preservation and the styles of mantle convection. Several regimes of primordial material preservation can occur in terrestrial planets, some of which are here characterised for the first time and highly relevant to the Earth.
Published in our 2020 EPSL paper
Intra-oceanic subduction initiation
Extensional detachment faults, widely documented in slow-spreading and ultraslow-spreading ridges on Earth, can effectively localise deformation due to their weakness. After the onset of oceanic closure, these weak faults may control the nucleation of a subduction zone parallel to the former mid-ocean ridge. We conducted a series of 3D geodynamical simulations to investigate the formation of detachment faults in slow oceanic spreading systems and their subsequent response upon inversion from spreading to convergence. We define the controlling parameters for detachment fault formation during mid-ocean ridge spreading, and then show how these faults affect the dynamics of intra-oceanic subduction initiation when the system is subjected to ridge-perpendicular compression.
Published in our 2019 EPSL paper
Planetary Missions
I aim to put (part of) my research in context with the following planetary science missions (and concepts).
VERITAS
More information coming soon!
EnVision
More information coming soon!
LIFE
More information coming soon!