Tectonics

Photo of coral off Haiti

Tectonics research at UTIG ranges from modeling global plate reconstructions to microtectonic analysis at the outcrop level. Scientists employ a wide variety of techniques including terrestrial and marine field studies, paleoseismology, sclerochronology (analysis of annual growth bands in corals), computer modeling, and ArcGIS compilation. UTIG researchers investigate tectonic processes as diverse as subduction, magmatism, rifting, orogenesis, and plate boundary/triple junction evolution, focusing on how these processes influence and respond to surface processes, glaciation, crustal fluids, climate, and ocean circulation.