Author Archives: Chris Rowan

A deep origin for the Tohoku earthquake?

So if I’m reading this summary in Eos right, there is a new study suggesting that there was significant deformation of the subducted plate in the lead up to the M9 2011 Tohoku earthquake occurred – enough mass was redistributed to measurably … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, geophysics, tectonics

Just published: can sandbox models be educational and fun?

Just out: a paper by me and education expert Bridget Mulvey grapples with the question: analogue sandbox models are cool, but are they effective teaching tools? Analogue sandbox models are a way of demonstrating tectonic deformation processes in the classroom: the … Continue reading

Categories: geology, publication, science education, structures, tectonics

The long-term seismic impact of mega thrust earthquakes

Here’s a very interesting analysis of aftershock patterns in the wake of M9+ megathrust events: the aftershocks in a ‘core’ region closest to the rupture shut off within a few years of the main shock, after which seismicity might remain … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, geohazards, geology

Not enough people get taught Earth Science, and that’s a problem for all of us

This article articulates an increasingly concerning question: in a world where increased exposure to natural hazards, resource scarcity and the consequences of climate change are amongst the most critical issues facing our society, why does Earth Science get no love in … Continue reading

Categories: geology, science education

Weird rocky exoplanets

Obtaining the composition of rocky exoplanets from the spectral signature produced when their dying parent star eats them is already pretty mind-blowing. But the results – which suggest that on some of these worlds, quartz is substituted for olivine in their … Continue reading

Categories: geology, planets, rocks & minerals