The Earth's mantle consists of rock, which can be partially molten in small regions, but the vast majority of the mantle material is solid. In response to short-term force, e.g. seismic waves, the mantle behaves like an elastic solid body. However, in geological time scales the rock behaves like a viscous fluid and allows global-scale circulation. Tectonic structures likes faults and mountains, horizontal plate movements, earthquakes or volcanoes are expressions of these interior movements.

The aims of this project are to

• implement the latest observational constraints into a global model of contemporary mantle circulation,
• develop a (template) regional tectonic model
• couple both models to improve the regional model

The ideal candidate will have

• knowledge of computational programming,
• strong mathematical or physics skills,
• some background or interest in Geophysics.

You will be supervised by Professor Hans Muhlhaus (mathematical engineering) and Dr. Klaus Gottschaldt (computational geodynamics). For further information please contact Klaus Gottschaldt.