By keenly probing mantle rheology, interactions of deformations and phase transitions, and microscopic features, he made major contributions to petrology, mineralogy, and earthquake science.
geology
Posted inEditors' Vox
On Integrating Sedimentology and Hydrogeology in Streambeds
A new modeling blueprint seeks to unify sedimentology, hydrology, and hydrogeology in the modeling of streambeds.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Acoustic Monitoring of Inelastic Compaction in Porous Limestone
During triaxial compression experiments, acoustic monitoring reveals compaction localization in a high porosity limestone, accompanied by a significant decrease in P-wave velocity.
Posted inNews
Diamond Impurities Reveal Water Deep Within the Mantle
A high-pressure form of ice, trapped within diamonds forged in the lower mantle, suggests that aqueous fluids reside deeper in Earth than we knew.
Posted inNews
Images Suggest a Viral Role in Some Rock Formation
Viruses might have helped transform dense bacterial colonies into a type of sedimentary rock that is frequently associated with underground oil reserves.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
What Happens Inside Rocks as They Fail?
An innovative technique provides micro-scale resolution on the three-dimensional evolution of damage within crystalline rocks that leads to fault nucleation.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
An Improved Understanding of How Rift Margins Evolve
A new seismic reflection study of the mid-Norwegian margin examines the role that low-angle, high-displacement faults play in the evolution of continental rifts.
Posted inNews
Joseph B. Walsh (1930–2017)
This world traveler and rugby enthusiast devised theories fundamental to such diverse fields as seismology, oil and gas exploration, and hydrology. He also designed the hull of the Alvin submersible.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Thermodynamic Model for Computing Mantle Mineralogy
A newly developed open-access software package called MMA-EoS can calculate whole mantle mineralogy in multicomponent systems by Gibbs energy minimization.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Grain-Scale Processes That Drive Plate Tectonics
New experimental data suggest that rock composition may play a critical role in forming and perpetuating shear zones.