We aim to minimise the damage caused by natural geological events and prevent artificial geohazards. To do this we model and forecast destructive phenomena and processes that impact human life, from earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides to rock stability in mines and how rock becomes weathered and eroded over time. 

We also dig deeper into how the Earth works, exploring:

• deep mantle structure;
• plate tectonics;
• geomagnetism;
• continental margins; and more.

We’re especially interested in how surface processes — tectonics, erosion, sedimentology — are influenced by Earth's changing climate and the active processes occuring within and beneath the planet's crust. This also extends to how hazardous events have impacted other bodies in the Solar System (for example, flooding on Mars, or meteorite impacts on the icy moons of Jupiter).

If you are interested in one of the projects listed below, we encourage you to contact the primary project supervisor or the alternative contact person for further information.

Current projects

---

Monitoring seismicity at volcanoes with geothermal prospects in Ethiopia [Info Sheet - Bastow Geothermal Prospects]

Supervisors: Dr Ian Bastow, Dr Derek Keir (School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton)

---

Investigating subduction plate boundary earthquake hazards using controlled-source seismic data [Info Sheet - Bell Hikurangi]

Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Bell, Dr Ian Bastow 

---

Magmatism and Continental Breakup in the South Atlantic [Info Sheet - Collier South Atlantic Magmatism]

Supervisors: Professor Jenny Collier, Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Lidia Lonergan 

---

Structure and tsunamigenic potential of the Lesser Antilles accretionary prism ‌[Info Sheet - Collier Prism]

Supervisors: Professor Jenny Collier, Professor Tim Henstock (Southampton)

---

Tectonics of the North America/South America plate boundary [Info Sheet - Collier Tectonics]

Supervisors: Professor Jenny Collier, Professor Tim Henstock (Southampton)

---

Simulating submarine slide tsunami inundation of the Shetland Islands [Info Sheet - Collins Shetlands]

Supervisors: Professor Gareth Collins, Professor Matthew Piggott, Professor Sue Dawson (Dundee)

---

New generation data assimilation and rapid response models for urban flooding [Info Sheet - Fang Flooding]

Supervisors: Dr Fangxin Fang, Professor Christopher Pain

---

Mapping thermal and compositional structure of cratons [Info Sheet - Goes Cratons]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Ian Bastow

---

Seismotectonics of the Lesser Antilles Arc (LAA) [Info Sheet - Goes LAA]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Professor Jenny Collier

---

Structure and Evolution of the African Plate from Geophysical Observations [Info Sheet - Goes Africa Joint Tomography]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Gareth Roberts

---

Understanding how subduction has shaped Circum-Pacific tectonics using 3D numerical models [Info Sheet - Goes Subduction Dynamics]

Supervisors: Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Gareth Roberts

---

Fluid dynamics of magma reservoirs [Info Sheet - Jackson CFD]

Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Dr Haiyang Hu, Professor Jon Blundy (University of Oxford)

---

Rapid modelling of reactive flow using machine learning and dynamic mesh optimisation [Info Sheet - Jackson Reactive Flow]

Supervisors: Professor Matthew Jackson, Professor Chris Pain, Dr Claire Heaney

---

High resolution 3D imaging of an oceanic core complex: interaction of magma, water and faults on the mid-Atlantic ridge [Info Sheet - Paulatto FWI]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Professor Joanna Morgan

---

Multi-parameter geophysical imaging of Santorini Volcano [Info Sheet - Paulatto Santorini]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Professor Joanna Morgan

---

Multi-scale characterization of water flow in submarine hydrothermal systems [Info Sheet - Paulatto Hydrothermal Systems]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Dr Sam Krevor, Dr Carl Jacquemyn, Professor Matthew Jackson

---

Teleseismic full-waveform imaging of active volcanoes [Info Sheet - Paulatto TSFWI]

Supervisors: Dr Michele Paulatto, Dr Lluis Guasch, Professor James Hammond (Birkbeck University of London)

---

Integrating Geochemistry and Geophysics to Make Critical Metal Treasure Maps [Info Sheet - Richards Treasure Maps]

Supervisors: Dr Fred Richards, Dr Gareth Roberts, Professor Saskia Goes, Dr Mark Hoggard (Australian National University), Dr Karol Czarnota (Geoscience Australia)

---

Continental Uplift and Erosion From Drainage Patterns: Predicting Sedimentary Flux to Passive Margins  [Info Sheet - Roberts Drainage Patterns]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts and Professor Matthew Piggott

---

Hard Rock to Heavy Metal: Data and tools for geochemical baselines and chemical fluxes through landscapes [Info Sheet - Roberts Hard Rock to Heavy Metal]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Yves Plancherel, Dr Alex Whittaker, Charles Gowing (British Geological Survey), Dr Alex Lipp (University of Oxford, Earth Sciences)

---

Histories of mantle convection: Constraints from Arabia's landscape [Info Sheet - Roberts Arabia]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Dr Alex Whittaker and Dylan Rood

---

Modeling landscape evolution through space and time [Info Sheet - Roberts Landscape Evolution]

Supervisors: Dr Gareth Roberts, Professor Matthew Piggott, Professor Gareth Collins and Dr Alex Whittaker

---

Exploring terrestrial geological evidence for past glaciation and volcanism in the Thwaites Glacier catchment, Antarctica [Info Sheet - Johnson Thwaites Glacier]

Supervisors: Joanne Johnson (British Antarctic Survey), Dr Dylan Rood, Associate Professor Brent Goehring (Tulane University), and Stephen Roberts (British Antarctic Survey)

---

Validating Earthquake Hazard Models For Critical Engineered Structures Using Geologic Data And Cosmogenic Isotopes [Info Sheet - Rood Earthquake Engineering]

Supervisors: Dr Dylan Rood, Dr John-Paul Latham and Dr Peter Stafford

---

Will climate change make coastal erosion rates faster? Comparing historic and Holocene cliff retreat rates using cosmogenic isotopes with numerical models [Info Sheet - Rood Coastal Erosion]

Supervisor: Dr Dylan Rood

---

Tectonics from topography in Central Greece: decoding the history of fault growth and landscape evolution in the Corinth Rift [Info Sheet - Whittaker Corinth Rift]

Supervisors: Dr Alex Whittaker, Dr Rebecca Bell