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GEO3BCN at EGU 2024

The 2024 edition of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly is just around the corner, scheduled to take place both on-site in Vienna and virtually from 14 to 21 April. Among presenters at this year's EGU General Assembly are researche... Read more

25-03-2024 News

El CSIC presenta la Conexión Geociencias para un planeta sostenible

El Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) acogió el pasado 14 de marzo el kick off de la nueva conexión Geociencias para un planeta sostenible. Esta nueva propuesta, coordinada por Blas Valero Garcés, del Instituto Pirenaico de Ecolog... Read more

18-03-2024 News

The paleomagnetism laboratory is involved in obtaining the first complete archaeomagnetic data from Central Asia

A study presents the first complete archaeomagnetic data of the magnetic field vector for Central Asia, a vast region that has been largely unexplored from an archaeomagnetic perspective for a long time. Bet Beamud, head of the Paleomagnetism laborat... Read more

11-03-2024 News

Ramon Carbonell, nuevo vicepresidente de la Comisión del CSIC para la Coordinación y Racionalización de las ICTS

El investigador de Geociencias Barcelona (GEO3BCN-CSIC), Ramon Carbonell, ha sido nombrado nuevo vicepresidente de la Comisión para la coordinación y Racionalización de Infraestructuras Científicas y Técnicas Singulares (ICTS) y participación en Infr... Read more

06-03-2024 News

A news study reveals that the ice flow in Greenland is younger than thought

A new international study indicates that the Northwest Greenland Ice Stream may be much younger than previously believed. The article, published in the journal Nature Communications and led by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), helps to better under... Read more

22-02-2024 News

Drone view of the Amônia River and the Amazon forest. (Yurua, Ucayali, Peru). Autor: Andre Dib

Fins al 47% dels boscos amazònics podrien patir alteracions irreversibles i desaparèixer el 2050

Una nova publicació de Nature analitza els llindars potencials que podrien empènyer la selva amazònica a un punt de no retorn. L’estudi, amb participació del Consell Superior d’Investigacions Científiques (CSIC), estima que per al 2050 entre el 10% i... Read more

14-02-2024 News

Geociències Barcelona debuta a Ciència al Barri

L'alumnat del centre educatiu Front Marítim va visitar al gener els laboratoris de microscòpia i de paleomagnetisme de Geociències Barcelona (GEO3BCN-CSIC). L'activitat, realitzada en el marc de la iniciativa Ciència al Barri, va ser dirigida pels re... Read more

30-01-2024 News

El programa CSIC Cocrea impulsa proyectos de colaboración público-privada frente a los grandes retos actuales

El programa CSIC COCREA cofinancia cinco proyectos para acelerar la transición energética a partir de la producción, conversión, almacenamiento y gestión de energías limpias y sostenible. Para promover esta transición energética, los proyectos selecc... Read more

18-01-2024 News

Stephanie Barde-Cabusson gana el Concurso de Fotografía 2023

Dos imágenes de Stephanie Barde-Cabusson obtienen el primer y tercer puesto del Concurso de Fotografía 2023 organizado por Geociencias Barcelona (GEO3BCN-CSIC). Los resultados fueron presentados en la tradicional jornada de invierno del instituto, ce... Read more

21-12-2023 News

Dario Pedrazzi, guanyador de la Beca Oriol de Bolòs de Ciències Naturals 2023

L’investigador de Geociències Barcelona (GEO3BCN-CSIC), Dario Pedrazzi, és el guanyador de la Beca Oriol de Bolòs de Ciències Naturals 2023 per un estudi que porta per títol ‘Edat absoluta i caracterització vulcanològica de dos dels possibles volcans... Read more

14-12-2023 News

Mechanical properties of minerals in lunar and HED meteorites from nanoindentation testing: Implications for space mining

Peña-Asensio, E., Trigo-Rodríguez, J.M., Sort, J., Ibáñez-Insa, J. and Rimola, A. (2024), Mechanical properties of minerals in lunar and HED meteorites from nanoindentation testing: Implications for space mining. Meteorit Planet Sci. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14148

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First Full-Vector Archeomagnetic Data From Central Asia (3 BCE to 15 CE Centuries): Evidence for a Large Non-Dipole Field Contribution Around the First Century BCE

Bonilla-Alba, R., Gómez-Paccard, M., Pavón-Carrasco, F. J., Campuzano, S. A., Beamud, E., Martínez-Ferreras, V., Gurt-Esparraguera, J. M., Ariño-Gil, E., Martín-Hernández, F., & Osete, M. L. (2024). First Full-Vector Archeomagnetic Data From Central Asia (3 BCE to 15 CE Centuries): Evidence for a Large Non-Dipole Field Contribution Around the First Century BCE. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 129(2), e2023JB027910. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JB027910

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Thermal structure of the southern Caribbean and northwestern South America: implications for seismogenesis

Gómez-García, Á. M., González, Á., Cacace, M., Scheck-Wenderoth, M., & Monsalve, G. (2024). Thermal structure of the southern Caribbean and northwestern South America: implications for seismogenesis. Solid Earth, 15(2), 281–303. https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-281-2024

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Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system

Flores, B. M., Montoya, E., Sakschewski, B., Nascimento, N., Staal, A., Betts, R. A., Levis, C., Lapola, D. M., Esquível-Muelbert, A., Jakovac, C., Nobre, C. A., Oliveira, R. S., Borma, L. S., Nian, D., Boers, N., Hecht, S. B., ter Steege, H., Arieira, J., Lucas, I. L., … Hirota, M. (2024). Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system. Nature, 626(7999), 555–564. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06970-0

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Shear margins in upper half of Northeast Greenland Ice Stream were established two millennia ago

Jansen, D., Franke, S., Bauer, C. C., Binder, T., Dahl-Jensen, D., Eichler, J., Eisen, O., Hu, Y., Kerch, J., Llorens, M.-G., Miller, H., Neckel, N., Paden, J., de Riese, T., Sachau, T., Stoll, N., Weikusat, I., Wilhelms, F., Zhang, Y., & Bons, P. D. (2024). Shear margins in upper half of Northeast Greenland Ice Stream were established two millennia ago. Nature Communications, 15(1), 1193. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45021-8

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Assessing changes in global fire regimes

Sayedi, S. S., Abbott, B. W., Vannière, B., Leys, B., Colombaroli, D., Romera, G. G., Słowiński, M., Aleman, J. C., Blarquez, O., Feurdean, A., Brown, K., Aakala, T., Alenius, T., Allen, K., Andric, M., Bergeron, Y., Biagioni, S., Bradshaw, R., Bremond, L., …, Montoya, E., Daniau, A.-L. (2024). Assessing changes in global fire regimes. Fire Ecology, 20(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00237-9

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Why does western Makran have a low seismicity rate?

Abbasi, M., Ghods, A., Najafi, M., Abbasy, S., Amiri, M., Shabanian, E., Kheradmandi, M., & Asgari, J. (2023). Why does western Makran have a low seismicity rate? Tectonophysics, 869, 230134. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TECTO.2023.230134

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Polymorphism and Phase Stability of Hydrated Magnesium Carbonate Nesquehonite MgCO3·3H2O: Negative Axial Compressibility and Thermal Expansion in a Cementitious Material

Santamaría-Pérez, D., Chuliá-Jordán, R., Gonzalez-Platas, J., Otero-de-la-Roza, A., Ruiz-Fuertes, J., Pellicer-Porres, J., Oliva, R., & Popescu, C. (2024). Polymorphism and Phase Stability of Hydrated Magnesium Carbonate Nesquehonite MgCO3·3H2O: Negative Axial Compressibility and Thermal Expansion in a Cementitious Material. Crystal Growth & Design. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.3c01171

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Impact of glacier changes and permafrost distribution on debris flows in Badswat and Shishkat catchments, Northern Pakistan

Hassan, W., Su, F., Liu, W., Hassan, J., Hassan, M., Bazai, N. A., Wang, H., Yang, Z., Ali, M., & Castellanos, D. G. (2023). Impact of glacier changes and permafrost distribution on debris flows in Badswat and Shishkat catchments, Northern Pakistan. Journal of Mountain Science, 20(12), 3687–3702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-023-7894-5

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Structural style and timing of nw-se trending zagros folds in sw iran: interaction with north-south trending arabian folds and implications for petroleum geology

Vergés, J., Casini, G., Ruh, J., Cosgrove, J., Sherkati, S., Najafi, M., Casciello, E., Saura, E., Fard, I. A., Piryaei, A., de Lamotte, D. F., Letouzey, J., Goodarzi, H., Soleimany, B., & Jahani, S. (2024). STRUCTURAL STYLE AND TIMING OF NW-SE TRENDING ZAGROS FOLDS IN SW IRAN: INTERACTION WITH NORTH-SOUTH TRENDING ARABIAN FOLDS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PETROLEUM GEOLOGY. Journal of Petroleum Geology, 47(1), 3–74. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jpg.12850

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Ajay Kumar successfully defended his Ph. D. thesis online last 24 November. The thesis, entitled "Thermal and chemical imaging of the upper mantle anomalies: application to Western Mediterranean" has been directed by Manel Fernández and Jaume Vergés, both researchers at Geosciences Barcelona and has been tutored by Juan José Ledo Fernández from University of Barcelona. Kumar’s work was focused on characterizing the thermal and chemical structure of the upper mantle (upto 400 km depth) beneath Alboran and Algerian basins using gravity, elevation, mantle xenoliths and seismic tomography.

Previous studies have revealed, using seismic tomography, the presence of two positive seismic velocitiy anomalies indicating colder than the surrounding material beneath the Southern Spain and North Algerian. These "anomalies" had been interpreted as oceanic lithosphere of the ancient Tethys ocean that subducted into the mantle during the collision of Eurasian and African plates.

"Seismic tomography (like CT scan) is one of the most powerful tools in studying the internal structure and dynamics of the Earth. However, seismic tomography only tells us which regions are fast or which are slow. Accordingly, fast regions are interpreted to be cold and slow regions as hot regions. This interpretation is qualitative and leaves one other important factor controlling seismic velocities, the chemical composition", said Ajay Kumar.

Kumar's thesis, which has been developed in the framework of the SUBITOP project, has been unfolded into two well-defined phases. The first part of the thesis was to improve the already existing modeling software LitMod2D. Kumar modified the code to include the seismic velocity anomalies in his forthcoming models. The new LitMod version was key to determine the temperature and the chemical composition of the subducted lithosphere.

According to Kumar, "LitMod2D_2.0 was a pre-requisite for the thesis. The software numerically calculated the temperature, pressure, density, and seismic velocities inside the Earth. It then predicts the data dependent on these four parameters which can be measured at the surface of the Earth (elevation, gravity, SHF, earthquake waveforms). Model is changed in the process in order to minimize the difference between predicted and observed data".

Once the code was ready, Kumar could address the second part of his work. The efforts were focused on determining the temperature, composition, and architecture of the lithosphere along two transects beneath Alborán and Algerian basins and that also included the two main orogens of the region: the Betics and the Kabyles. "The main challenge was to infer temperature and/or composition from seismic velocities. This challenge comes from the fact that the physics relating them is highly non-linear", said Kumar.

The resulting model shows show “a thick crust (37 km and 30 km) and a relative deep LAB (130 km and 150 km) underneath the HP-LT metamorphic units of the Internal Betics and Greater Kabylies that contrast with the ~16 km thick magmatic crust of the Alboran Basin and the ~10 km thick oceanic crust of the Algerian Basin, respectively.”

The work also notes that, although the temperature of the Alboran and Argelian subducted slabs beneath the Betics and the Kabylians is about 400ºC colder than the surrounding material, they have a different composition.

Kumar integrated various data to model the lithospheric structure. "The data includes gravity field of the Earth, elevation, surface heat flow, waveforms from the earthquakes and the laboratory-based parameters for material inside the Earth", said Kumar.

In 2018, Kumar also carried out a month and a half research stay in the Laboratory of Experimental Tectonics at Roma 3 University directed by Claudio Faccena to learn how to carry out analog models.

"The main objective of the Rome visit was to study the influence of a continent lying laterally to a subducting ocean plate and to see the influence on the rate of subduction along the trench and its curvature.", explained Kumar.

The stay was an opportunity for Kumar to widen his experience in analog modeling."As most of the thesis work was done on a computer, Rome visit provided me with an opportunity to work with physical material. For instance, if I had to model an oceanic plate on my computer I would just give some numbers whereas in Rome I had to physically make an oceanic plate with silicon and iron."

"This thesis provides important and crucial constraints for the understanding of the geodynamic evolution of the complex Western Meditteranean, which is under debate. Apart from this, one outcome of this thesis is LitMod2D_2.0, a tool freely available to the scientific community to use in their region of interest.", said Kumar.

"Understaing the processes in the Earth helps to make better policies regarding the natural hazard these processes pose. For example, the structure of the deep Earth imaged in this thesis can be used and taken into the earthquake hazard assement and risk maps", concluded Kumar.

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  • Kumar, A., Fernandez, M., Peral, M., Funiciello, F., Zlotnik, S., Faccenna, C., Vergés, J. Effects of kinematic boundary conditions on trench curvature in a retreating subduction zone: insights from analog modelling.

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