Mélanie Gérault

Absolute plate motion models with respect to a deep mantle reference frame (e.g., hot spots) typically contain some net rotation (NR) of the lithosphere. Global mantle flow models for the present-day plate setting reproduce similarly oriented NRs but with amplitudes significantly smaller than those found in some high NR Pacific hot spot reference f...

The dynamics of a planet and its evolution are controlled to a large extent by its viscosity. In this study, we demonstrate that the dependence of mantle viscosity on temperature and water concentration introduces strong dynamic feedbacks. We derive a dimensionless parameter to quantitatively evaluate the relative strength of those feedbacks, and s...

Topography above subduction zones arises from the isostatic contribution of crustal and lithospheric buoyancy, as well as the dynamic contribution from slab-driven mantle flow. We evaluate those effects in southwestern Mexico, where a segment of the Cocos slab subducts horizontally. The eastern part of the volcanic arc — the Trans-Mexican Volcanic...

The topographic growth of a mountain belt is commonly attributed to isostatic balance in response to crustal and lithospheric thickening. However, deeper mantle processes may also influence the topography of the Earth. Here, we discuss the role of these processes in the Eastern Cordillera (EC) of Colombia. The EC is an active, double-vergent fold a...

The concept of interplay between mantle convection and tectonics goes back to about a century ago, with the proposal that convection currents in the Earth’s mantle drive continental drift and deformation (Holmes, 1931). Since this time, plate tectonics theory has established itself as the fundamental framework to study surface deformation, with the...

An asymptomatic 27-year-old physician is diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 by occupational medicine after contagion (RT-PCR).

Sexist behaviour in the workplace contributes to create a hostile environment, hindering the chance of women and gender non-conforming individuals to pursue an academic career, but also reinforcing gender stereotypes that are harmful to their progress and recognition. The Did this really happen?! project aims at publishing real-life, everyday sexis...

Shortening of the continental lithosphere is generally accommodated by the growth of crustal wedges building above megathrusts in the mantle lithosphere. We show that the locus of shortening in the western margin of South America has largely been controlled by the geometry of the slab. Numerical models confirm that horizontal subduction favors comp...

Shortening of the continental lithosphere is generally accommodated by the growth of crustal wedges building above megathrusts in the mantle lithosphere. We show that the locus of shortening in the western margin of South America has largely been controlled by the geometry of the slab. Numerical models confirm that horizontal subduction favors comp...

Besides institutional barriers to gender parity, sexist behaviors in the workplace contribute to discourage women to pursue an academic career, and reinforce gender stereotypes that are harmful to their progress and recognition. didthisreallyhappen.net is a community-based platform that fights against this type of sexism by means of illustrations....

Besides institutional barriers to gender parity, sexist behaviors in the workplace contribute to discourage women to pursue an academic career, and reinforce gender stereotypes that are harmful to their progress and recognition in academia. didthisreallyhappen.net is a community-based platform that fights against this type of sexism by means of ill...

The poster was a part of “Promoting and supporting equality of opportunity in geosciences” session organised by Claudia Alves de Jesus Rydin at EGU 2018. It shows how we came along to our webpage www.didthisreallyhappen.net , what we experienced as a team and the idea of pointing sexism in academia through comic stips.

According to a 2012 report of UNESCO, 28% of all science researchers in the world are women. In France, this number is down to 26%, even though 47% of all science Ph.D. students are women. The French Conseil National des Universités reports that in deep earth Geosciences, women represent 18% of all researchers and up to 22% in surface Geosciences....

Bayesian geodynamic inversion to constrain the rheology of the flat subduction system in southwestern Mexico The flat slab in southwestern Mexico differs from others at the present-day because (1) it is associated with abundant arc volcanism, (2) it is associated with extension in the arc and a neutral state of stress in the fore-arc, (3) it genera...

The Late Cretaceous-early Cenozoic Laramide orogeny occurred 1000 km inland from the North American continental margin, eastward of relatively undeforming lithosphere. While flat slab subduction of the Farallon plate is usually invoked to explain this unusual tectonic event, there is no current consensus on how to reconcile actual dynamic processes...

Most absolute plate motion reconstructions that infer crustal velocities with respect to a deep mantle reference frame (e.g. hotspots) contain a net rotation of the lithosphere around an Euler pole located in the Southwest Indian Ocean. This net rotation, however, differs in the predicted amplitudes by a factor of ~4 between the different reference...

Earth is unique among the terrestrial planets in our solar system because it has plate tectonics and abundant surface water. It has long been suggested that these two salient features are intimately related. New constraints on water concentrations in the Earth’s interior and on mechanisms for mantle degassing and regassing have improved our knowled...

Unraveling the dynamics of the Pacific domain is essential in order to understand the net rotation of the lithosphere and relative trench motions. The major processes responsible for plate motions in the Pacific region are still debated although they have been attributed recently to keels, mountains, and/or plate dimensions. In this study, we perfo...

Basal shear tractions, as generated by mantle convection, are likely to affect the stress field over western North America, and hence, influence the deformation of the North American lithosphere. Earlier studies (Humphreys & Coblentz (2007)) have argued for the importance of shear tractions beneath the continent, but at a reduced amplitude from tho...

We investigate the effects of lateral viscosity variations (LVVs) and long-range force transmission on the dynamics of the deforming North American lithosphere, with focus on the western region close to the plate boundary. We address the question how basal shear tractions as generated by mantle convection affect the stress field in North America on...