On the road to a sustainable planet, geothermal energy is considered one of the main substitutes when it comes to heating. The geological history of an area can have a major influence on the application of these geothermal systems, as demonstrated in the West Netherlands Basin. Here, multiple episodes of rifting and subsequent basin inversion have controlled the distribution of the reservoir rocks, thus influencing the locations where geothermal energy can be exploited.

Stress along a subduction plate boundary is important for understanding subduction phenomena such as earthquakes. We estimated paleo-stress using quartz recrystallized grain size combined with deformation temperature and P–T paths of exhumed rocks. The obtained results show differential stresses of 30.8–82.7 MPa consistent over depths of 17–27 km in the paleo-subduction boundary. The obtained stress may represent the initial conditions under which slow earthquakes nucleated in the same domain.

Plate tectonics theory is the motion of rocky plates (lithosphere) over ductile zones (asthenosphere). The causes of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) are controversial; however, petit-spot volcanism supports the presence of melt at the LAB. We conducted geochemistry, geochronology, and geochemical modeling of petit-spot volcanoes on the western Pacific Plate, and the results suggested that carbonatite melt and recycled oceanic crust induced the partial melting at the LAB.

Seismic phase picking and magnitude estimation are crucial components of real-time earthquake monitoring and early warning. Here, we test the potential of deep learning in real-time earthquake monitoring. We introduce DynaPicker, which leverages dynamic convolutional neural networks for event detection and arrival-time picking, and use the deep-learning model CREIME for magnitude estimation. This workflow is tested on the continuous recording of the Turkey earthquake aftershock sequences.

The behavior of seismic energy parameters and their possible dependence on the type of fault for globally detected earthquakes were studied. For this purpose, different energy estimation methods were used. Equations were obtained to convert energies obtained in different ways. The dependence of the seismic energy on the focal mechanism was confirmed up to depths close to 180 km. The results will help to explain the seismic rupture of earthquakes generated at greater depth.

We present a suite of realistic 3D dynamic rupture earthquake–tsunami scenarios for the Húsavík–Flatey Fault Zone in North Iceland and compare one-way linked and fully coupled modeling workflows on two fault system geometries. We find that our dynamic rupture simulation on a less segmented strike-slip fault system causes local tsunami wave heights (crest to trough) of up to ~ 0.9 m due to the large shallow fault slip (~ 8 m), rake rotation (± 20°), and coseismic vertical displacements (± 1 m).

We compute a realistic three-dimensional model of the temperatures down to 75 km deep within the Earth, below the Caribbean Sea and northwestern South America. Using this, we estimate at which rock temperatures past earthquakes nucleated in the region and find that they agree with those derived from laboratory experiments of rock friction. We also analyse how the thermal state of the system affects the spatial distribution of seismicity in this region.

It is generally assumed that faults have an influence on the stress state of the Earth’s crust. It is questionable whether this influence is still present far away from a fault. Simple numerical models were used to investigate the extent of the influence of faults on the stress state. Several models with different fault representations were investigated. The stress fluctuations further away from the fault (> 1 km) are very small.

This study explores the erosion and exhumation processes and history of early continental crust hidden within the Amazonian Rainforest. This crust forms part of the Amazonian Craton, an ancient continental fragment. Our surprising findings reveal the area underwent rapid early Cretaceous exhumation triggered by tectonic forces. This discovery challenges the traditional perception that cratons are stable and long-lived entities and shows they can deform readily under specific geological contexts.