Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-947-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-17-947-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Aug 2026
Research article |
| 06 Aug 2026
| 06 Aug 2026
From strong plates to weak boundaries: strain localization in the lithospheric mantle with low- to high-temperature dislocation creep
Etienne Van Broeck
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
Catherine Thoraval
Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
Diane Arcay
Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
D. Rhodri Davies
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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William Scott, Mark Hoggard, Thomas Duvernay, Sia Ghelichkhan, Angus Gibson, Dale Roberts, Stephan C. Kramer, and D. Rhodri Davies
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 2717–2745, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2717-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2717-2026, 2026
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Melting ice sheets drive solid Earth deformation and sea-level change on timescales of decades to thousands of years. Here, we present G-ADOPT (Geoscientific Adjoint Optimisation Platform), which models movement of the solid Earth in response to surface loads. It has flexibility in domain geometry, deformation mechanism parameterisation, and is scalable on high performance computers. Automatic derivation of adjoint sensitivity kernels also provides a means to assimilate historical and modern observations into future sea-level forecasts.
Sia Ghelichkhan, Angus Gibson, D. Rhodri Davies, Stephan C. Kramer, and David A. Ham
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5057–5086, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5057-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5057-2024, 2024
Short summary
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We introduce the Geoscientific ADjoint Optimisation PlaTform (G-ADOPT), designed for inverse modelling of Earth system processes, with an initial focus on mantle dynamics. G-ADOPT is built upon Firedrake, Dolfin-Adjoint and the Rapid Optimisation Library, which work together to optimise models using an adjoint method, aligning them with seismic and geologic datasets. We demonstrate G-ADOPT's ability to reconstruct mantle evolution and thus be a powerful tool in geosciences.
D. Rhodri Davies, Stephan C. Kramer, Sia Ghelichkhan, and Angus Gibson
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5127–5166, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022, 2022
Short summary
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Firedrake is a state-of-the-art system that automatically generates highly optimised code for simulating finite-element (FE) problems in geophysical fluid dynamics. It creates a separation of concerns between employing the FE method and implementing it. Here, we demonstrate the applicability and benefits of Firedrake for simulating geodynamical flows, with a focus on the slow creeping motion of Earth's mantle over geological timescales, which is ultimately the engine driving our dynamic Earth.
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Short summary
Earth’s solid shell is made of stiff tectonic plates which can break apart to form new weak plate boundaries. We use numerical models of plate extension to investigate how mechanical properties control the concentration of deformation leading to such a boundary as hot mantle rises underneath. We highlight feedbacks, and quantify how and why, under various deformation mechanisms, the plate weakens as temperature and strain rate increase. We compare the model predictions to natural rifting cases.
Earth’s solid shell is made of stiff tectonic plates which can break apart to form new weak...
