Lucia Perez Diaz

I am a geologist specialised in structural geology and tectonics and interested in understanding the feedbacks between mantle dynamics, plate-scale processes and surface observations. I have experience on analogue and computer-based geodynamic modelling techniques, as well as geophysical data handling. This enables me to investigate the development histories of complex tectonic scenarios across scales, from faults to plates.

My current interests revolve around three interconnected focus points,

(1) the development of quantitative plate reconstruction techniques;

(2) the dynamics of plate motion: from driving forces to intraplate stress; and

(3) the significance of plate-scale processes in basin-scale histories, and feedbacks between the two.

My recent research outputs include a quantitative plate model for the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, detailing the evolution of the ocean basin’s bathymetry through time and accompanied by fully quantified uncertainty estimates. Most plate tectonic models of this type do not provide any reconstruction of palaeobathymetric history, yet this is in many respects the most significant aspect of such model because of its significance for understanding and predicting numerous aspects of sedimentary basin and palaeoclimate evolution. Perhaps even more importantly, most computer-based tectonic models give no indication of the sources or magnitudes of uncertainty, rendering them of little use for making further predictions. This work has provided an invaluable framework for studies of paleoclimate and water mass circulation, as well as to investigate the influence of tectonic history on the structural and sedimentary evolution of individual basins along the South Atlantic margins.