President: João C. Duarte
(Emailts@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Paola Vannucchi
(Email)
ECS Representative: Riccardo Lanari
(Emailecs-ts@egu.eu)
The Division on Tectonics and Structural Geology (TS) investigates rock deformation at all scales with the aim to decipher its complex relationships with Earth dynamics. We use natural observations, including mapping, remote sensing and seismics, and experimental methods. The division is highly interdisciplinary, with strong ties with other EGU divisions including GD, EMRP, SM, SSP, GM, G, and GMPV.
Latest posts from the TS blog
Faults vs. Fractures — How to Tell Them Apart ?
Faults and fractures can sometimes be confusing, especially for students taking their first geology courses. When they go hiking in the mountains and see a crack in the rock, they often wonder — is this a fracture or a fault? Even scientists sometimes mix the two terms, so it’s good to understand the difference. Since faults and fractures are important in many fields such as tunnel engineering, hydrocarbon and mineral exploration, or groundwater studies, it is important to describe carefully …
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Where earthquake faults reach the ground surface: insight from 2016 Kumamoto event
What does a seismogenic fault look like? We can sometimes observe surface earthquake faults, which propagate ruptures from the hypocenter to the ground surface. In 2016, intense seismicity was observed during the Kumamoto earthquake sequence in Japan. This sequence consisted of many shallow earthquakes, including a strong foreshock and the subsequent mainshock with numerous aftershocks. The earthquakes occurred along multiple faults including a fault junction, which implies complex fault interaction. How would such a complex shallow earthquake fault appear in …
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Geomythology. True Science and/or Strong Communication Medium ?!
Geomythology is a relatively recent term, coined by Dorothy B. Vitaliano in 1966. It represented the birth of what will become a new multidisciplinary approach, aimed not only at explaining the geological meaning of natural phenomenon behind long-told folklore (myths and legends), but also at bridging the communication gap between scientists and non-scientists (Vitaliano, 1973). Geomythology established itself as a scientific approach thanks to the contributions published, and peer-reviewed for the first time, in Piccardi and Masse (2007), following the …
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Throwback Summer – retracing student steps at the Pic Saint-Loup, France
The region around the Pic Saint-Loup is a popular destination for many European universities to teach mapping field courses – and there is a reason for it, even besides the great landscape, good food and nice weather. Let’s take a tour to discover why! The Pic Saint-Loup itself is indeed so impressive that some former students return at later stages in life “dragging” along other geologists friends to give them a tour and reminisce one of their first geologic field …
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Recent awardees
- 2025
- Stephan Mueller Medal
The 2025 Stephan Mueller Medal is awarded to
Heidrun Kopp for innovative research and groundbreaking discoveries in convergent margin systems, large earthquake processes, active fault slip, magmatic arc systems and geohazards.
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- 2025
- Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists
The 2025 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists is awarded to
Renelle Dubosq for pioneering nanogeology research, advancing our understanding of plastic deformation in minerals, using innovative 2D and 3D analytical techniques in tectonics and structural geology.
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- 2024
- Stephan Mueller Medal
The 2024 Stephan Mueller Medal is awarded to
Yann Klinger for his exceptional interdisciplinary contribution to the fields of seismology and palaeo-seismology, in particular, for his groundbreaking development of space seismology.
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- 2024
- Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award
The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to
Julia Schmitz Fabric analyses of fine-grained glacier salt (Kuh-e-Namak, Dashti, southern Iran)
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- 2024
- Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award
The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to
Patrick Bianchi Exploring fault preparation and earthquake nucleation from the laboratory
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Current issue of the EGU newsletter
In our September Issue we look back at 65 years of the OPEC nations and how the legacy of petroleum can be used to move us to a sustainable future, learn more about activities you can do for this years' Earth Science Week in October, watch our new video on managing vulnerabilities whilst on fieldwork, apply for the EGU26 Artists in Residence programme by 27 October and if you know a work-student in Germany, why not suggest they apply for our new vacancy as a Community Development Assistant!
All this and much more, in this month's Loupe!
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