Skip to main content
Plunge (Credit: Ian Watkinson, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

GD Geodynamics Division on Geodynamics

EGU logo

European Geosciences Union

Division on Geodynamics
gd.egu.eu

Division on Geodynamics

President: Jeroen van Hunen (gd@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Laetitia Le Pourhiet (laetitia.le_pourhiet@sorbonne-universite.fr)

Studies related to the Geodynamics Division include all aspects of geodynamic processes in the lithosphere, mantle, and core. They encompass different approaches, including observations, imaging, theory, modelling (numerical simulations and laboratory experiments), and interpretation. Examples include the dynamics of subduction, mid-ocean-ridge processes, vertical and horizontal plate movements driving mountain building and basin formation, lithosphere dynamics, mantle convection, and core dynamics.

Recent awardees

Taras Gerya

Taras Gerya

  • 2024
  • Augustus Love Medal

The 2024 Augustus Love Medal is awarded to Taras Gerya for his novel approach in using computational geodynamics to address outstanding tectonic and geodynamic questions in a way that reaches out to petrologists, geochemists, and structural geologists.


Anne Glerum

Anne Glerum

  • 2024
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2024 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Anne Glerum for her contributions in geodynamics, including providing new insight in the East African rift system, methodological advancement of geodynamic modelling techniques, and outstanding community service.


Thorsten W. Becker

Thorsten W. Becker

  • 2023
  • Augustus Love Medal

The 2023 Augustus Love Medal is awarded to Thorsten W. Becker for outstanding research contributions in regional and global geodynamics, seismology, tectonics, and earthquake source processes, and for scientific leadership and selfless service.


Ágnes Király

Ágnes Király

  • 2023
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2023 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Ágnes Király for her significant contributions in geodynamics, including contributions on viscous anisotropy in the mantle and new interactions between subduction and geological deformation and volcanism.


Philippa Slay

Philippa Slay

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Philippa Slay Observed Dynamic Topography and Cenozoic Magmatism of the Eastern Seaboard of Australia


Tinghong Zhou

Tinghong Zhou

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Tinghong Zhou Did the dynamo cease during the Ediacaran Period prior to inner core nucleation?

Latest posts from the GD blog

Equilibrium Crustal Thickness and Dynamics of Earth’s Lithosphere: The Answer is 42.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” had the answer; we think we have the right question. This week, Ajay Kumar from IISER Pune, India, will take us on a journey to the depths of the Earth’s lithosphere – a world as mysterious as the farthest reaches of the Universe. We will see what the thickness of the Earth’s crust can tell us about the balance between the internal energy of lithospheric plates and the tectonic forces acting at their boundaries, …


How we made QUARTETnary – the card game about the geological time scale

QUARTETnary is an educational card game about the geological time scale. Consisting of 60 beautifully illustrated cards, QUARTETnary explores the events in Earth’s history: from dinosaurs to humans and from the formation of the Alps to the formation of the Himalayas. It was designed by Iris van Zelst (me! Your fabulous former Editor-in-Chief), and illustrated by Lucia Perez-Diaz (also a former editor of the GD blog). We are running a Kickstarter now to print QUARTETnary! In this post we will …


Regional viscosity variations in Earth’s mantle

For understanding the dynamics and evolution of the Earth’s mantle, knowledge of mantle’s viscosity structure is very important. In this week’s blog, Kenneth Gourley from University of Arizona discusses the variation of viscosity structure in Earth’s mantle in regional scale. In order to understand the dynamics and evolution of the Earth’s mantle, geodynamicists model mantle flow using large, complex software suites (e.g. CitcomS, ASPECT, and Underworld). These programs solve the governing equations of fluid mechanics on a finite grid, allowing …


The Sassy Scientist – Funding the Abyss

Has the ocean temperature risen again? Are you tired of dressing like an onion to adapt to 15 degrees of change in a day? Here we have a cooling question. Peter asks: If you had infinite funding, what would you do? Dear Peter, If I had infinite funding, you’d find me setting up my new office at the bottom of the Mariana Trench – because if you’re going big, might as well go seven miles deep, right? What kind of …

Current issue of the EGU newsletter

How do you get more people to care for the geosciences – a field that affects and influences all of life itself? Scientists across the EGU network share their stories!

Friedrich Barnikel outlines how, since 2003, EGU brings together scientists and teachers for capacity-building workshops, while Evi Nomikou takes us through EGU’s third Geoscience Day, highlighting volcanic geohazards to over 260 school students.

We also hear from Grace Skirrow who breaks down a seemingly complex subject like fluvial geomorphology and the role that it can play in policy decisions. Meanwhile, geologist Sinelethu Hashibi explains why she’s driven to translate geoscience for isiXhosa-speaking communities. And for those of you fond of card games, don’t miss the launch of QUARTETnary: a game about the geological time scale, developed by Iris van Zelst and Lucia Perez-Diaz and partly funded by the EGU Public Engagement Grant 2021.

Finally, don’t forget to visit our EGU24 page to stay up-to-date with information on the upcoming General Assembly this April. You can also subscribe to receive monthly updates in your inbox at the beginning of each month.

Find GD on

Subscribe to