The Rock Rheology Lab in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford uses laboratory-based experiments to learn about the manner in which rocks deform. We are interested in a wide range of problems that relate the mechanisms of deformation at the atomic scale to the dynamics of the solid Earth at the scale of lithospheric plates. Much of our research focuses on the interactions between microstructure and high-temperature deformation of mantle and crustal rocks. We also use field-based experiments to analyze the mechanics of past deformation events and to test extrapolations of laboratory-derived models.

(Please note that Assoc. Prof. Hansen has now moved to the Rock and Mineral Physics Lab at the University of Minnesota… https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/rock-and-mineral-physics)

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Tom Breithaupt, Holly Unwin, Diana Avadanii, Lars Hansen, Ri Cao, Rellie Goddard