Thick-skin continental deformation and the rheology of faulted continental lithosphere

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We plan to study the way in which major, long-lived faults influence the large-scale deformation of continental lithosphere in response to plate and mantle derived stresses. We will develop realistic computer models of networks of faults embedded in the crust to examine the way large faults (e.g. the San Andreas fault in California) interact with the deep crust and shallow mantle and the way they interact with each other. No one previous model has been able to incorporate all the important dynamics. The work will be used by structural geologists, planetary scientists and be a valuable tool in mineral exploration.