Planetary Research

How the surfaces of Venus, Mars and Ganymede came to look the way they do, and what their deformation says about the interiors that drove it.

How the work proceeds

1. 01

   Observation

   Remote sensing and data acquisition

   Acquiring and co-registering orbital imagery, altimetry and gravity data from Magellan SAR, CTX, HiRISE, THEMIS and Galileo SSI, then mapping faults, ridges and fracture networks directly from it.

2. 02

   Analysis

   Quantification

   Measuring fault geometry, offsets, shortening and cumulative strain from the mapped structures, so the deformation is expressed as numbers rather than description.

3. 03

   Validation

   Numerical and analogue models

   Reproducing the measured geometry in scaled laboratory experiments and finite-element simulations, to test which mechanisms and histories could physically have produced it.

♀Venus♂Mars⬡Ganymede

The fields this draws on

Each answers a different part of the same question, and an answer only holds when they agree.

• Reads the record

  Structural Geology

  Mapping faults, folds, ridges and fracture networks from orbital imagery, then measuring their geometry and offsets to recover the strain a surface has accumulated.

  VenusMarsGanymede

• Supplies the driver

  Geodynamics

  Modelling convection, plume ascent and lithospheric response to work out which interior processes could have produced the structures seen at the surface.

  VenusMars

• Provides the ground truth

  Remote Sensing

  Magellan SAR, CTX, HiRISE, THEMIS and Galileo SSI imagery, plus altimetry and gravity, are the only direct observations available for most of these surfaces.

  VenusMarsGanymede

• Sets the rules

  Rock Mechanics

  Friction, yield strength and the rheology of silicates and ice determine how a lithosphere can break, and therefore which structural interpretations are physically allowed.

  VenusMarsGanymede

• Tests the idea

  Analogue Modelling

  Scaled sand and silicone experiments reproduce fault systems under controlled boundary conditions, showing which kinematic histories can actually produce the observed geometry.

  VenusMars

• Extends the reach

  Numerical Modelling

  Finite-element and finite-difference codes carry the problem into regimes no experiment can reach: billion-year timescales, whole-mantle domains, hypervelocity impacts.

  VenusMarsGanymede

• Frames the answer

  Comparative Planetology

  Setting Venus, Mars and the icy moons against Earth is what turns a local observation into a statement about how terrestrial planets evolve in general.

  VenusMarsGanymedeEarth

• Dates and disturbs

  Impact Cratering

  Crater populations give relative ages for every surface here, and large impacts are themselves a tectonic driver, especially in ice.

  MarsGanymede

♀  Venus

Volcanic Resurfacing & Single-Lid Tectonics

Venus lacks plate tectonics yet displays a geologically young, heavily resurfaced terrain. I investigate how mantle plumes, coronae, tessera plateaus, and compressional fold belts record the planet's long-term geodynamic evolution, and what Venus reveals about the limits of Earth-like planetary behaviour.

01 · Structural

Coronae, Tessera & Fracture Mapping

Systematic mapping of coronae morphology, radial and concentric fracture networks, and tessera terrain using Magellan SAR and altimetry, linking surface structural patterns to subsurface plume geometry and heat flux.

02 · Tectonics

Rifting, Fold Belts & Tectonic Regimes

Characterising extensional rift zones, compressional fold-and-thrust belts (chasmata, ridge belts), and the interplay of horizontal stress fields, evaluating whether transient or episodic plate-tectonic episodes are recorded in the structural fabric.

03 · Geodynamics

Mantle Plumes & Lid Regime Evolution

Numerical and analogue models of plume–lithosphere interaction, heat-pipe and stagnant-lid regimes, and resurfacing mechanisms, constraining Venus's thermal history and the conditions under which a planet transitions between tectonic modes.

♂  Mars

Compressional Tectonics & Thick Lithosphere

Mars preserves a four-billion-year tectonic record dominated by its anomalously thick, cold lithosphere. Wrinkle ridges, lobate scarps, and compressional fold systems are the dominant structural expressions, recording global contraction, flexural loading, and the temporal evolution of Martian crustal stress.

01 · Structural

Wrinkle Ridges, Lobate Scarps & Thrust Faults

Mapping wrinkle ridge systems, lobate scarp geometries, and compressional fold-thrust belts using CTX, THEMIS, and HiRISE, measuring shortening magnitudes, fault dips, and cumulative strain to reconstruct the compressional stress history of Martian plains and highlands.

02 · Tectonics

Lithospheric Flexure & Global Contraction

Modelling flexural loading from Tharsis and the resulting compressional stress field, together with global contraction from secular cooling, constraining elastic thickness, strain budgets, and the temporal sequence of compressional tectonics across Mars's geological history.

03 · Geodynamics

Thermal Evolution & Interior Dynamics

Numerical simulations of Martian mantle convection, lithospheric thickening, and thermal contraction, exploring why Mars evolved as a one-plate stagnant-lid planet and how interior cooling drove the compressional tectonic regime observed at the surface.

⬡  Ganymede

Ice Shell Tectonics, Impact Cratering & Interior Structure

Ganymede records a unique episode of extensional ice-shell tectonics, punctuated by some of the solar system's largest impact basins. I study grooved terrain deformation, impact crater morphology via iSALE hydrocode simulations, and the coupling between the subsurface ocean and icy crust: directly relevant to JUICE mission science.

01 · Structural

Grooved Terrain, Palimpsests & Impact Basins

Mapping groove sets, cross-cutting relationships, and multi-ring impact basin structures using Galileo SSI and Voyager imagery, establishing structural chronology, basin rim geometry, and the influence of large impacts on the tectonic fabric of Ganymede's icy lithosphere.

02 · Tectonics

Extensional Faulting & Crater Morphology

Analysing normal fault kinematics in grooved terrain and the anomalous morphology of large craters in ice: central pits, domes, and multi-ring basins whose relaxed forms encode ice rheology and shell thickness at the time of impact.

03 · Geodynamics

iSALE Impact Simulations & Ocean–Ice Coupling

Hypervelocity impact cratering simulations in icy targets using iSALE, modelling shock pressure, melt generation, and crater scaling in layered ice-over-ocean systems. Combined with ocean–ice geodynamic models to interpret the tectonic response to large basin-forming events on icy ocean worlds.

Read the work in depth

Long-form explainers on the studies behind each of these threads, written for a wider audience.

Browse research articles

Research Methods

Approaches & Tools

Physical

Analogue Modelling

Scaled laboratory experiments using silicone polymers, granular sand, and layered viscous materials to replicate tectonic and volcanic processes under controlled conditions. Quantifies fault geometry, strain localisation, and plume–lithosphere interaction kinematics.

Numerical · Mantle Convection

ASPECT

Advanced Solver for Problems in Earth's ConvecTion, a finite-element mantle convection code. Used for planetary interior simulations: thermochemical evolution, plume dynamics, and lithospheric thickening under single-lid regimes on Venus, Mars, and icy moons.

Numerical · Geomechanics

LaMEM

Lithosphere and Mantle Evolution Model, a massively parallel staggered-grid finite-difference code for coupled geodynamic and geomechanical problems. Applied to lithospheric deformation, viscoelastoplastic fault systems, rifting, and compressional tectonic regimes.

Numerical · Impact

iSALE

Impact Simplified Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian hydrocode. Simulates hypervelocity impact cratering, shock-wave propagation, melt generation, and crater scaling in planetary materials. Applied to multi-ring basin formation and impact-driven tectonic responses in icy and rocky targets.

Development

Numerical Geodynamics
Code Development

Beyond running simulations, I contribute to the development, benchmarking, and extension of open-source geodynamics codes, implementing planetary rheology modules, new material models, and post-processing pipelines.

ASPECT

C++  ·  deal.II  ·  Trilinos

Planetary interior model contributions: non-Newtonian viscosity laws for stagnant-lid regimes, thermal boundary condition modules for Venus and Mars, and benchmarks for plume–lithosphere interaction under single-lid planetary conditions.

Viscosity modelsPlanetary BCsBenchmarks

LaMEM

C  ·  PETSc  ·  MPI

Ice-shell rheology modules for icy moon applications; cryogenic-temperature extensions of viscoelastoplastic constitutive laws; parallel scaling benchmarks for compressional tectonic setups; graben and thrust fault formation test cases.

Ice rheologyParallel scalingIcy moon modules

iSALE

Fortran  ·  Python

Post-processing pipelines for impact melt volume, shock pressure mapping, and tectonic response analysis; equation-of-state tables for planetary silicates and ices; Python visualisation tools extending pySALEPlot for multi-layer icy target simulations.

EOS tablespySALEPlotIcy targets

Missions & Instruments

Planetary Missions

EnVision

ESA · Venus orbiter

High-resolution radar, spectroscopy and subsurface sounding of Venus. My coronae and fault-melt work feeds target selection and structural interpretation.

VERITAS

NASA · Venus orbiter

Global topography, SAR imaging and emissivity: a new generation of data for mapping Venusian tectonics at unprecedented resolution.

JUICE

ESA · Jupiter icy moons

Ganymede-focused exploration of icy-shell tectonics and impact cratering: the context for my crater-morphology and ice-rheology studies.