Juan Carlos Afonso
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Macquarie University
Australia
Biography
Professor at Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,Macquarie University.
Research Interest
My research interests lie in the fields of geophysics and geodynamics, and span many different geophysical and geological processes. My current research integrates different disciplines such as mineral physics, petrology, geodynamics, lithospheric modelling, nonlinear inversion, and physics of the mantle in general, to explore and improve our understanding of plate tectonics. More specifically, I am interested in the evolution of the lithospheric mantle, the mechanical and geochemical interactions between tectonic plates and the sublithospheric mantle, and their effects on small and large-scale tectonic processes. I currently employ a multidisciplinary approach that gives insights into lithospheric stability, thermal structure, possible compositional fields, and sublithospheric small-scale convection. For this, I combine mineral physics, fluid dynamics, thermal modelling, potential field modelling, petrology and geochemistry of the mantle, seismological modelling, and inversion techniques. Check our group website for more information!!
Publications
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Afonso, J.C., Rawlinson N., Yang, Y., Schutt, D., Jones, A.G., Fullea, J., Griffin, W.L. (2016), 3D multi-observable probabilistic inversion for the compositional and thermal structure of the lithosphere and upper mantle III: Thermochemical Tomography in the Western-Central US.J. Geophys. Res., 121, doi:10.1002/2016JB013049
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Qashqai, T.M., Afonso, J.C., Yang. Y. (2016), The crustal structure of the Arizona Transition Zone and southern Colorado Plateau from multi-observable probabilistic inversion..Geophys.Geochem.Geosys. , 17, doi:10.1002/2016GC006463.
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Guo, Z., Chen, Y.J., Ning, J., Yang, Y., Afonso, J.C., Tang, Y. (2016), Seismic evidence of on-going sublithosphere upper mantle convection for intra-plate volcanism in Northeast China. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. , 433, 31-43
