Tectonics articles from across Nature Portfolio

During the February 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquakes, people looked for explanations. As scientists, we did our best to share our knowledge in a way that reached and connected with people beyond the scientific community.

Alba Rodriguez Padilla explains how airborne lidar can capture 3D submeter to tens of meters changes in surface topography caused by earthquake deformation.

The 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes occurred on active faults that were known to be a high seismic hazard, yet the devastating impacts of these earthquakes show that the risk was not adequately considered. Vulnerabilities arising from exposure, corruption and poverty led to a lack of seismic preparedness which amplified the earthquake risk into a tragic disaster.

An article in Tectonics identified asymmetric rifting during the break-up of Gondwana from variations in a thermal lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary model for the South American and African passive margins.

Feedbacks between chemical, physical, and biological processes at rift zones evolve through various time (seconds to 10⁷ yrs) and spatial (microns to 10⁶ m) scales. Consideration of these scales is needed to tap rift energy, water, and mineral resources safely and equitably while preserving biodiversity in these changing settings.

A global analysis of seismic waves has identified a widespread sharp velocity anomaly at the base of the low seismic velocity zone that is consistent with partial melting, closing a decades-long debate about the origin of this zone.