Rellie Goddard

Academic Profile

I completed a BSc at Durham University in 2015 during which I undertook my Mapping Dissertation in the south western Alps, the Vallon du Lauzanier. I then undertook a Master of Science by Research (2015-2016) titled “Earthquake, elevation and continental plateaux, an investigation into the absence of large thrust earthquakes at high elevations within fold-and-thrust belts”. The project involved analysing data from online earthquake catalogues and extracting event elevations using ArcGIS and Global Mapper. The earthquake magnitudes are plotted against elevation to determine if a quantifiable relationship exists between the two. Further work focused on triaxial compressional laboratory experiments using different rheologies to ascertain the influence of ductile zone thickness on suppressing the propagation of large earthquakes originating at depth. In addition, swath analysis of regional topographic profiles enabled a quantification of the plateau edge elevation.

Current Research

My current research focuses on examining the movements of dislocations within individual mineral grains that ultimately result in large-scale structures such as shear zones. I’ll be focusing on the processes which cause weakening and localisation at plate boundaries, especially those associated with the introduction of a second mineral into an otherwise monomineralic rock. In particular I’ll be looking at the partition of stress in polymineralic rocks within the lower crust.  This work will be undertaken principally on a Scanning Electron Microscope. The results will be processed using High Resolution Electron Backscatter Diffraction.

 

Publications

Publications to follow