Surface & Lithosphere
Coordinator : Jean-Emmanuel Martelat
Research topics:
- Formation and evolution of the lithosphere
- Fluxes and erosion on Earth's surface
- Faults and lithospheric deformations
The interaction of processes that redistribute the matter within the lithosphere and at the surface shapes the Earth's surface morphology and its evolution. At the surface, erosion, influenced by climate, shapes the reliefs and feeds the sedimentation zones. At depth, the mantle convection induces large-scale motions and deformations that influence the thermal state of the lithosphere. These mechanisms often show complex retroactions. For example, strong vertical motions imply fast erosion and strong reliefs. However these reliefs influence the local climate that is the main player of erosion whose efficiency depends of altitude. It is even envisaged that a focussed increase of erosion, for example due to a climatic change, could induce strong vertical motions affecting the mantle convection. Characterisation of the relief evolution thus necessitates a better understanding of these complex interactions between external and internal processes.
Some of the basic mechanisms of the relief evolution are still poorly understood because they are intermittent and their quantification depends on the observation timescale. For example erosion rates are not the same whether measured during heavy rain or averaged over several years. The way precise short-term measurements can be extrapolated over long-time scales of several thousands or even millions of years is thus questionable. In a similar way, geologic archives preserve long-term information but with possible large gaps and a lack of precision.
Participants in the theme :
Our members are located both in Lyon and Saint-Étienne.
Researchers, engineers, technicians:
ALLEMAND Pascal (Pr, Lyon)
BASCOU Jérôme (Pr, Saint-Étienne)
BEN AISSA Wiem (postdoc, Lyon)
CHEVET June (IE, Saint-Étienne)
COTTIN Jean-Yves (Pr Ém., Saint-Étienne)
DELACOUR Adélie (MCF, Saint-Étienne)
FELLAH Clémentine (IR, Lyon)
GARDIEN Véronique (MCF, Lyon)
GERBE Marie-Christine (MCF, Saint-Étienne)
GRANDJEAN Philippe (AI, Lyon)
GUILBAUD Colette (Tech, Saint-Étienne)
GUILLAUME Damien (Pr, Saint-Étienne)
HERBELIN Maud (ATER, Saint-Étienne)
LANGLOIS Vincent (MCF, Lyon)
LASSERRE Cécile (DR, Lyon)
LAURENT Antonin (MCF, Saint-Étienne)
LAVASTRE Véronique (MCF, Saint-Étienne)
LELOUP Philippe-Hervé (DR, Lyon)
MAHEO Gweltaz (MCF, Lyon)
MARECHAL Chloé (MCF, Lyon)
MARTELAT Jean-Emmanuel (MCF, Lyon)
METOIS Marianne (MCF, Lyon)
MOINE Bertrand (MCF, Saint-Étienne)
MOYEN Jean-François (Pr, Saint-Étienne)
ORSINI Jean-Baptiste (Pr Ém., Saint-Étienne)
PASSOT Sophie (IE, Lyon)
PITTET Bernard (MCF, Lyon)
SEYDOUX-GUILLAUME Anne-Magali (CR, Lyon)
SORREL Philippe (MCF, Lyon)
TRIANTAFYLLOU Antoine (MCF, Lyon)
PhD Students :
BICHAUD Victoria
BRALL Niels
CORTIADE Nicolas
COURRIER Thomas
GE Chenlong
GRIME Romain
LEMRABET Lætitia
MELIS Raphaël
MERCIER Antoine
PAGANI Colin
TURIANI Marion
ZHU Chengyu
