Reconstructing Antarctic dynamic topography

Last updated: August 2026

About

Antarctic bedrock has evolved in response to mantle flow, plate motion, and lithospheric structure. Changes in dynamic topography and heat flow can influence erosion, sediment routing, ocean circulation, and the growth and stability of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Present-day observations alone do not uniquely determine that history.

This project will use adjoint mantle-convection models to reconstruct Antarctic mantle structure, dynamic topography, and heat flow over the past 40 million years. It will quantify which features are supported by the available evidence and which depend strongly on uncertain mantle properties and plate reconstructions.

Research questions

• How have mantle plumes, subduction, and lithospheric structure shaped Antarctic elevation and heat flow?
• Which geological and geophysical observations constrain this history?
• How does uncertainty in mantle viscosity, seismic structure, and plate motion affect the reconstruction?

Methods and data

Projects can combine G-ADOPT adjoint models with seismic tomography, gravity and geoid observations, plate reconstructions, lithospheric models, volcanism, sedimentary records, and geological constraints.

Possible projects

Possible directions include reconstructing a regional Antarctic mantle history, testing topographic predictions against sedimentary evidence, or quantifying the sensitivity of basal heat flow to mantle rheology.

Essential background

Useful preparation includes geophysics, geology, physics, mathematics, programming, or numerical modelling.