September 2014 – November 2018 | PhD — Heterogeneous Input in a Subduction System & Its Effect on Plate Boundary Processes: Structural Analysis of the Osa Mélange, SW Costa Rica

Royal Holloway University of London, UK.

Working with Prof. Paola Vannucchi.

Achievements

Recognised Osa Mélange as the product of a hitherto-unknown setting of subduction zone accretion.
Identified that mélange blocks may be weaker than the matrix with profound implications for seismicity.

I’m Alex Clarke

I am a structural geologist working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Johannes Gutenberg–Universität Mainz and a hobbyist girl-with-camera.

My research focuses on the heterogeneities within large faults, shear zones, and subduction zone mélanges — how to map them, quantify them, and explain their origins. I am especially interested in 3D reconstructions of rocks and outcrops which allow detailed, realistic, and quantifiable models of natural phenomena. I also love to teach and I am interested in innovative and engaging methods of teaching earth sciences, both in the classroom and in the field.

In my free time, I enjoy photography and my images reflects my love of nature and the diverse forms nature can take.