Edward Clennett

Edward  Clennett
M.S., Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, 2019

Mailcode: C1140

Supervisor


Committee Members


I am a fourth year PhD candidate in the geodynamics and tectonics group at UT Austin. I am interested in plate tectonic reconstructions, and how we can use geodynamic and geophysical constraints to better model past plate motion and continental deformation. Plate motion and deformation are modelled through time using plate reconstructions. These are widely used across industry and academia for climate and ocean circulation modelling, natural resource prospecting and palaeontology and palaeogeography studies. They are based on observations and proxies, but do not have any built in physics. Therefore, I am investigating how well modelled plate motions correlate with plate driving forces through time, and how gravitational potential energy drives deformation and mountain building in continental regions. I'm focussing on two case studies of tectonic change: the Hawaiian-Emperor Bend in the Pacific plate as a case study for oceanic plate motion change, and the Arabia-Eurasia collision as a case study for continental deformation, and investigating what forces drive these changes and how our reconstructions of these events can be improved. My methodology includes using the plate modelling software GPlates and its accompanying python package, pyGPlates; seismic tomography; synthesis of geological data; and numerical inverse methods.

Prior to coming to Austin, I completed an integrated masters degree at the University of Oxford. For my master's project, I used seismic tomography models, combined with geological and palaeomagnetic evidence, to constrain the plate tectonic history of western North America since 170 million years ago.

Current Research Projects

Full-Waveform Inversion of the Upper Mantle Beneath the Arabia-Eurasia Collision Zone

Restoring Crustal Thickness Changes during the Arabia-Eurasia Collision

Past Research Projects

Assessing plate reconstruction models using plate driving force consistency tests

William R. Muehlberger Graduate Fellowship in Structural Geology/Tectonics - Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin (2024)

Outstanding TA Award - Spring - Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin (2023)

Ewing-Worzel Fellowship - University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (2023)

1st place, SEG Gulf Coast Challenge Bowl - Society of Exploration Geophysicists (2022)

1st place, SEG Challenge Bowl World Final - Society of Exploration Geophysicists (2022)

Graduate Fellowship - Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin (2021 - 2022)

Fulbright All Disciplines Postgraduate Award - US-UK Fulbright Comission (2020 - 2021)

Second Prize, Halliburton Landmark Earth Model Award - Halliburton Landmark (2020)

UK Onshore Geophysical Library Prize - Geologists' Association (2020)

BP Prize for Best Master's Project - Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (2019)

Best Seminar on Natural Hazards - Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium NSW (2018)

BP Scholarship - National Institute of Space Research, Brazil (2018)

AWE Prize in Geophysics - Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford (2017)

East Scholarship - Exeter College, University of Oxford (2017 - 2019)

East Exhibition - Exeter College, University of Oxford (2016 - 2017)

Organizer, UTIG Discussion Hour Seminar (2022 - 2023)

Co-organizer, UTIG Brewinar Discussion Group (2022 - Present)

Treasurer, Texas Geophysical Society (2021 - 2022)

Field Trip Representative, Oxford University Geological Society (2016 - 2017)

Volunteer, Oxford University Museum of Natural History (2016 - 2018)

4D plate reconstructions: linking geodynamic and kinematic modelling, UK-SEDI Meeting, Leeds, UK (2024)

Palaeogeography of the Miocene Iranian Plateau, Jackson School of Geosciences Research Symposium, Austin, TX (2023)

Plate kinematic history of the North American Cordillera constrained using tomotectonic analysis, GSA Penrose Conference: "Developing a New Paradigm for the Mid-Cretaceous to Eocene North American Cordillera: An Obliquely Convergent Plate Margin", McCall, ID (2023)

Investigating Plate Driving Forces in Plate Reconstruction Models using pyGPlates, Jackson School of Geosciences Research Symposium, Austin, TX (2022)

A Tomotectonic Reconstruction of Western North America and the Eastern Pacific Basin, UTIG Discussion Hour, Austin, TX (2022)

Assessing Plate Reconstruction Models Using Plate Driving Forces, UTIG Discussion Hour, Austin, TX (2022)

Investigating Plate Driving Forces in Plate Reconstruction Models using pyGPlates, American Geophyiscal Union Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2021)

On the consistency of Plate Driving Forces in Plate Reconstructions, Jackson School of Geosciences Research Symposium, Austin, TX (2021)

Reconstructing western North America using lower mantle slabs, Mini-Workshop on Feedbacks Between Mantle Composition, Structure and Evolution, Online (2020)

A Quantitative Tomotectonic Plate Reconstruction of Western North America and the Eastern Pacific Basin, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2019)

Electrostatic field patterns produced by ordinary and severe storms in the region of Campinas, Geological Society of Australia Earth Science Student Symposium, Sydney, NSW (2018)