02 · Research
Dynamic topography
currentEarth’s surface rises and falls in response to slow currents in the mantle — a signal called dynamic topography. I reconstruct this signal using stratigraphic observations including paleobiology, basin stratigraphy and sediment records, then compare against predictions from numerical mantle convection models to test which physical processes drive continental-scale vertical motion across geological timescales.
Publications
2026
Fernandes, V. M., Ruby, A., McNab, F., Wittmann, H., Wickert, A. D., Grimm, L., & Schildgen, T. Mantle-driven, climatically modulated landscape evolution in Southern Patagonia. Geology, 54(2), 117–122. doi.org/10.1130/G53764.1
2025
Davies, H., Panton, J., Altoe, I., … Fernandes, V. M., … & Wookey, J. How to assess similarities and differences between mantle circulation models and Earth using disparate independent observations. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 481(2315). doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2024.0827
2024
Fernandes, V. M., Roberts, G. G., & Richards, F. Testing mantle convection simulations with paleobiology and other stratigraphic observations: examples from Western North America. G-cubed, 25, e2023GC011381. doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011381
2024
O’Malley, C. P. B., Roberts, G. G., Panton, J., Richards, F. D., Davies, J. H., Fernandes, V. M., & Ghelichkhan, S. Reconciling surface deflections from simulations of global mantle convection. Geoscientific Model Development. doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1893
2023
Basilone, L., Roberts, G. G., Maia de Almeida, N., Fernandes, V. M., Souza, A. C. B., Alves, D. P. V., & Jovane, L. Cretaceous to Recent tectono-sedimentary history and subsidence of the Barreirinhas, Ceará and Potiguar Basins, Brazilian Equatorial Margin. Basin Research. doi.org/10.1111/bre.12810
2021
Fernandes, V. M., & Roberts, G. Cretaceous to Recent net continental uplift from paleobiological data: insights into sub-plate support. GSA Bulletin, 133(5-6), 1217–1236. doi.org/10.1130/B35739.1
2020
Morris, M., Fernandes, V. M., & Roberts, G. G. Extricating dynamic topography from subsidence patterns: examples from Eastern North America’s passive margin. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 530. doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115840
2019
Fernandes, V. M., Roberts, G. G., White, N., & Whittaker, A. Continental-scale landscape evolution: a history of North American topography. JGR: Earth Surface, 124(11), 2689–2722. doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004979