Prof. Dr. Thorsten W. Becker

Research Priorities: Geophysics, seismology, geodynamics, geology

Thorsten W. Becker is a German geophysicist. He researches how planets' interior and surface systems have co-evolved, combining approaches from geodynamics, seismology, and geology. His research team integrates field work, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations into geodynamic and structural models in order to understand the physics of plate tectonics from deformation at the particle level all the way to earthquakes and global mantle convection. His research provides key insights into how currents in Earth's mantle drive the movement of tectonic plates, the topography of the Earth’s surface, and the occurrence of earthquakes.

A central research focus of Thorsten W. Becker is mantle currents and their influence on tectonic plate movements and the development of surface topography. He uses geodynamic models and seismic observations to analyse how differences in the viscosity, temperature and density of Earth’s mantle influence global mantle circulation and the forces behind plate tectonics. Thorsten W. Becker and his team have managed to show, for example, that changes in mantle flow in the upper Earth mantle appear to cause seismic activity in western North America. He and the Italian geoscientist Claudio Faccenna jointly published the course book “Tectonic Geodynamics” with Princeton University Press in 2025, which offers a new, comprehensive view of the solid Earth.

Thorsten W. Becker’s research also examines seismic anisotropy in the upper Earth mantle, which provides important indications of mantle currents and deformation processes. By combining seismic data, such as shear-wave splitting and surface wave studies, with models of mantle convection and crystal deformation, he studies how the arrangement of minerals in mantle rock stores information about the direction and history of mantle currents.

Thorsten W. Becker also investigates tectonic processes at tectonic boundaries and within continental lithosphere, including subduction dynamics, and megathrust earthquakes.

The results of his research are used in the physics-based estimates of earthquake risks, the modelling of rupture potential at subduction zones, and the assessment of tectonically determined natural risks. Initiatives such as the Megathrust Modeling Framework and the Subduction Zones in Four Dimensions initiative, in which Thorsten W. Becker played a key role, aim to transfer this basic research into improved risk models for earthquake regions worldwide.