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My research focuses on active tectonic and magmatic processes in marine and terrestrial environments.ÌýÌýI use a wide range of geophysical techniques to study deformation in rocks and ice, melt generation and extraction, and volcanic processes.ÌýÌýDeformation and mass transport depend critically on the rheologic properties (i.e., strength) of the crust and mantle.ÌýÌýThus, any quantitative study of active tectonics requires a thorough understanding of the Earth’s rheology.Ìý My research group develops geodynamic models to relate laboratory-based rheologic and petrologic models to the large-scale behavior of the Earth.Ìý We apply these models to a range of problems, including faulting, mantle convection, and melting and melt migration in the Earth’s mantle, as well as to societally-relevant issues, such as the dynamic response of ice sheets to climate change, global geochemical cycling, and hazards associated with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

• Evan Saltman Ìý(Ph.D. Candidate):ÌýUltrahigh resolution mapping of the Gofar Transform Fault
• Victoria Richardson Ìý(Ph.D. Candidate):ÌýModeling mantle melting processes at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge
• Shreya Kanakiya (Postdoctoral Investigator): Petrophysical constraints on the slip behavior of oceanic transform faults
• Daniel Douglas (Postdoctoral Investigator): ÌýCoupling long-term tectonic and surface processes models

• Grace Gjerde (B.S.): ÌýSubglacial hydrology of the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet
  
• Alexandre Janin (Postdoctoral Investigator): Geometry, structure, and tectonic regime of oceanic transform faults
• Benjamin Klein (Postdoctoral Investigator): Formation and evolution of sediment and mélange diapirs in subduction zones
• Thomas Morrow (Postdoctoral Investigator): Feedbacks between magmatic emplacement, topographic relief, and surface processes at continental rifts
• Joshua Rines (M.S.): Grain size vvolution in ice sheets
• Xiaochuan Tian (Postdoctoral Investigator): Magmatic controls on oceanic transform fault morphology
• Emma Woodford (M.S.):ÌýControls on Morphology of Oceanic Transform Faults

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Selected Recent Publications (* denotes student or postdoc first author)

• Gong, J., W. Fan, J.J. McGuire, M.D. Behn, J.M. Warren, E. Roland, M.S. Boettcher, J.A. Collins, Y. Liu, and C.R. German, 2026, Predictable Seismic Cycles Result from Structurally Defined Rupture Barriers on Oceanic Transform Faults, Science, v. 392, 718–723, .
• *Janin, A., M.D. Behn, and X. Tian, 2026, Geometry, structure, and tectonic regime of oceanic transform faults revealed by teleseismic earthquake focal mechanisms, Geophys. J. Int., v. 245, 1–49, .
• Tian, X., M.D. Behn, G. Ito, J. Schierjott, B.J.P. Kaus, A.A. Popov, 2024, Magmatism Controls Oceanic Transform Fault Topography, Nature Comm., v. 15, 1914, .Ìý
• Yang, Y., W. Fan, M.D. Behn, S.B. Das, and J.J. McGuire, 2026, Seismic Evidence of Widespread Sediments beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet, Geology, v. 54, 61–65, .
• *Gjerde, G., M.D. Behn, L.A. Stevens, S.B. Das, and I. Joughin, 2025, Seasonal evolution of the subglacial hydrologic system beneath the western margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet inferred from transient speed-up events, The Cryosphere, v. 19, 6149–6169, .
• *Klein, B.Z. and M.D. Behn, 2025, The impact of mélange formation on the H2O budget and strength of the subduction zone interface, with implications for diapir nucleation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 52, e2024GL113049.
• Clerc, F.,ÌýM.D. Behn, and B.M. Minchew, 2024, Deglaciation-enhanced mantle CO2 fluxes at Yellowstone imply positive climate feedback, Nature Comm., v. 15, 1526,Ìý.
• Olive, J.-A., L.C. Malatesa, M.D. Behn, and W.R. Buck, 2022, Rift tectonics modulated by the efficiency of river erosion, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 119 (13) e2115077119,Ìý.
• Behn, M.D., D.L. Goldsby, and G. Hirth, 2021, The role of grain-size evolution in the rheology of ice: Implications for reconciling laboratory creep data and the Glen flow law, The Cryosphere, v. 15, 4589–4605,Ìý.