Francis Nimmo - Research Interests
I am interested in how planets and satellites have evolved to their current states, and what explains the planetary diversity we see. For instance, why do the Earth and Ganymede possess magnetic fields at the present day, while Mars and Europa do not? Why is compression the dominant style of tectonics on Mercury, while extension is the dominant style of tectonics on Europa and Ganymede? To answer questions like this requires a combination of present-day observations and geophysical models.
I am working on three main areas right now (click on each image for more details). I am also looking for PhD students interested in these (or other) topics.
Mars Galilean Satellites (Jupiter) Mercury
Although these topics form the bulk of my current work, I did a lot of work on Venus immediately after the Magellan mission, and have also occasionally thought about the Earth.
You can also get an idea of other things I am working on by looking at my published and submitted papers.
Department of Earth and Space Sciences home page
Last Modified: 18 Oct 2004.