John Naliboff
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, NM·Earth & Environmental Science
Earth's deep interior cannot be visited, so most of what is known about it comes from computer simulations. Tectonic plate motions build mountains, volcanoes, and sedimentary basins, while erosion and landsliding wear that relief down; the changing surface in turn alters the forces inside the plates.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Computer Science
Mathematics & Statistics
- Topics
geodynamics
mantle convection
tectonics
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2029
What they work on
- Improve the performance and robustness of the linear and nonlinear solvers in ASPECT, the open-source code for simulating mantle convection and long-term tectonics, so complex models run with fewer computational resources.
- Replace ASPECT's multiphase flow formulation and apply the upgraded solvers to specific, generalized, and emerging multiphysics scenarios relevant to earthquake hazards, critical minerals and energy resources, and the long-term carbon cycle.
- Couple ASPECT with Landlab, a community code for surface processes, so that tectonic uplift and erosion influence one another rather than being prescribed independently.
- Parallelize Landlab across many processors to speed up simulations of short-timescale surface processes such as landslides, flooding, and volcanic eruption cycles.
- Develop documented model use cases and training materials, delivered through ASPECT hackathons and CSDMS clinics, that let researchers studying either Earth's surface or its interior begin coupled studies.
More about the research
Capturing this requires software that spans enormous ranges of space and time and handles highly nonlinear physics, meaning behavior that does not respond in simple proportion to its causes. Both projects strengthen open-source community software for this purpose, centered on ASPECT (Advanced Solver for Planetary Evolution, Convection, and Tectonics), which simulates the solid rocky part of Earth between the core and the surface. One project makes ASPECT's core numerical machinery faster and more capable; the other links it to models of the land surface.
Why it matters
More capable simulations of Earth's interior and its surface could sharpen the study of geohazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, flooding, and volcanic eruptions, and inform exploration for critical minerals and energy resources. Coupled models may also clarify how erosion-driven chemical reactions remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over geologic time. Because the tools are open source, researchers could run complex models with fewer computing resources.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Collaborative Research: Elements: Linear and Nonlinear Solvers for the Advanced Solver for Planetary Evolution, Convection, and Tectonics (ASPECT)
NSF · Aug 2026 – Jul 2029
Collaborative Research: Frameworks: Coupling bulk and surface processes in simulating the solid earth with ASPECT and LandLab
NSF · Sep 2024 – Aug 2028
Closest labs
Georg Stadler
New York University, NY·Mathematics & Statistics
Develop lifted Newton methods that move severely nonlinear PDE systems into a higher-dimensional space and apply nonlinear transformations before linearization, a form of nonlinear preconditioning.
Mingchao Cai
Morgan State University, MD·Mathematics & Statistics
Develop monolithic parameter-robust preconditioners, which speed up solvers for the whole coupled system, for quasi-static and fully dynamic thermo-poroelastic models, with mathematical proofs of stability and convergence.
Eric Hutton
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Earth & Environmental Science
Design and build an affordable, modular open-source hardware–firmware system so geomorphology labs around the world can make uniform measurements and produce reproducible data.
The school
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology: 3 labs on PI Pages, $80M a year on research, 21 research doctorates a year.
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