Function and Responsibilities:

• Head of Geodynamic Modelling Section
• Professor at the University of Potsdam
• PI of ERC Consolidator Project EMERGE
• Coordinator of MSCA Doctoral Network TALENTS
• GFZ Representative and Strategy Team Member of Geo.X
• Initiator and co-organiser of the Rift and Rifted Margin Seminar Series

Research Interests:

My general scientific interests comprise lithosphere dynamics, natural hazards, plate tectonics, climate and their intricate links. My current main focus lies on the dynamics of rifting and continental breakup across the scales: from the localisation of faults and shear zones to lithospheric necking and the interaction with mantle convection and large-scale plate tectonics. To study these processes, I use a diverse set of modelling tools and integrate observations from structural geology, geophysical imaging, rheology, and plate reconstructions.

A list of more detailed research topics and representative papers is shown below.

Continental rifts

• Brune, S., Kolawole, F., Olive, J.-A., Stamps, D. S., Buck, W. R., Buiter, S. J. H., et al. (2023). Geodynamics of continental rift initiation and evolution. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1–19. (Link to Paper, Link to Preprint)
• Glerum, A., Brune, S., Stamps, D. S., & Strecker, M. R. (2020). Victoria continental microplate dynamics controlled by the lithospheric strength distribution of the East African Rift. Nature Communications, 11(1), 2881. (Link to Paper)

Global plate tectonics

• Brune, S., Williams, S.E., Butterworth, N.P., Müller, R.D. (2016): Abrupt plate accelerations shape rifted continental margins. Nature, 536 (7615), 201–204, doi:10.1038/nature18319. (More Info, Animations, and Downloads)
• Brune, S., Williams, S.E., and Müller, R.D., (2018): Oblique rifting: the rule, not the exception,  Solid Earth, 9, 1187–1206, doi: 10.5194/se-9-1187-2018. (Animations, Database link, and Download) 

CO₂ degassing and long-term climate change

• Brune, S., Williams, S.E., and Müller, R.D. (2017): Potential links between continental rifting, CO₂ degassing and climate change through time, Nature Geoscience, 10:12, 941-946, doi: 10.1038/s41561-017-0003-6. (Link to Paper)
• Wong, K., Mason, E., Brune, S., East, M., Edmonds, M., & Zahirovic, S. (2019). Deep carbon cycling over the past 200 million years: a review of fluxes in different tectonic settings. Frontiers in Earth Science, 7. doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00263. (Link to Paper)

Interaction of tectonics and surface processes

• Neuharth, D., Brune, S., Wrona, T., Glerum, A., Braun, J., & Yuan, X. (2022). Evolution of Rift Systems and Their Fault Networks in Response to Surface Processes. Tectonics, 41(3), e2021TC007166. (Link to Paper)
• Ballato, P.,  Brune, S., and Strecker, M. R. (2019): Sedimentary loading–unloading cycles and faulting in intermontane basins: Insights from numerical modeling and field observations in the NW Argentine Andes.  Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 506, 388–396, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.043. (Link to Paper)

Rifted continental margins

• Brune, S.; Heine, C.; Perez-Gussinye, M.; Sobolev, S. V. (2014): Rift migration explains continental margin asymmetry and crustal hyper-extension. Nature Communications. 5:4014. doi:10.1038/ncomms5014. (Link to Paper)
• Brune, S.; Popov, A. A.; Sobolev, S. V. (2012): Modeling suggests that oblique extension facilitates rifting and continental break-up. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, B08402, doi:10.1029/2011JB008860. (Link to Paper)

Rheology and strain localization

• Döhmann, M.,  Brune, S., Nardini, L., Rybacki, E., Dresen, G. (2019): Strain localization and weakening processes in viscously deforming rocks: numerical modeling based on laboratory torsion experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 124(1), 1120–1137, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016917. (Link to Paper)
• Brune, S., Heine, C., Clift, P.D., Pérez-Gussinyé, M. (2017): Rifted margin architecture and crustal rheology: Reviewing Iberia-Newfoundland, central South Atlantic, and South China Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 79, 257-281, doi: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.10.018. (More Info, Animations, and Downloads)

Surface expressions of mantle convection

• Ulvrova, M.M.,  Brune, S., Williams, S. (2019): Breakup without borders: how continents speed up and slow down during rifting.  Geophysical Research Letters, 46(3), 1338–1347. doi: 10.1029/2018GL080387. (More Info, Animation and Downloads)
• Rubey, M.,  Brune, S., Heine, C., Davies, D.R., Williams, S.E., and Müller, R.D. (2017): Global patterns in Earth’s dynamic topography since the Jurassic: the role of subducted slabs:  Solid Earth, 8, 899-919, doi: https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-899-2017. (Link to Paper) 

Tsunamis and submarine landslides

• Brune, S.; Babeyko, A. Y.; Ladage, S.; Sobolev, S. V. (2010): Landslide tsunami hazard in the Indonesian Sunda Arc. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 10:3, 589-604, doi:10.5194/nhess-10-589-2010. (Link to Paper) 
• Thran, M. C., Brune, S., Webster, J. M., Dominey-Howes, D., & Harris, D. (2021). Examining the impact of the Great Barrier Reef on tsunami propagation using numerical simulations. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04686-w (Link to Paper) 

Career:

Since 2023: Professor at University of Potsdam

Since 2019: Head of Geodynamic Modelling Section (GFZ Potsdam)

2019: Privatdozent (University of Potsdam)

2019: Habilitation in Geosciences (University of Potsdam)

2016 - 2021: Helmholtz Young Investigators Group Leader (GFZ Potsdam)

2013 - 2016: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow (2013-2015: EarthByte Group, Sydney, Australia; 2015-2016: Geodynamic Modelling Section, GFZ Potsdam)

2009 - 2013: PostDoc, Geodynamic Modelling Section (GFZ Potsdam)

2007 - 2007: Visiting scientist, Hydrodynamic Modelling Group (Texas A&M University, USA)

2006 - 2009: PhD candidate, Geodynamic Modelling Section (GFZ Potsdam)

1999 - 2006: Student of Physics, Diploma thesis in Biophysics, Humboldt University, Berlin (2002-2003: Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France)

Projects: