Dr Magdala Tesauro is a post-doc in the Tectonics Group of the Department of Earth Sciences at Utrecht University. She is an expert in geophysical modelling of the lithosphere (e.g. crustal, thermal, and rheological model) on regional and global scale.

Her work focuses on joint analyses and integration of gravity, seismic and other geophysical, geodetic and geological data aiming for the construction of comprehensive models of the lithosphere and underlying mantle, in order to find a connection of these models with ongoing shallow and deep Earth’s processes.

One of the principal objective of her research is the determination of the rheological and thermal structure of the lithosphere, which provides a link to the processes acting in the deep Earth (e.g., mantle plumes) and at the surface, e.g., with atmospheric, hydrological, or glaciation dynamics. Another main objective is the discrimination between the effects of thermal and compositional variations in the mantle. Indeed, density heterogeneity in the upper mantle, which is responsible for the dynamics of the continents, originates from temperature and compositional variations. Therefore, the separation of the two effects is fundamental for understanding the evolution of our planet.

Dr Tesauro is currently involved in several scientific international collaborations, among others that with the U.S. Geological Survey for the construction of a global model of the crust and upper mantle.