Liang Xue, Ph. D.

Assistant Project Scientist Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of California, Davis

Beneath and Beyond: Influence of Surface Processes on Crustal Deformation

From California’s Central Valley to the rift lakes of East Africa, climate-driven hydrological loading can influence crustal deformation. In this talk, I will discuss how rainfall, erosion, and sedimentation affect the deformation of the crust across timescales ranging from seasonal to geologic. Seasonal hydrological loading could modulate earthquake rates, while glacial– interglacial lake-level fluctuations may alter fault slip and mantle melting. Over millions of years, climatecontrolled erosion and sedimentation reshape the structure and orientation of continental rifts. By integrating geodynamic, landscape-evolution, and seismic models, this research highlights the coupled evolution of climate and tectonics and their combined role in shaping Earth’s dynamic system.