Douwe van Hinsbergen
@vanhinsbergen.bsky.social
Geology - Plate tectonics - Mountain building - Paleogeography - Mantle motions - Paleomagnetism - Science communication - @GeoTdF.bsky.social - Professor at Utrecht University
Reposted by Douwe van Hinsbergen
Ik ben genomineerd voor de vrouw in de media awards 2025. Tot 13 februari mag er gestemd worden: vidm.nl/degenomineer...
Van collegezalen tot festivaltenten, musea tot het 8-uur journaal, Zappelin tot RTL, van jong tot oud - het liefst maak ik iedereen enthousiast over wetenschap!
📸 Ilva Stoelwinder
Van collegezalen tot festivaltenten, musea tot het 8-uur journaal, Zappelin tot RTL, van jong tot oud - het liefst maak ik iedereen enthousiast over wetenschap!
📸 Ilva Stoelwinder
February 1, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Ik ben genomineerd voor de vrouw in de media awards 2025. Tot 13 februari mag er gestemd worden: vidm.nl/degenomineer...
Van collegezalen tot festivaltenten, musea tot het 8-uur journaal, Zappelin tot RTL, van jong tot oud - het liefst maak ik iedereen enthousiast over wetenschap!
📸 Ilva Stoelwinder
Van collegezalen tot festivaltenten, musea tot het 8-uur journaal, Zappelin tot RTL, van jong tot oud - het liefst maak ik iedereen enthousiast over wetenschap!
📸 Ilva Stoelwinder
New paper alert!
For this interested in subduction initiation processes:
@alisstostrome.bsky.social shows that cooling of a young subduction interface may provide the mechanisms for the ill-understood catastrophic way in which subduction zones transition from induced to self-sustained.
#geology
For this interested in subduction initiation processes:
@alisstostrome.bsky.social shows that cooling of a young subduction interface may provide the mechanisms for the ill-understood catastrophic way in which subduction zones transition from induced to self-sustained.
#geology
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:53 PM
New paper alert!
For this interested in subduction initiation processes:
@alisstostrome.bsky.social shows that cooling of a young subduction interface may provide the mechanisms for the ill-understood catastrophic way in which subduction zones transition from induced to self-sustained.
#geology
For this interested in subduction initiation processes:
@alisstostrome.bsky.social shows that cooling of a young subduction interface may provide the mechanisms for the ill-understood catastrophic way in which subduction zones transition from induced to self-sustained.
#geology
Paleolatitude.org 3.0 is online!
At what latitude was your backyard in the time of the dinosaurs? The answer is a simple mouse click away, and now also if your backyard lies one of the world's big mountain ranges!
At what latitude was your backyard in the time of the dinosaurs? The answer is a simple mouse click away, and now also if your backyard lies one of the world's big mountain ranges!
Paleolatitude
Paleolatitude.org
January 12, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Paleolatitude.org 3.0 is online!
At what latitude was your backyard in the time of the dinosaurs? The answer is a simple mouse click away, and now also if your backyard lies one of the world's big mountain ranges!
At what latitude was your backyard in the time of the dinosaurs? The answer is a simple mouse click away, and now also if your backyard lies one of the world's big mountain ranges!
In the last decade, my team and I have been working on reconstructions of the orogenic belts of the Tethys. This is the final one, among many other things showing that the back-arc basins of Iran closed by extrusion of Afghanistan from western Tibet in the Cretaceous to Eocene!
@uugeo.bsky.social
@uugeo.bsky.social
Reconstruction of plate tectonic evolution and orogenesis of the Central Tethysides (Iran, Afghanistan) since the Permian
doi.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:30 AM
In the last decade, my team and I have been working on reconstructions of the orogenic belts of the Tethys. This is the final one, among many other things showing that the back-arc basins of Iran closed by extrusion of Afghanistan from western Tibet in the Cretaceous to Eocene!
@uugeo.bsky.social
@uugeo.bsky.social
Because of heavy snow, live lectures are cancelled today, and I am once again looking at a screen with 25 initials and a few faces to lecture. Back in Covid-mode, and it's truly horrible. I'm glad that next monday, I can lecture normally again.
January 7, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Because of heavy snow, live lectures are cancelled today, and I am once again looking at a screen with 25 initials and a few faces to lecture. Back in Covid-mode, and it's truly horrible. I'm glad that next monday, I can lecture normally again.
2025 was a year of building up. Looking forward to harvesting in ‘26! Happy new year all!
December 31, 2025 at 10:35 PM
2025 was a year of building up. Looking forward to harvesting in ‘26! Happy new year all!
After a long process that took almost 13 years, I'm very happy that we submitted the first paper of Kalijn Peters' work on the Pinarbasi ophiolite of Turkey! There's more coming up, but this one's submitted, to Tektonika. Preprint below! @uugeo.bsky.social
essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10....
essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10....
The Pınarbaşı metamorphic sole (Turkey) as a geological archive of subduction initiation in the Cretaceous Neotethys Ocean
Metamorphic soles consist of metamorphosed oceanic crustal and pelagic sedimentary rocks that structurally underlie the mantle section of supra-subduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites. Both are considered ge...
essopenarchive.org
December 14, 2025 at 10:10 PM
After a long process that took almost 13 years, I'm very happy that we submitted the first paper of Kalijn Peters' work on the Pinarbasi ophiolite of Turkey! There's more coming up, but this one's submitted, to Tektonika. Preprint below! @uugeo.bsky.social
essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10....
essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10....
This is a spectacular finding in the recent paper of Wagenaar et al in JGR: in a minimum-continent-motion reference frame, the plumes of the Indo-Atlantic hotspots move parallel to the edges of the LLSVP, in a counterclockwise fashion. A signal of lowermost mantle flow?
December 14, 2025 at 1:51 PM
This is a spectacular finding in the recent paper of Wagenaar et al in JGR: in a minimum-continent-motion reference frame, the plumes of the Indo-Atlantic hotspots move parallel to the edges of the LLSVP, in a counterclockwise fashion. A signal of lowermost mantle flow?
I am particularly proud of this paper by MSc student Steffi Wagenaar, in which we develop a scheme to make reconstructions of mantle convection.
Hardcore geodynamics from the hand of a really impressive MSc student.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Hardcore geodynamics from the hand of a really impressive MSc student.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Toward Reconstructing Mantle Convection Using a Minimum‐Continent‐Motion Reference Frame
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I am particularly proud of this paper by MSc student Steffi Wagenaar, in which we develop a scheme to make reconstructions of mantle convection.
Hardcore geodynamics from the hand of a really impressive MSc student.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Hardcore geodynamics from the hand of a really impressive MSc student.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
New preprint! We'll see what the Nature editor says, but we certainly enjoyed figuring this one out!
@uugeo.bsky.social
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
@uugeo.bsky.social
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
Viscous coupling at mid-oceanic ridges explaining puzzling Pacific Plate motions
Motions of subducting tectonic plates are explained by slab pull, ridge push, and possibly mantle drag1,2. Non-subducting oceanic plates are surrounded by only ridges and transform faults and are expe...
www.researchsquare.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:00 AM
New preprint! We'll see what the Nature editor says, but we certainly enjoyed figuring this one out!
@uugeo.bsky.social
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
@uugeo.bsky.social
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...
Major Earthquake on the Japan subduction zone, 7.6. Tsunami warning for 3m high wave. Fingers crossed that the damage is minimal.
December 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Major Earthquake on the Japan subduction zone, 7.6. Tsunami warning for 3m high wave. Fingers crossed that the damage is minimal.
I spent my day reviewing proposals. Out of the 12, only 2 proposed to collect new data. 10 integrated, AI'd, modeled, or did some other form of integration and data mining. That sells, it makes it possible to address big-picture issues.
December 2, 2025 at 1:56 AM
I spent my day reviewing proposals. Out of the 12, only 2 proposed to collect new data. 10 integrated, AI'd, modeled, or did some other form of integration and data mining. That sells, it makes it possible to address big-picture issues.
Paleomagnetism.org 2.6 is out! 👇 New tools & tests & data formats are added!
In a future upgrade, we will develop a data format converter that will convert all paleomagnetic data formats to the format of your liking. Time to make Paleomagnetism #FAIR!
@uugeo.bsky.social
In a future upgrade, we will develop a data format converter that will convert all paleomagnetic data formats to the format of your liking. Time to make Paleomagnetism #FAIR!
@uugeo.bsky.social
Paleomagnetism.org 2 - An online environment for paleomagnetic analysis
Paleomagnetism.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Paleomagnetism.org 2.6 is out! 👇 New tools & tests & data formats are added!
In a future upgrade, we will develop a data format converter that will convert all paleomagnetic data formats to the format of your liking. Time to make Paleomagnetism #FAIR!
@uugeo.bsky.social
In a future upgrade, we will develop a data format converter that will convert all paleomagnetic data formats to the format of your liking. Time to make Paleomagnetism #FAIR!
@uugeo.bsky.social
I had a great time talking to Nick Zentner about our latest ideas on plate tectonic reconstructions based on Caribbean and Californian geology. Check out our conversation on his Youtube channel!
@uugeo.bsky.social #geology #geoscience #earthscience
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKN...
@uugeo.bsky.social #geology #geoscience #earthscience
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKN...
Douwe van Hinsbergen - Franciscan Complex Ideas
YouTube video by Nick Zentner
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I had a great time talking to Nick Zentner about our latest ideas on plate tectonic reconstructions based on Caribbean and Californian geology. Check out our conversation on his Youtube channel!
@uugeo.bsky.social #geology #geoscience #earthscience
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKN...
@uugeo.bsky.social #geology #geoscience #earthscience
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKN...
Spectacular - and scary - eruption in Ethiopia. This is a volcano in the famous Afar Triangle, where the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the African Rift meet in a triple point, where the Arabian, African, and Somalian plates are pulled apart.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Ethiopian volcano erupts for first time in 12,000 years
Ash clouds from Hayli Gubbi volcano sent drifting across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Spectacular - and scary - eruption in Ethiopia. This is a volcano in the famous Afar Triangle, where the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the African Rift meet in a triple point, where the Arabian, African, and Somalian plates are pulled apart.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Zie Nederland in paleogeografische context!
In dit clipje uit het #UtrechtPaleogeographyModel heb ik Nederland gehighlight in groen. Je ziet hoe ons landje door de verschillende breedtegraden beweegt sinds we midden in Pangea rond de evenaar zaten, 320 miljoen jaar geleden.
youtu.be/8prPVWdf_oY
In dit clipje uit het #UtrechtPaleogeographyModel heb ik Nederland gehighlight in groen. Je ziet hoe ons landje door de verschillende breedtegraden beweegt sinds we midden in Pangea rond de evenaar zaten, 320 miljoen jaar geleden.
youtu.be/8prPVWdf_oY
Paleogeography of the Netherlands since Pangea
YouTube video by Douwe van Hinsbergen
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Zie Nederland in paleogeografische context!
In dit clipje uit het #UtrechtPaleogeographyModel heb ik Nederland gehighlight in groen. Je ziet hoe ons landje door de verschillende breedtegraden beweegt sinds we midden in Pangea rond de evenaar zaten, 320 miljoen jaar geleden.
youtu.be/8prPVWdf_oY
In dit clipje uit het #UtrechtPaleogeographyModel heb ik Nederland gehighlight in groen. Je ziet hoe ons landje door de verschillende breedtegraden beweegt sinds we midden in Pangea rond de evenaar zaten, 320 miljoen jaar geleden.
youtu.be/8prPVWdf_oY
Reposted by Douwe van Hinsbergen
This is the reconstruction that comes with our new Nature Communications Earth & Environment paper on Caribbean biogeography.
With Leny Montheil, Mélody Philippon, Franck Audemard, Lydian Boschman, Richard Wessels, Sylvie Leroy et al
#UtrechtPaleogeographicModel
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
With Leny Montheil, Mélody Philippon, Franck Audemard, Lydian Boschman, Richard Wessels, Sylvie Leroy et al
#UtrechtPaleogeographicModel
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
November 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
This is the reconstruction that comes with our new Nature Communications Earth & Environment paper on Caribbean biogeography.
With Leny Montheil, Mélody Philippon, Franck Audemard, Lydian Boschman, Richard Wessels, Sylvie Leroy et al
#UtrechtPaleogeographicModel
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
With Leny Montheil, Mélody Philippon, Franck Audemard, Lydian Boschman, Richard Wessels, Sylvie Leroy et al
#UtrechtPaleogeographicModel
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Finally, it's out! For decades Caribbean geologists and biologists were puzzled how South American land plants and animals could have traveled to Cuba. Our new reconstruction of rising, moving, and breaking land bridges now shows how!
www-nature-com.utrechtuniversity.idm.oclc.org/articles/s43...
www-nature-com.utrechtuniversity.idm.oclc.org/articles/s43...
University Utrecht Login from Home
www-nature-com.utrechtuniversity.idm.oclc.org
November 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Finally, it's out! For decades Caribbean geologists and biologists were puzzled how South American land plants and animals could have traveled to Cuba. Our new reconstruction of rising, moving, and breaking land bridges now shows how!
www-nature-com.utrechtuniversity.idm.oclc.org/articles/s43...
www-nature-com.utrechtuniversity.idm.oclc.org/articles/s43...
Aardbeving in Groningen van 3.4, als gevolg van de gaswinning uit het verleden. Doordat de druk in het reservoir verlaagd is, klinkt het gesteente daaromheen in, en worden oude breuken gereactiveerd. De bevingen zijn op zich niet zo groot, maar onze infrastructuur daar is niet gebouwd op bevingen.
November 14, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Aardbeving in Groningen van 3.4, als gevolg van de gaswinning uit het verleden. Doordat de druk in het reservoir verlaagd is, klinkt het gesteente daaromheen in, en worden oude breuken gereactiveerd. De bevingen zijn op zich niet zo groot, maar onze infrastructuur daar is niet gebouwd op bevingen.
Utrecht Paleogeography model in prep!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
November 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Utrecht Paleogeography model in prep!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
Just to give you an idea how young our field is and now far we’ve come!
![Comic. [two connected spacecraft hovering in space above the Earth] Houston, the view is superb. We can see the continents spread out below us, right where they’ve been since the Earth formed. [caption] I still can’t believe we developed spaceflight before we figured out that the continents moved.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreicp2ka5asjgkmgfdfj33vnjb5bbvk3vnyao6ju5kipxcdc23pqasm@jpeg)
October 27, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Just to give you an idea how young our field is and now far we’ve come!