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Research Highlight
Phase Transitions Control Plume Layering During Earth’s Secular Cooling
Earth’s mantle convects, cooling the planet and shaping both its internal structure and surface tectonic regimes. While models and observations provide reasonable constraints on present-day mantle flow, it remains an open question how patterns of mantle convection have evolved throughout Earth’s history. A key factor is temperature. In their recent study, Li et al. (2025) investigated how varying phase transitions affect convection styles using numerical models. The figure above summarizes their findings, showing that phase transitions can lead to the formation of layered plumes in hotter mantles.
Navigate to the [full article] to find links to the movies.
Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni, Lars Stixrude Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
From HQ
Dear CIG Community,
I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of Co-Director for the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics and I thought it would be good to introduce myself and tell you what I am here to do. Many of you know me from my involvement with CIG over the years; I have served in various advisory and leadership capacities since the organization's early days. I am a professor of geodynamics in the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University so I bring an international perspective to CIG's activities. CIG is funded by the National Science Foundation for the benefit of computational science in the United States, but the codes, algorithms and training materials that CIG creates are used worldwide and have an impact on science across the world.
CIG has reached an important moment. The original mission to build a suite of robust, maintainable community codes has been achieved. CIG has transformed the discipline of geodynamics and transformed the way we work. We all expect more from our software and we all deliver more rigorous, reproducible science. Now is the time to look forward: to understand what challenges we want to overcome next, to identify what we need to build, and to evaluate the obstacles in our way.
In May, CIG underwent a comprehensive review by the National Science Foundation, and the results were overwhelmingly positive. The review panel recognized CIG as "a leading example of scientific cyberinfrastructure" and validated our open-source ethos, training programs, and ability to translate cutting-edge science into widely usable tools. The panel provided three key recommendations that will shape our path forward: enhancing communication and outreach to showcase CIG's broader impacts; strengthening partnerships with industry and federal agencies; and developing a strategic plan for long-term sustainability and diversified funding. These recommendations are a roadmap for building on our strengths.
Three months later, our community demonstrated its commitment to this vision at the CIG TNG Workshop in Breckenridge, Colorado – our first in-person, all-community gathering since 2016. Participants identified emerging scientific frontiers for geodynamics including sea-level rise modeling and uncertainty quantification in coupled systems. We discussed computational bottlenecks and prioritized GPU migration and AI/ML integration. Breakout sessions on model coupling, visualization tools, education and training, and digital twins showed our community already working on the challenges the NSF review highlighted: better communication of our science, expanded educational reach, and forward-looking strategic thinking.
As Co-Director, my role centers on steering CIG's scientific objectives, overseeing planning and implementation with our governance committees, and serving as liaison to external stakeholders. I'll be working closely with Lorraine and with members of the Executive and Scientific Steering Committees to identify the scientific-computing and education-training challenges our community faces—and I want to hear from you. Please reach out with your ideas, challenges, or priorities. CIG's strength has always been its community-driven approach.
I am excited to work with all of you to advance CIG's mission and ensure we continue to be a cornerstone of computational geodynamics tools and techniques for researchers at all career stages and across all sectors.
Louis Moresi, Co-Director, CIG; Professor, Australian National University
Governance
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY- New Working Groups
Looking for ways to contribute to the geodynamics community? Volunteer for one of our two new Working Groups OR start your own (see next section)!
- Community Engagement. The Community Engagement Working Group creates pathways to interact with past and present members of the geodynamics community by fostering the community and promoting geodynamics. Through its activities, the group will identify means to broaden funding and prove the effectiveness of the organization. Activities may include surveying past community members, supporting social media and contributing to current outreach activities to broaden participation and promote our science.
- AI/ML for Geodynamics. The AI/ML Working Group identifies directions in deploying AI/ML methods and technologies in tackling existing and emerging problems in geodynamics. Through its activities, the group may engage the community through webinars, workshops, and by recommending investments needed to enable research use.
Working Groups
CIG seeks to engage its community and encourage new ideas by seeking members to participate in existing Working Groups or to initiate a new Focused Working Group (FWG). New FWGs 's should address a specific topic and have a clearly defined scope, e.g., workshop, white paper, benchmark, etc. A WG should define concrete outcome(s) achievable within a short time frame, < 2 years. Anyone can propose one! We look forward to your ideas in continuing the CIG community's dynamic leadership in the Earth sciences. [apply]Resources
SciX Digital Library
SciX Explorer is a one-stop platform for exploring research across Earth, environmental, and space sciences, including planetary science, heliophysics, geology, geophysics, atmospheric sciences and oceanography. SciX helps researchers access a comprehensive collection of curated scientific literature, software, and data. Watch the launch video to learn moreabout what SciX can do here or check out the Quick Start Guide.
Theoretical and Computational Seismology
Looking for a resource to teach or learn how to simulate seismic wave propagation through complex media. Check out the latest text book Theoretical and Computational Seismology by Jeroen Tromp, Princeton University. The text includes a comprehensive set of exercises available online.
And while we are at it, congratulations to Jeroen Tromp, this year's Beno Gutenberg Lecturer. The Beno Gutenberg Lecture is presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of seismology and is named to honor the life and work of renowned seismologist Beno Gutenberg. Look for his talk at the 2025 Fall AGU Meeting.
Events
CIG Webinars
The CIG 2025 Community Meeting highlighted continued significant interest in the coupling between computational thermodynamics and geodynamics. Join us in 2026 for a half-day session of talks and panel discussions on this topic, which will highlight recent scientific advances and tools, community needs, and long-term directions for collaboration. Stay tuned for more details!
Workshops and Meetings
2026| January 22 | CIG Business Meeting |
| early Winter | ASPECT User Meeting |
| June 8-12 | Crustal Deformation Modeling Workshop |
| June 21-16 | Ada Lovelance |
| July 20-31 | ASPECT Hackathon |
| tbd | Rayleigh Hackathon |