Jurgen Adam

Jurgen Adam

Professor

  • TW20 0EX

Personal profile

Personal profile

I am a Professor in Structural Geology and a member of the Continental Margins Research Group Centre for Energy and Resources (Ceres)  and Director of the Salt Dynamics Groups and the Analogue Tectonic Modelling Laboratories (ATML@RHUL) at the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway.

Personal profile

I have 32 years of professional experience as researcher and lecturer in structural geology, energy geosciences, salt tectonics, neotectonics, and geomechanics. Before I came to Royal Holloway University in 2007, I have worked as Senior Researcher & Adjunct Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (2003 – 2007), Research Associate at the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ) Germany (1999 - 2003), and Assistant Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University Hamburg, Germany (1994 - 1999) and the Institute of Geology, Technical University Berlin, Germany (1989 - 1994).

Research interests

My research areas include modern and ancient continental margins, fold-and-thrust belts, and related sedimentary basins. My research focuses on the mechanics of brittle continental deformation at basin-, fault- & fracture scales, on coupled tectonic, climate and sedimentation/erosion processes, on basin modelling and salt tectonics at rifted continental margins, and on the development of innovative physical modelling methods and strain monitoring techniques to support petroleum exploration.

  • Energy geosciences in structurally complex basins and fractured reservoirs
  • Subsurface energy storage including Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) and Hydrogen Energy Storage (HES) in salt structures in the North Sea.
  • Geomechanics of fault and fracture processes and related non-linear deformation processes on structural, reservoir and basin scales.
  • Physical simulation of tectonic deformation processes from basin to fracture scale
  • Development of physical modelling & strain monitoring techniques, material testing & scaling and integration with physical, seismic, basin, and geomechanics modelling concepts
  • Geological processes at rifted continental margins occurring at different temporal and spatial scales from plate-scale to basin-scale (COMPASS).
  • Salt tectonics in intra-continental rift basins and passive margin sedimentary basins
  • Methods: structural, neotectonic and morphotectonic analysis, seismic interpretation and structural balancing, geomechanical and analytical modelling, material testing and scaled physical experiments

 Educational Background

  • 2015       Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (HEA)
  • 2009       Postgraduate Diploma in Academic Practice in Teaching and Learning (CAPITAL)
  • 1996       Doctorate (Ph.D. equivalent) in Geology (Technical University of Berlin)
  • 1988       Diploma (M.Sc. equivalent) in Geology (Technical University of Clausthal)

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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