Tektonisti

Tektonisti are scientists who study tectonics, the branch of geology concerned with the large-scale structure and dynamics of the Earth's lithosphere. The term covers researchers who investigate how rocks deform under stress, how tectonic plates move relative to one another, and how mountain belts, fault systems, folds, and basins form and evolve over time.

They address processes at various scales, from microscopic mineral fabrics to continental plate interactions, and they connect deformation to seismic activity and crustal evolution.

Key methods include field structural mapping, analysis of rock fabrics and fault-slip data, radiometric dating, stratigraphic correlations, geophysical imaging (such as seismic reflection and magnetotellurics), remote sensing, and computer modeling of stress and strain.

Subfields include structural geology, tectonostratigraphy, neotectonics, paleotectonics, and metamorphic tectonics, as well as applied areas in exploration geology and geotechnical engineering. Tektonisti often collaborate with seismologists, geochemists, petroleum geologists, and geophysicists.

Work settings include universities, research institutes, mining and energy industries, and government agencies. The concept of tectonics underwent major development with the plate tectonics theory, which linked regional deformation to the movement of rigid lithospheric plates.