Prof. Matej Pec

Matej Pec studies the mechanical and microstructural response of rocks to various driving forces associated with plate tectonic movements. To this end, he performs high-pressure, high-temperature experiments in the laboratory and compares the results to natural observations and theoretical models. His work so far has focused on elucidating the processes occurring at the base of the seismogenic layer where brittle and viscous deformation mechanisms act together to accommodate strain. Further, he studies melt migration in partially molten rocks and the processes that lead to magma emplacement along mid-ocean ridges. He is particularly interested in the influence of melt -- rock reactions and stress on melt migration in the upper mantle.