I develop numerical models of fluid flow related to Earth surface and interior processes. The codes are available from my bitbucket repository.
fLEM: This is a landscape evolution model based on a set of sediment transport equations. The model uses a novel routing algorithm for surface run-off that minimises numerical resolution dependence. THe equations are solved using a finite element scheme built with the FEniCS library.
MESS: Multigrid Elasto-visco-plastic Strain Solver is a 2D thermo-mechanical code developed by Kenni Peteresn (University of Aarhus) and myself. This 2D code solves for the deformation of the upper mantle and includes the effects of decompression melting. The model uses a finite difference scheme and particle-in-cell approach to solve for the modified Stokes equations.
MELT1D: I have developed a model of the percolation of lava through the upper mantle matrix. This model solves for the buoyant driven upwelling of melt assuming it can be captured as a Darcy flow. The model uses a total variance diminishing finite volume scheme in order to capture the migration of the front of melt. I developed this model to explore how deglaciation in Iceland during and after the last glacial maximum impacted volcanic eruptions and the outgassing of CO2.
The core of my research explores how observations relate to physical processes. To do this, I develop numerical models of Earth system processes, such as sediment transport or upper mantle deformation. I have focused my work on two areas: understanding the relationship between melt generation and continental breakup, and exploring how tectonic and climatic change impact landscape evolution.
[33] Andrés‐Martínez, M., Pérez‐Gussinyé, M., Armitage, J.J., Morgan, J.P., (2019) Thermomechanical Implications of Sediment Transport for the Architecture and Evolution of Continental Rifts and Margins, Tectonics 38 (2), 641-665, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018TC005346
[32] Armitage, J.J., (2019) Short communication: flow as distributed lines within the landscape, Earth Surface Dynamics, 7, 67-75, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-7-67-2019
[31] Duller, R.A., Armitage, J.J., Manners, H.R., Grimes, S., and Dunkley Jones, T., (2019) Delayed sedimentary response to abrupt climate change at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, northern Spain, Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45631.1
[30] Rychert, C., Harmon, N., and Armitage, J.J. (2018), Seismic imaging of thickened lithosphere resulting from plume pulsing beneath Iceland. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007501
[29] Brooke, S.A.S., Whittaker, A.C., Armitage, J.J., D’Arcy, M., Watkins, S.E. (2018) Quantifying sediment transport dynamics on alluvial fans from spatial and temporal changes in grain size, Death Valley, California. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 123, 2039-2067, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004622
[28] Armitage, J.J., Collier, J.S., (2018) The thermal structure of volcanic passive margins, Petroleum Geoscience, 24, 393-401, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2016-101
[27] Armitage, J.J., Petersen, K.D., and Pérez-Gussinyé, M. (2018), The role of crustal strength in controlling magmatism and melt chemistry during rifting and break-up. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 19, 534-550, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GC007326
[26] Armitage, J.J., Whittaker, A.C., Zakari, M., and Campforts, B., (2018) Numerical modelling landscape and sediment flux response to precipitation rate change, Earth Surface Dynamics, 6, 77-99, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-77-2018
[25] Armitage, J.J., Burgess, P.M., Hampson, G.J., Allen, P.A., (2018) Deciphering the origin of cyclical gravel front and shoreline progradation and retrogradation in the stratigraphic record. Basin Research, 30, 15-35, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12203
[23] Temme, A.J.A.M., Armitage, J.J., Attal, M., van Gorp, W., Coulthard, T.J., Schoorl, J.M., (2017) Developing, choosing and using landscape evolution models to inform field-based landscape reconstruction studies. Earth Surfaces Porcesses and Landforms, 42, 2167-2183, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4162
[22] Taposeea,T.A., Armitage, J.J., Collier, J.S., (2017) Asthenosphere and lithosphere structure controls on early onset oceanic crust production in the southern South Atlantic. Tectonophysics, 716, 4-20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.026
[21] Allen, P.A., Michael, N.A., D’Arcy M., Roda-Boluda, D.C., Whittaker, A.C., Duller, R.A, Armitage, J.J., (2017) Fractionation of grain size in terrestrial sediment routing systems. Basin Research, 29, 180-202, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12172
[20] Duller, R.A., Warner, N.H., De Angelis, S., Armitage, J.J., Poyatos-More, M., (2015) Reconstructing the timescale of a catastrophic fan-forming event on Earth using a Mars model. Geophysical Research Letters, 42, 10,324–10,332, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066031
[19] Armitage, J.J., Allen, P.A., Burgess, P.M., Hampson, G.J., Whittaker, A.C., Duller, R.A., Michael, N.A., (2015) Sediment transport model for the Eocene Escanilla sediment-routing system: Implications for the uniqueness of sequence stratigraphic architectures. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85, 1510-1524, doi:10.2110/jsr.2015.97
[18] Allen, P.A., Armitage, J.J., Whittaker, A.C., Michael, N.A., Roda-Boluda, D., D’Arcy, M., (2015) Fragmentation model of the grain size mix of sediment supplied to basins. Journal of Geology, 123, 405-427, https://doi.org/10.1086/683113
[17] Armitage, J.J., Ferguson, D.J., Goes, S., Hammond, J,O,S, Calais, E., Rychert, C.A., Harmon, N., (2015) Upper mantle temperature and the onset of extension and break-up in Afar, Africa. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 418, 78-90, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.02.039
[16] Lucazeau, F., Armitage, J.J., Kadima Kabongo, E., (2015) Thermal regime and evolution of the intracratonic Congo Basin, in The Geology and Resource Potential of the Congo Basin , de Wit, M.J., Guillocheau, F., Fernadez-Alonso, M., Kanda, N., and de Wit, M.C.J., Eds. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29482-2_12
[15] Petersen, K.D., Armitage, J.J., Nielsen, S.B., Thybo, H., (2015) Mantle temperature as primary control on the time scale of thermal evolution of extensional basins, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 409, 61-70, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.10.043
[14] Armitage, J.J., Duller, R.A., Schmalholz, S.M., (2014) The influence of long-wavelength tilting and climatic change on sediment accumulation. Lithosphere, 6, 303-318, https://doi.org/10.1130/L343.1
[12] Armitage J.J., Jaupart, C., Fourel, L., Allen, P.A. (2013) The instability of continental passive margins and its effect on continental topography and heat flow. Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 118, 1817–1836, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrb.50097
[11] Allen, P.A., Armitage, J.J., Carter, A., Duller, R.A., Michael, N., Sinclair, H.D., Whitchurch, A.L., Whittaker, A.C. (2013) The Qs problem: Sediment mass balance of proximal foreland basin systems. Sedimentology, 60, 102-130, https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12015
[10] Goes, S., Armitage, J.J., Harmon, N., Smith, H., Huismans, R., (2012) Low seismic velocities below mid-ocean ridges: Attenuation vs. melt retention. Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 117(B12403), https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009637
[9] Duller, R.A., Whittaker, A.C., Swinehart, J.B., Armitage, J.J., Sinclair, H.D., Bair, A.R., Allen, P.A., (2012) Abrupt landscape change post-6 Ma on the Central Great Plains, U.S.A. Geology, 40, 871-874
[8] Allen, P.A. & Armitage, J.J., (2012) Cratonic basins. In Busby, C. & Azor, A. (Eds.) Syntectonic Basin Development, Active to Ancient: Recent Advances. Ch. 30, p 602-620, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
[7] Armitage, J.J., Warner, N.H., Goddard, K., & Gupta, S., (2011) Timescales of alluvial fan development on Mars. Geophysical Research Letters , 38 (L17203), doi:10.1029/2011GL048907
[6] Armitage, J.J., Collier, J.S., Minshull, T.A. & Henstock, T.J. (2011) Thin oceanic crust and flood basalts: Reconciling observations from the northwest Indian Ocean. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 12(Q0AB07), doi:10.1029/2010GC003316
[5] Armitage, J.J., Duller, R.A., Whittaker, A.C. & Allen, P.A., (2011) Transformation of tectonic and climatic signals from source to sedimentary archive. Nature Geoscience, 4, 231-235, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1087
[4] Armitage, J.J. & Allen, P.A. (2010) Cratonic basins and the long-term subsidence history of continental interiors. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 167, 61-70, https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492009-108
[3] Armitage, J.J., Collier, J.S., Minshull, T.A., (2010) The importance of rift history for volcanic margin formation. Nature, 465, 913-917, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09063
[2] Armitage, J.J., Henstock, T.J., Minshull, T.A. & Hopper, J.R., (2009) Lithospheric controls on melt production during continental breakup at slow rates of extension: Application to the North Atlantic. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 10(Q06018), https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GC002404
[1] Armitage, J.J., Henstock, T.J., Minshull, T.A. & Hopper, J.R., (2008) Modelling the composition of melts formed during continental break-up of the North Atlantic. Earth Planetary Science Letters, 269, 248-258, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.02.024
I am a scientist working at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP). I have an interdisciplinary background working on integrating geophysics, geochemistry, and sedimentology into numerical models. I have more than 10 years of research experience since beginning my PhD at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. My background is diverse and can be split into three complementary research areas: (1) the formation of continent-ocean margins, (2) the long-term evolution of continental interiors, and (3) surface processes. From predicting the seismic shear wave structure beneath the East Pacific Rise to the response of alluvial architecture to change in climate, my research has focused on developing physical models to understand how complex systems have evolved, and to extract the key controlling factors on the evolution of our planet.
