About
David Bercovici is the Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences at Yale University and serves as Co-Director of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. His research interests encompass geophysical and geological fluid dynamics, continuum mechanics, multiphase and multicomponent physics, shear localization and damage theory, and the coupling of microstructural and continuum physics. His work focuses on mantle convection, lithosphere dynamics, the origin of plate tectonics, water and volatiles in the mantle, geochemical evolution of the Earth, hotspots, mantle plumes, volcanic flows and eruptions, and planetesimal formation and evolution. Bercovici has contributed extensively to understanding the mechanisms driving plate tectonics, mantle dynamics, and planetary evolution through theoretical modeling and analysis. He holds a Ph.D. in Geophysics and Space Physics from UCLA and has authored numerous publications in the field. His academic career includes teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, supervising students and postdoctoral researchers, and engaging in collaborative research efforts.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Geology
- Physics
- Composite material
- Biology
- Geophysics
- Seismology
- Materials science
Selected publications
Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors · 2025-06-18
article1st authorCorrespondingUpscaling from mineral microstructures to tectonic macrostructures
Geophysical Journal International · 2024-07-26 · 1 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingSUMMARY Earth’s plate tectonic behaviour arises from lithospheric ductile weakening and shear-localization. The ubiquity of mylonites at lithospheric shear zones is evidence that localization is caused by mineral grain size reduction. Most lithospheric mylonites are polymineralic, suggesting that the interaction between mineral phases by Zener pinning promotes grain size reduction and weakening. Yet this interaction only occurs where mineral phases mix at the grain scale. Phase mixing and its effect on microstructure and strength have been shown in deformation experiments and natural field samples. Our theory for the interaction between phase mixing (treated as a stress driven diffusion) with two-phase grain damage has been compared to lab experiments. But using processes at the tiny grain-scale embedded within the small hand-sample and lab scales to model large-scale lithospheric processes, requires an upscaling scheme that captures the physics from micro- to macrostructures. For example, weakening from grain-damage in zones of mixing can lead to banded viscosity structure at the small scale that manifests as viscous anisotropy at the large scale. Here we provide a new framework for self-consistently upscaling from microscopic (grain) scales, to mesoscopic (petrological heterogeneity) scales to macroscopic (tectonic) scales. The first upscaling step models phase mixing and grain size evolution in a small ‘mesoscopic’ lab-scale volume or ‘patch’, which is equivalent to a point in the macroscopic space. Within this mesoscale patch, stress driven diffusive mixing is described by an analytical solution for mineral phase fraction, provided a minimalist Fourier representation of phase fraction, and a transformation to the patch frame of reference as well as to the principal stress directions at that point. The orientation and volume fraction of mixed-phase regions can then be extracted from the analytical solution for phase fraction. The grain size and viscosity in the mixed bands are determined by two-phase grain-damage theory; the unmixed zone properties follow from mono-phase grain damage theory. The mesoscale banded viscosity field leads to a macroscale anisotropic viscosity at that point in space. But, the evolution of properties at each macroscale point involves tracking only a few quantities (phase fraction, grain sizes) rather than modelling each patch of mesoscale space as its own 2-D or 3-D system. For the final upscaling, the anisotropic viscosity field is used in a macroscale lithosphere flow model. We show an example of this scheme for a lithospheric Rayleigh–Taylor drip driven by ridge-push compressive stress, which can cause anisotropic weakening via grain mixing and damage that may help initiate subduction and passive margin collapse.
The Physics and Origin of Plate Tectonics From Grains to Global Scales
Elsevier eBooks · 2023-01-01 · 3 citations
book-chapterSenior authorElsevier eBooks · 2023-01-01
book-chapter1st authorCorrespondingGeneration of a measurable magnetic field in a metal asteroid with a rubble-pile core
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023-07-31 · 9 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorPaleomagnetic records of iron meteorites of the IVA group suggest that their parent body (an inward-solidified metal asteroid) possessed an internal magnetic field. The origin of this magnetism is enigmatic because inward solidification typically leads to light element release from the top of the liquid, which depresses convection and dynamo activity. Here, we propose a possible scenario to help resolve this paradox. The formation of a metal asteroid must involve a disruptive, mantle-stripping collision and the reaccretion of metal fragments. We hypothesize that a small portion of metal fragments may have substantially cooled before being reaccreted. These fragments could have formed a cold, rubble-pile inner core, which extracted heat from the liquid layer, leading to solidification and light element expulsion at the inner core boundary to power a dynamo. In the portions of the inward-growing crust that cooled below the remanence acquisition temperature, the magnetic field could be recorded.
Melt migration in rubble-pile planetesimals: Implications for the formation of primitive achondrites
Earth and Planetary Science Letters · 2023-01-31 · 7 citations
articleThe Psyche Gravity Investigation
Space Science Reviews · 2022-10-18 · 21 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract The objective of the NASA Psyche mission gravity science investigation is to map the mass distribution within asteroid (16) Psyche to elucidate interior structure and to resolve the question of whether this metal-rich asteroid represents a remnant metal core or whether it is a primordial body that never melted. Measurements of gravity will be obtained via the X-band telecommunication system on the Psyche spacecraft, collected from progressively lower mapping altitudes. Orbital gravity will allow an estimate of $GM$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>G</mml:mi><mml:mi>M</mml:mi></mml:math> to better than 0.001 km 3 s −2 . A spherical harmonic model of gravity to degree and order 10 will be achievable and, in concert with spherical harmonic data sets from topography and magnetometry, as well as surface composition data, will provide information regarding the spatial and radial distribution of mass that will be used to constrain the origin and evolution of (16) Psyche.
The Psyche Topography and Geomorphology Investigation
Space Science Reviews · 2022-03-01 · 14 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract Detailed mapping of topography is crucial for the understanding of processes shaping the surfaces of planetary bodies. In particular, stereoscopic imagery makes a major contribution to topographic mapping and especially supports the geologic characterization of planetary surfaces. Image data provide the basis for extensive studies of the surface structure and morphology on local, regional and global scales using photogeologic information from images, the topographic information from stereo-derived digital terrain models and co-registered spectral terrain information from color images. The objective of the Psyche topography and geomorphology investigation is to derive the detailed shape of (16) Psyche to generate orthorectified image mosaics, which are needed to study the asteroids’ landforms, interior structure, and the processes that have modified the surface over geologic time. In this paper we describe our approaches for producing shape models, and our plans for acquiring requested image data to quantify the expected accuracy of the results. Multi-angle images obtained by Psyche’s camera will be used to create topographic models with about 15 m/pixel horizontal resolution and better than 10 m height accuracy on a global scale. This is slightly better as global imaging obtained during the Dawn mission, however, both missions yield resolutions of a few m/pixel locally. Two different techniques, stereophotogrammetry and stereophotoclinometry, are used to model the shape; these models will be merged with the gravity fields obtained by the Psyche spacecraft to produce geodetically controlled topographic models. The resulting digital topography models, together with the gravity data, will reveal the tectonic, volcanic, impact, and gradational history of Psyche, and enable co-registration of data sets to determine Psyche’s geologic history.
Segmentation of subducting oceanic plates by brittle-ductile damage
2022-03-27
preprintOpen access&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Subducting oceanic&amp;#160;plates experience intense normal faulting&amp;#160;during bending that accommodates the transition from horizontal to downward motion at the outer rise at subduction trenches. We investigated numerically the consequences of the plate&amp;#160;bending&amp;#160;on the mechanical properties of subducting slabs&amp;#160;using 2D subduction models in which both brittle and ductile deformation, as well as grain size evolution, are tracked and coupled self-consistently. Numerical results suggest that&amp;#160;pervasive brittle-ductile slab damage and&amp;#160;segmentation can occur at the outer rise region and under the forearc that strongly affects subsequent evolution of subducting slabs in the mantle. This slab-damage phenomenon explains the subduction dichotomy of strong plates and weak slabs, the development of large-offset normal faults&amp;#160;near trenches and&amp;#160;the occurrence of segmented seismic velocity&amp;#160;anomalies&amp;#160;and&amp;#160;interfaces imaged within subducted slabs. Furthermore, brittle-viscously damaged slabs show a strong tendency for slab breakoff at elevated mantle temperatures that may have destabilized continued oceanic&amp;#160;subduction and plate tectonics in the Precambrian (Gerya et al., 2021).&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gerya, T.V., Bercovici, D., Becker, T.W. (2021) Dynamic slab segmentation due to brittle-ductile damage in the outer rise. Nature, 599, 245-250.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Geophysical Journal International · 2022-10-27 · 7 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingSUMMARY The occurrence of plate tectonics on Earth is rooted in the physics of lithospheric ductile weakening and shear-localization. The pervasiveness of mylonites at lithospheric shear zones is a key piece of evidence that localization correlates with reduction in mineral grain size. Most lithospheric mylonites are polymineralic and the interaction between mineral phases, such as olivine and pyroxene, especially through Zener pinning, impedes normal grain growth while possibly enhancing grain damage, both of which facilitate grain size reduction and weakening, as evident in lab experiments and field observations. The efficacy of pinning, however, relies on the mineral phases being mixed and dispersed at the grain scale, where well-mixed states lead to greater mylonitization. To model grain mixing between different phases at the continuum scale, we previously developed a theory treating grain-scale processes as diffusion between phases, but driven by imposed compressive stresses acting on the boundary between phases. Here we present a new model for shearing rock that combines our theory for diffusive grain mixing, 2-D non-Newtonian flow and two-phase grain damage. The model geometry is designed specifically for comparison to torsional shear-deformation experiments. Deformation is either forced by constant velocity or constant stress boundary conditions. As the layer is deformed, mixing zones between different mineralogical units undergo enhanced grain size reduction and weakening, especially at high strains. For constant velocity boundary experiments, stress drops towards an initial piezometric plateau by a strain of around 4; this is also typical of monophase experiments for which this initial plateau is the final steady state stress. However, polyphase experiments can undergo a second large stress drop at strains of 10–20, and which is associated with enhanced phase mixing and resultant grain size reduction and weakening. Model calculations for polyphase media with grain mixing and damage capture the experimental behaviour when damage to the interface between phases is moderately slower or less efficient than damage to the grain boundaries. Other factors such as distribution and bulk fraction of the secondary phase, as well as grain-mixing diffusivity also influence the timing of the second stress drop. For constant stress boundary conditions, the strain rate increases during weakening and localization. For a monophase medium, there is theoretically one increase in strain rate to a piezometric steady state. But for the polyphase model, the strain rate undergoes a second abrupt increase, the timing for which is again controlled by interface damage and grain mixing. The evolution of heterogeneity through mixing and deformation, and that of grain size distributions also compare well to experimental observations. In total, the comparison of theory to deformation experiments provides a framework for guiding future experiments, scaling microstructural physics to geodynamic applications and demonstrates the importance of grain mixing and damage for the formation of plate tectonic boundaries.
Recent grants
Collaborative Research: PLUME - A Seismic Experiment to Image the Hawaiian Hotspot and Swell
NSF · $83k · 2003–2008
NSF · $375k · 2010–2014
Two-Phase Damage Theory and the Generation of Plate Tectonics
NSF · $335k · 2006–2011
NSF · $273k · 2019–2021
NSF · $417k · 2014–2017
Frequent coauthors
- 89 shared
Yanick Ricard
- 41 shared
Elvira Mulyukova
Northwestern University
- 26 shared
Chloé Michaut
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
- 22 shared
E. H. Hauri
Carnegie Institution for Science
- 22 shared
G. Schubert
University of California, Los Angeles
- 21 shared
L. T. Elkins‐Tanton
- 20 shared
G. Laske
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- 20 shared
Zhongtian Zhang
Carnegie Institution for Science
Education
- 1989
PhD, Earth and Space Sciences
UCLA Division of Physical Sciences
Awards & honors
- Carnegie Fellow (2023-2025)
- Harry Hess Fellow, Princeton University (starting Aug 2025)
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