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I am interested in geoscientific problems that span a spectrum of timescales and methods. A primary research interest to date has been to understand and quantify how landscapes evolve across different scales of space and time, using both observations and modelling approaches. I value collaborative and interdisciplinary science.
Recovering Histories of Topography from Numerical Landscapes
Recovering Histories of Topography from Numerical Landscapes
Disentangling the processes which act to shape Earth's surface can help us understand how it might change in the future. Numerical models of landscape evolution are one way of exploring how different processes intertwine to alter topography. A primary goal is to recover histories of vertical motion of (continental) topography. I am developing methods based on Optimal Transport theory that make use of entire landscapes (i.e. as much data as possible) to invert topography for its uplift history.
Collaborators: Gareth Roberts (Imperial), Alex Lipp (UCL), Fred Richards (Imperial)
Publications: Morris, M. J., Lipp, A. G., Roberts, G. G. (2023). ‘Towards inverse modeling of landscapes using the Wasserstein distance’. Geophysical Research Letters 50.14 DOI: 10.1029/2023GL103880,
Morris, M. J., Roberts, G. G., Richards, F. D., Lipp, A. G., Siddle, E. R. (2026). ‘Seeing through geomorphic complexity to recover tectonics from topography: Inverting landscapes for uplift histories using the Wasserstein distance'. JGR: Earth Surface DOI: 10.1029/2025JF008966
Recovering uplift histories by comparing topography. The landscape in (b) was generated with the black uplift history shown in (a). By comparing (b) to the landscapes in (c), generated by the red uplift histories in (a), and maximising their similarity, it is possible to recover the black uplift history as if it were unknown.
A simple demonstration of how we use marginals (d, f) to compare topography. In Morris et al. (2023), we calculate a Wasserstein Distance between pairs of topographic marginals to recover rates and locations of uplift from numerical scenarios.
Seeing Through the Noise in Landscape Models
Seeing Through the Noise in Landscape Models
Two 'steady state' landscapes evolved under the same model forcings but with different initial noise. The differences in final topography and topography along a transect at 1, 5, and the final 100 Myr landscapes, arise from the noise.
Many numerical models which simulate landscape evolution require random perturbations (noise) to be added at their initiation, in order to enable realistic river networks to form. But does this randomness affect results obtained from simulations? We examined how the choice of noise (its amplitude, arrangement, and spectral properties) has an impact on commonly used geomorphic metrics, using an ensemble of models subjected to the same forcings but with different noises. We found that some of these metrics (e.g. Hack exponents, uplift rates recovered from slope-area data) can vary significantly, just due to noise, which may limit their efficacy when applied to natural landscapes. We suggest that a practical solution involves using ensembles of models to quantify uncertainties arising from noise.
Collaborators: Gareth Roberts (Imperial)
Publications: Morris, M. J., Roberts, G. G. (2025). ‘Impact of Noise on Landscapes and Metrics Generated with Stream Power Models. Earth Surface Dynamics DOI: 10.5194/esurf-13-1003-2025
Free air gravity data, residual topography data, and shear wave velocity anomalies, combined with stratigraphic data from offshore wells, point to the role of sub-plate processes in creating accommodation space at the Baltimore Canyon Trough (BCT).
Sedimentary Basins and Mantle Convection
Sedimentary Basins and Mantle Convection
The theory of plate tectonics is an adequate explanation in many places for the origins of high and low topography (e.g. mountains and sedimentary basins). However in other locations it is evident that topography is, at some scale, generated by sub-plate processes (i.e. in the mantle). Quantifying the scales and rates at which the mantle influences surface topography is complicated by the transient nature of this dynamic topography - swells and sinks grow and decay through time.
Combining a diverse range of geological and geophysical observations with established theory can prove a fruitful way to identify dynamic topographic signals, something we addressed for the eastern seabord of North America.
Collaborators: Gareth Roberts (Imperial), Victoria Fernandes (then Imperial, now GFZ)
Publications: Morris, M., Fernandes, V. M. & Roberts, G. G. (2020). Extricating dynamic topography from subsidence patterns: Examples from Eastern North America's passive margin, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 530. DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2019.115840
Other Projects
Other Projects
Seismic Hazard Analysis, Greece
I was fortunate enough to assist Sam Mitchell during fieldwork in 2023 to identify normal faults across Central Greece. We collected data with the aim of quantifying their histories of displacement, and subsequently calculating strain rates. I had great fun in learning new techniques for mapping fault slip histories (including using broom handles), scrambling through vegetation to collect valuable data, and finding out that central Greece can be very wet during early May!
The Delphi fault, Central Greece
Looking from Delphi towards the Gulf of Corinth on one of the finer evenings
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