Erick Prince defends his dissertation

On December 1, 2025, Erick Prince successfully defended his dissertation. In his thesis "Identifying fossil fault activity along the eastern Periadriatic Fault system by means of combined OSL and ESR dating of fault gouges," Erick applied luminescence and electron spin resonance dating to fault gouges. This innovative methodology was used to investigate the tectonic activity of the Periadriatic Fault in the Alps. Erick was able to show that while the fault is not completely inactive and larger earthquakes must have occurred during the Quaternary period, its activity is likely very low. Most of the results have already been published. 

• Prince, E., Tsukamoto, S., Grützner, C., Bülhoff, M., & Ustaszewski, K. (2025): Deciphering Pleistocene fault activity in the Eastern Alps: Dating fault gouges with electron spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence. Tectonics, 44, e2024TC008662, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024TC008662External linkExternal link.
• Tsukamoto, S., Guralnik, B., Prince, E., Oohashi, K., & Otsubo, M. (2024): Recurrent partial resetting of quartz OSL signal by earthquakes: a thermochronological study on fault gouges from the Atotsugawa Fault, Japan. Earth, Planets and Space, 76:117, doi: 10.1186/s40623-024-02061-0External linkExternal link.
• Prince, E., Tsukamoto, S., Grützner, C., Vrabec. M. & Ustaszewski, K. (2024): Not too old to rock: ESR and OSL dating methods reveal Quaternary activity of the Periadriatic Fault. Earth, Planets and Space 76:85, doi: 10.1186/s40623-024-02015-6External linkExternal link.

Erick's 2025 paper was even picked as Editor's Choice: https://eos.org/editor-highlights/trapped-charge-techniques-pinpoint-past-fault-slipExternal link

After Erick successfully placed his wreath on the Hanfried, the day ended with a post-defense at the IGW.

Congratulations, Erick!