Min Ding @ SUSTech
Min Ding
Department of Earth and Space Sciences
Southern University of Science and Technology
Research Focus: Planetary Geodynamics (esp. Lithospheric Dynamics & Gravitation)
As a geophysicist, I am intrigued by the interaction between long-term tectonic/geologic evolution and short-term catastrophic processes on terrestrial planets (including Moon, Mars and Earth). By combining computational geodynamics and geodetic observations, my research focuses on understanding the thermo-mechanical evolution of the lithosphere and its response to various internal and external loading processes (impacts, volcanoes, and earthquakes) on time scales from minutes to millions of years.
I received my Bachelor's degree from University of Science and Technology of China in 2009, and then PhD degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program under the guidance of Prof. Jian Lin in 2014. Worked as Postdoc Associate with Prof. Maria T. Zuber at MIT in 2015-16 and with Prof. Qinghua Huang at Peking University in 2017-19. Worked as Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor at Macau University of Science and Technology in 2019-2023. Joined Southern University of Science and Technology in November, 2023.
Early Evolution of Terrestrial Planets (2020-present)
Proposed a hybrid mechanism (impact + mantle convection) to explain the compositional asymmetry of the Moon
Developed numerical viscoelastic relaxation models for impact basins using Abaqus
GRAIL Data: Using Impact Craters as Probes (2015–2021)
Provided a method to detect variations in the lunar crustal porosity using gravity signals of impact craters
Applied multiple spatial interpolation methods, including moving-window regression-kriging
Quantified the relationship between target properties and mantle uplifts under lunar impact basins
Machine Learning for Planetary Geology (2021-present)
Applied CNN to detect small craters on the Moon
Cryosphere (2018-present)
Formation of martitan polar ice deposits and its interaction with the underlying lithosphere
Attributed the diurnal change in cryo-microseismicity in Qilian Mountains to simulated thermal stress
Mars' Lithospheric Flexure (2012-2019)
Conducted admittance and correlation analysis of gravity and topography data in spherical harmonics
Focused on various tectonic regions (montes, impact basins, and plains) using spatiospectral localization technique
Applied Bayesian inference (MCMC) to solve for parameters
Email: ylsdldm@gmail.com / dingm@sustech.edu.cn
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=3US7qTUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Min_Ding6
GitHub: https://github.com/MinaDing
Master-PhD-Postdoc Opportunities in Shenzhen, China: https://ess.sustech.edu.cn/Recruitment-detail-id-906.html
