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Explore the complex physics of earthquakes through the lens of soft matter science in this 46-minute conference talk that examines how Earth materials exist in a fuzzy state between solid and fluid depending on timescales. Discover how soil, mud, ice, and rocks exhibit behaviors familiar to soft matter physics including glassy dynamics, strain localization, memory encoding in microstructure, active matter, and complex yielding. Learn about the novel challenges presented by the unique mixtures, excitations, geometries, and scales associated with soft Earth problems that distinguish them from traditional soft matter systems. Understand how recent research reveals that frontiers in geophysics are also frontiers in soft matter physics, and how combining these fields can lead to advances and insights in both disciplines. Examine the theoretical and experimental approaches needed to understand multi-scale dynamics of earth materials, from creep and yielding in amorphous materials to field observations of landslides, earthquakes, erosion, and glaciers. Gain insights into how this interdisciplinary approach addresses open questions and challenges in understanding Earth's dynamic processes through the framework of soft matter physics.
