The primary interest of Jonathan Weiss has been to understand how mountains are built. While there are some well-established theories of orogenesis – the lingua franca term for mountain building - many aspects of how, when and why mountain ranges are created remain a mystery. This is especially true for the Andes; the 7,500-kilometer-long chain of mountains and volcanoes at the border of the South American continent and the Pacific Ocean. On one side, the Nazca and Pacific tectonic plates are forced to dig deep into the Earth’s mantle. On the other side, much of South America remains stable. The compressional forces associated with this convergence result in the rise of the Andes and geological hazards such as explosive volcanoes and high intensity earthquakes are common. Jonathan is particularly interested in the formation of the eastern portion of the Andes in southern Bolivia where the mountain range is youngest and seismic hazard is arguably drastically underestimated. 

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