Cerca, Mariano

Institute of Geosciences, UNAM, Mexico

Mariano Cerca is a geologist and researcher at the Institute of Geosciences, UNAM, in Mexico. He received his PhD in Earth Sciences from UNAM, specializing in structural geology and tectonics, and joined the Institute of Geosciences after completing postdoctoral research. His work focuses on the mechanical behavior and deformation of geological materials and on how these processes influence larger-scale geological systems. He combines field geology with experimental rock mechanics, petrophysics, structural analysis, and microstructural characterization. He founded the Geosystems Mechanics Laboratory and later the Rock Physics Laboratory (LAFiR), where he leads research on the mechanical and physical properties of rocks and sediments under different pressure, deformation, and anisotropy conditions. His research has addressed tectonic deformation, rock and sediment mechanics, land subsidence and ground fracturing, groundwater-related deformation, and the evolution of volcanic and sedimentary basins. More recently, he has incorporated environmental DNA and geomicrobiological approaches to investigate interactions between geological processes, sediments, and microbial communities in extreme environments such as maar craters. He is also involved in graduate and undergraduate teaching, student supervision, international collaborations, and the organization of scientific meetings in Earth Sciences.

Bibliography:

Dora Carreón-Freyre, M. Cerca, Jubier A. Jiménez-Camargo, Teresa López-Lara. 2026. Microstructure and mechanical behavior of Smectitic Holocene clays from the Queretaro Valley, central Mexico. Frontiers in Earth Science, 14, 1818615. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2026.1818615
César A. Cortés-Prado, Mariano Cerca, Lenin Valdez-Barrera, Dora Carreón-Freyre, Susana Alaniz-Alvarez, Gilles Levresse. 2026. Estimation of mechanical parameters of elasticity and brittle rupture of a flawed sandstone by UCS and triaxial tests, the case of the Huayacocotla Formation, Eastern Mexico. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 85, article number 268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-026-04924-0
Aranda-Gómez, José Jorge, Mariano Cerca, Pablo Dávila-Harris, Gabriel Chávez-Cabello, Yam Zul Ernesto Ocampo-Díaz, Cesar Francisco Ramírez-Peña, José Antonio Pérez-Venzor. 2025. Complex deformation and surface interactions at the base of a massive landslide breccia, Lower Comondú Group, Miocene, BCS, México. Sedimentary Geology, 487. Article number 106941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2025.106941
Lenin Iván Valdez-Barrera, Mariano Cerca, Jubier Alonso Jiménez-Camargo, César Cortés. 2024. A regional shallow décollement at the front of the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt: microstructure of the Santiago shale. Lithosphere, 2024 (1), Article ID 4031438. https://doi.org/10.2113/2024/4031438
Erik Medina, Gilles Levresse, Jaime Carrera, Mariano Cerca. 2023. A basin scale assessment framework of onshore aquifer-based CO2 suitability storage in Tampico Misantla basin, Mexico. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 125, 103874, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2023.103874.