Warner College of Natural Resources Department of Geosciences Colorado State University
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Research

I am interested in using seismology, combined with mineral physics and geodynamical modeling, to understand the mantle's physical properties, flow, and interaction with the crust.  Topics to interest to me are hotspots, mantle plumes, and convective rolls; lithospheric strength boundaries and their role in strain partitioning; the mantle's role in past and present western U.S. tectonics and deformation; and the effect of petrological variations on the dynamical origin of mantle structure.


Right now my research is focused along two paths.

  • The geophysical implication of composition in the upper mantle.   We are trying to better understand the effects of compositional variations in the upper mantle, such as melt depletion and pyroxene enrichment, on the seismic velocity and density of the upper mantle.  Our data come from xenoliths and experiments, and have implications for the stability of subcontinental lithospheric mantle, particularly below cold cratons.

  • Yellowstone and Wyoming Craton seismology.   Using a variety of techniques, we are trying to understand the physical state of the Yellowstone Plume and the Wyoming Craton from the crust to the Core-Mantle boundary.