Chris Carchedi

My group develops and applies seismological methods to understand how tectonic and surface processes shape the structure of the Earth from the crust to the upper mantle.

Subduction Zone Structure and Dynamics

Subduction zones are critical to understanding Earth processes. Subducting plates act as the primary driver for plate tectonic motion, serve as the link for material recycling between the surface and the deep interior, and host many natural hazards. Well-studied boundaries define classical subduction models, yet significant variance in these properties is observed—even across a single system. To analyze the full breadth of earth processes and hazards along subduction zones, we must robustly analyze the outliers. My research thus far has targeted two endmember subduction zones: the Indo-Burman and the northern Andes.

• Northern Andes: Flat Slabs, Tears
• Indo-Burma: Extreme Sediments

Ambient Noise and Environmental Seismology

A seismogram's frequency content reveals myriad contributions to Earth's background seismic energy beyond earthquakes. How can these contributing sources be characterized and utilized? One such breakthrough involves ocean microseisms—pulses of seismic energy sources from ocean waves and detected across the globe. Microseisms were long considered noise and disregarded by the solid Earth community, though recent improvements in observational capabilities both onshore and offshore have generated a resurged interest in the microseismic band for imaging subsurface structure, studying oceanographic and meteorological phenomena, and examining the details of fluid-solid interactions. By unraveling background seismic energy, we unlock the untapped potential of terabytes of archived seismic recordings for exploring linkages between environmental processes and the solid Earth.

• Great Lakes: Estimating Ice
• Lake Malawi: Lake Microseisms

Study Areas & Field Deployments