Joshua B Russell

• PhD
• Assistant Professor at Syracuse University

Lithospheric seismic anisotropy illuminates mid‐ocean ridge dynamics and the thermal evolution of oceanic plates. We utilize short‐period (5–7.5 s) ambient‐noise surface waves and 15‐ to 150‐s Rayleigh waves measured across the NoMelt ocean‐bottom array to invert for the complete radial and azimuthal anisotropy in the upper ∼35 km of ∼70‐Ma Pacific...

Reliable instrument recoverability and data quality rely on accurate estimates of instrument locations on the seafloor. However, freely available software for this estimation does not currently exist. We present OBSrange, an open-source tool for robustly locating ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) on the seafloor using acoustic transponder ranging da...

The breakup of supercontinent Pangea occurred ∼200 Ma forming the Eastern North American Margin (ENAM). Yet, the precise timing and mechanics of breakup and onset of seafloor spreading remain poorly constrained. We investigate the relict lithosphere offshore eastern North America using ambient‐noise Rayleigh‐wave phase velocity (12–32 s) and azimut...

Seismic anisotropy produced by aligned olivine in oceanic lithosphere offers a window into mid‐ocean ridge (MOR) dynamics. Yet, interpreting anisotropy in the context of grain‐scale deformation processes and strain observed in laboratory experiments and natural olivine samples has proven challenging due to incomplete seismological constraints and l...

Shear attenuation provides insights into the physical and chemical state of the upper mantle. Yet, observations of attenuation are infrequent in the oceans, despite recent proliferation of arrays of ocean‐bottom seismometers (OBSs). Studies of attenuation in marine environments must overcome unique challenges associated with strong oceanographic no...

The Atlantic Coastal Plain is comprised of thick, unconsolidated sediments that span much of the East Coast of the United States. Seismic waves passing through this shallow, loosely compacted layer of sedimentary rock display increased ground motion amplitudes as measured on broadband seismometers deployed during the Southeastern Suture of the Appa...

Oceanic transform faults (OTFs) facilitate hydrothermal circulation which can modify the fault zone materials and affect their rheological evolution. However, the depth extent and variability of fluid infiltration, degree of mineral alteration and their relationship with earthquake behaviour has only been characterized along a few OTFs globally. He...

Temporal changes in seismic velocity estimated from ambient seismic noise can be utilized to infer subsurface properties at volcanic systems. In this study, we process 7 years of continuous seismic noise at Axial Seamount and use cross‐correlation functions to calculate the relative seismic velocity changes (dv/v) beneath the caldera. We find a lon...

We present a new compilation and analysis of broadband ocean bottom seismometer noise properties from 15 years of seismic deployments. We compile a comprehensive dataset of representative four-component (seismometer and pressure gauge) noise spectra and cross-spectral properties (coherence, phase, and admittance) for 551 unique stations spanning 18...

Small‐scale convection beneath the oceanic plates has been invoked to explain off‐axis nonplume volcanism, departure from simple seafloor depth‐age relationships, and intraplate gravity lineations. We deployed 30 broadband ocean bottom seismometer stations on ∼40 Ma Pacific seafloor in a region notable for gravity anomalies, measured by satellite a...

Shear attenuation provides insights into the physical and chemical state of the upper mantle. Yet, observations of attenuation are infrequent in the oceans, despite recent proliferation of arrays of ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS). Studies of attenuation in marine environments must overcome unique challenges associated with strong oceanographic noi...

Seismic anisotropy produced by aligned olivine in oceanic lithosphere offers a window into mid-ocean ridge dynamics. Yet, interpreting anisotropy in the context of grain-scale deformation processes and strain observed in laboratory experiments and natural olivine samples has proven challenging due to incomplete seismological constraints and length...

Seismic anisotropy produced by aligned olivine in oceanic lithosphere offers a window into mid-ocean ridge dynamics. Yet, interpreting anisotropy in the context of grain-scale deformation processes observed in laboratory and natural olivine samples has proven challenging due to the vast length scale differences. We bridge this observational gap by...

We present a new compilation and analysis of broadband ocean bottom seismometer noise properties from 15 years of seismic deployments. We compile a comprehensive dataset of representative four-component (seismometer and pressure gauge) noise spectra and cross-spectral properties (coherence, phase, and admittance) for 551 unique stations spanning 18...

The Pacific ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) Research into Convecting Asthenosphere (ORCA) experiment deployed two 30-station seismic arrays between 2018 and 2020—a US contribution to the international PacificArray project. The “Young ORCA” array deployed on ∼40 Ma central Pacific seafloor had a ∼68% data recovery rate, whereas the “Old ORCA” array d...

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a substantial hazard for downstream communities in vulnerable regions, yet unpredictable triggers and remote source locations make GLOF dynamics difficult to measure and quantify. Here, we revisit a destructive GLOF that occurred in Bhutan in 1994 and apply cross-correlation-based seismic analyses to track t...

To investigate the controls on continental rifting in the western branch of the East Africa Rift System, we conduct shear velocity imaging of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the weakly extended Malawi Rift and the Rungwe Volcanic Province (RVP). We use local‐scale measurements of Rayleigh wave phase velocities between 9‐ and 100‐s periods co...

The non-double-couple (non-DC) components of the moment tensor provide insight into the earthquake processes and anisotropy of the near-source region. We investigate the behavior of the isotropic (ISO) and compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) components of the moment tensor for shear faulting in a transversely ISO medium with an arbitrarily orie...

Observations of seismic anisotropy in the ocean basins provide key constraints on present-day asthenospheric flow as well as relic fabric recorded in the lithosphere during its formation near the ridge. The international collaboration PacificArray seeks to advance understanding of the Pacific lithosphere-asthenosphere system using focused ocean bot...

As the marine geophysics community continues to instrument the seafloor, data quality and instrument recoverability rely on accurate estimates of instrument locations on the ocean floor. However, freely available software for this estimation does not currently exist. We present OBSrange, an open-source tool for robustly locating ocean bottom seismo...