Vera Schulte-Pelkum
Research Interests
Structure, deformation, rheology, and anisotropy of the lithosphere; receiver functions and array processing; seismic noise wavefield
Teaching Profile
Exploring Earth: GEOL1010
Principles of Geophysics: GEOL3330
Field Geophysics: GEOL4714/5714
Current Research
- Stress, strain, deformation, and reactivation of inherited fabric in the lithosphere
- Automated processing and correlation of large seismic and geological data sets
- Deformation and strength partitioning in Himalaya/Tibet, Zagros, western U.S.
- Anisotropic rheology
- Scaling of elastic anisotropy from mineral grains to seismic wavelengths
- Deep ductile fabric and shear zone imaging
- Tectonic history from combining xenolith and structural data with seismic observations
Highlights
Papers with interesting supplementary info (which can be a pain to track down, so I've provided bundled links), movies, and recent articles. More publications under the link at the bottom.
Rock fabric from collision and volcanoes in the Banda arc: Zhang, P., Meghan S. Miller and V. Schulte-Pelkum (2022), Tectonic fabric in the Banda arc-Australian continent collisional zone imaged by teleseismic receiver functions, G-Cubed, in press.
How to connect electron backscatter diffraction to geologic maps, faults, and subsurface: Frothingham, M., K. Mahan, V. Schulte-Pelkum, J. S. Caine, From crystals to crustal-scale seismic anisotropy: Bridging the gap between rocks and seismic studies with digital geologic map data in Colorado, Tectonics, 41, e2021TC006893, doi:10.1029/2021TC006893, 2022.
All deformation markers for the southern California plate boundary lithosphere one could possibly think of, explained together: V. Schulte-Pelkum, Thorsten W. Becker, Whitney Behr. Meghan S. Miller, Tectonic inheritance during plate boundary evolution in southern California constrained from seismic anisotropy, G-Cubed 22(11), e2021GC010099, doi:10.1029/2021GC010099, 2021.
How far off you might be if you assume the uppermost mantle is all olivine: Bernard, Rachel E., Vera Schulte-Pelkum, Whitney M. Behr, The competing effects of olivine and orthopyroxene CPO on seismic anisotropy, Tectonophysics, 814, 228954, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2021.228954, 2021.
Alaska tectonics and weird circles around volcanoes: Schulte-Pelkum, V., J. S. Caine, J. V. Jones III, T. W. B. Becker, Imaging the tectonic grain of the Northern Cordillera orogen using Transportable Array receiver functions, Seismological Research Letters, Focus section on EarthScope in Alaska and Canada, 91(6), 3086-3105, doi:10.1785/0220200182, 2020.
Rock fabric and microseismicity show that continental crust has a memory: Schulte-Pelkum, V., Z. Ross, K. Mueller, Y. Ben-Zion, Tectonic inheritance with dipping faults and deformation fabric in the brittle and ductile southern California crust, J. Geophys. Res., 125(8), e2020JB019525, doi:10.1029/2020JB019525, 2020 article and supporting info
Earthquakes in continental mantle, which is supposedly to gooey to have them: V. Schulte-Pelkum, G. Monsalve, A. F. Sheehan, P. Shearer, F. Wu, S. Rajaure, Mantle earthquakes in the Himalayan collision zone, Geology, 47(9): 815-819, 2019 open access article supplementary info
How crustal rock fabric behaves, and useful new scaling rules when inverting for seismic anisotropy: S. Brownlee, V. Schulte-Pelkum, A. Raju, K. Mahan, C. Condit, O. Orlandini, Characteristics of deep crustal seismic anisotropy from a compilation of rock elasticity tensors and their expression in receiver functions, Tectonics, 2017 early view article Eos research spotlight
Evolution of the continental U.S. deep crust from geology and seismology, with interactive maps: V. Schulte-Pelkum, K Mahan, W. Shen, J Stachnik, The distribution and composition of high-velocity lower crust across the continental U.S.: Comparison of seismic and xenolith data and implications for lithospheric dynamics and history, Tectonics, 36(8), 2017 open access article; interactive maps (to play with layers, open in Adobe Reader and use View->Show/Hide->Navigations Pane); Editor's highlight
Moho-cutting Denali fault, and slab under Alaska: Allam, A., V. Schulte-Pelkum, Y. Ben-Zion, C. Tape, N. Ruppert, Z. Ross, Ten kilometer vertical Moho offset and shallow velocity contrast along the Denali fault zone from double-difference tomography, receiver functions, and fault zone head waves, Tectonophysics, in press, 2017, early view article
Subduction channel under the Himalaya? D. McNamara, W. Yeck, W. Barnhart, V. Schulte-Pelkum, E. Bergman, L. Adhikari, A. Dixit, S Hough, H. Benz, P. Earle, Source modeling of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Nepal (Gorkha) earthquake sequence: Implications for geodynamics and earthquake hazards, Tectonophysics, 2016, doi
Deep crustal deformation across the continental U.S.: Schulte-Pelkum, V. and K. Mahan, A method for mapping crustal deformation and anisotropy with receiver functions and first results from USArray, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 402, 221-233, 2014 pdf
Ductile shear zone imaging: Schulte-Pelkum, V. and K. Mahan, Imaging faults and shear zones using receiver functions, Pure Appl. Geophys., 171, 2967–2991, 2014 doi
Decoupled mantle root from seismology, geochemistry, and petrological modeling: Schulte-Pelkum, V., G. Biasi, A. Sheehan, and C. Jones, Differential motion between upper crust and lithospheric mantle in the central Basin and Range, Nature Geosci., 4, 619-623, 2011 pdf
Deformation fabric on the Main Himalayan Thrust fault: Schulte-Pelkum, V., G. Monsalve, A. Sheehan, M.R. Pandey, S. Sapkota, R. Bilham and F. Wu, Imaging the Indian Subcontinent beneath the Himalaya, Nature, 435, 1222-1225, 2005 pdf
Watch seismic arrays track storms in the Pacific and Atlantic: Schulte-Pelkum, V., P. S. Earle and F. L. Vernon, Strong directivity of ocean-generated seismic noise, G-Cubed, 5, doi:10.1029/2003GC000520, 2004 pdf, movie
Education
Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Geosciences
Diplom, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany, Geophysik
Honors and Awards
- Golden Piton award, 2004
View Publications
- Frothingham MG; Mahan KH; Schulte‐Pelkum V; Goncalves P; Zucali M. (Mar 2023). Confronting Solid‐State Shear Bias: Magmatic Fabric Contribution to Crustal Seismic Anisotropy. Geophysical Research Letters , 50(6). 10.1029/2022gl102399
- Sui S; Shen W; Mahan K; Schulte-Pelkum V. (Dec 2022). Constraining the crustal composition of the continental U.S. using seismic observables. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 10.1130/b36229.1
- Frothingham MG; Schulte-Pelkum V; Mahan KH; Merschat AJ; Mather M; Gomez ZC. (Nov 2022). Don't judge an orogen by its cover: Kinematics of the Appalachian decollement from seismic anisotropy. Geology (Boulder) , 50(11), 1306-1311. 10.1130/G50323.1
- Wu S; Jiang C; Schulte‐Pelkum V; Tong P. (Aug 2022). Complex Patterns of Past and Ongoing Crustal Deformations in Southern California Revealed by Seismic Azimuthal Anisotropy. Geophysical Research Letters , 49(15). 10.1029/2022gl100233
- Zhang P; Miller MS; Schulte‐Pelkum V. (Mar 2022). Tectonic Fabric in the Banda Arc‐Australian Continent Collisional Zone Imaged by Teleseismic Receiver Functions. G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: an electronic journal of the earth sciences. 10.1029/2021gc010262
- Frothingham MG; Mahan KH; Schulte‐Pelkum V; Caine JS; Vollmer FW. (Jan 2022). From Crystals to Crustal‐Scale Seismic Anisotropy: Bridging the Gap Between Rocks and Seismic Studies With Digital Geologic Map Data in Colorado. Tectonics , 41(1). 10.1029/2021tc006893
- Schulte‐Pelkum V; Becker TW; Behr WM; Miller MS. (Oct 2021). Tectonic inheritance during plate boundary evolution in southern California constrained from seismic anisotropy. G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems: an electronic journal of the earth sciences. 10.1029/2021gc010099
- Bernard RE; Schulte-Pelkum V; Behr WM. (Sep 2021). The competing effects of olivine and orthopyroxene CPO on seismic anisotropy. Tectonophysics , 814. 10.1016/j.tecto.2021.228954
- Berg EM; Lin F; Schulte‐Pelkum V; Allam A; Qiu H; Gkogkas K. (May 2021). Shallow Crustal Shear Velocity and Vp/Vs Across Southern California: Joint Inversion of Short‐Period Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity, Phase Velocity, and Teleseismic Receiver Functions. Geophysical Research Letters , in press. 10.1029/2021GL092626
- Schulte-Pelkum V; Caine JS; Jones JV; Becker TW. (Nov 2020). Imaging the Tectonic Grain of the Northern Cordillera Orogen Using Transportable Array Receiver Functions. Seismological Research Letters , 91(6), 3086-3105. 10.1785/0220200182
- Schulte-Pelkum V; Ross ZE; Mueller K; Ben-Zion Y. (Aug 2020). Tectonic Inheritance With Dipping Faults and Deformation Fabric in the Brittle and Ductile Southern California Crust. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth , 125(8). 10.1029/2020JB019525
- Berg EM; Lin F-C; Allam A; Schulte-Pelkum V; Ward KM; Shen W. (Feb 2020). Shear Velocity Model of Alaska Via Joint Inversion of Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity, Phase Velocities, and Receiver Functions Across the Alaska Transportable Array. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth , 125(2). 10.1029/2019JB018582
- Schulte-Pelkum, V; Monsalve, G; Sheehan, AF; Shearer, P; Wu, F; Rajaure, S. (Sep 2019). Mantle earthquakes in the Himalayan collision zone. GEOLOGY , 47(9). 10.1130/G46378.1
- Monsalve, G; Jaramillo, JS; Cardona, A; Schulte-Pelkum, V; Posada, G; Valencia, V; Poveda, E. (Sep 2019). Deep Crustal Faults, Shear Zones, and Magmatism in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia: Growth of a Plateau From Teleseismic Receiver Function and Geochemical Mio-Pliocene Volcanism Constraints. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 124(9). 10.1029/2019JB017835
- Gal, M, AM Reading, N Rawlinson and V Schulte-Pelkum. (Aug 2018). Matched Field Processing of Three-Component Seismic Array Data Applied to Rayleigh and Love Microseisms. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 123(8). 10.1029/2018JB015526
- Allam, AA, V Schulte-Pelkum, Y Ben-Zion, C Tape, N Ruppert and ZE Ross. (Nov 2017). Ten kilometer vertical Moho offset and shallow velocity contrast along the Denali fault zone from double-difference tomography, receiver functions, and fault zone head waves. TECTONOPHYSICS , 721. 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.09.003
- McNamara, DE, WL Yeck, WD Barnhart, V Schulte-Pelkum, E Bergman, LB Adhikari, A Dixit, SE Hough, HM Benz and PS Earle. (Sep 2017). Source modeling of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Nepal (Gorkha) earthquake sequence: Implications for geodynamics and earthquake hazards. TECTONOPHYSICS , 714. 10.1016/j.tecto.2016.08.004
- Brownlee, SJ, V Schulte-Pelkum, A Raju, K Mahan, C Condit and OF Orlandini. (Sep 2017). Characteristics of deep crustal seismic anisotropy from a compilation of rock elasticity tensors and their expression in receiver functions. TECTONICS , 36(9). 10.1002/2017TC004625
- Schulte-Pelkum, V, KH Mahan, WS Shen and JC Stachnik. (Aug 2017). The distribution and composition of high-velocity lower crust across the continental US: Comparison of seismic and xenolith data and implications for lithospheric dynamics and history. TECTONICS , 36(8). 10.1002/2017TC004480
- Schulte-Pelkum, V and KH Mahan. (Nov 2014). Imaging Faults and Shear Zones Using Receiver Functions. PURE AND APPLIED GEOPHYSICS , 171(11). 10.1007/s00024-014-0853-4
- Schulte-Pelkum, V and KH Mahan. (Sep 2014). A method for mapping crustal deformation and anisotropy with receiver functions and first results from USArray. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS , 402. 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.01.050
- Levandowski, W, CH Jones, WS Shen, MH Ritzwoller and V Schulte-Pelkum. (Mar 2014). Origins of topography in the western US: Mapping crustal and upper mantle density variations using a uniform seismic velocity model. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 119(3). 10.1002/2013JB010607
- Shen, WS, MH Ritzwoller and V Schulte-Pelkum. (Aug 2013). Crustal and uppermost mantle structure in the central US encompassing the Midcontinent Rift. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 118(8). 10.1002/jgrb.50321
- Yeck, WL, AF Sheehan and V Schulte-Pelkum. (Jun 2013). Sequential H-kappa Stacking to Obtain Accurate Crustal Thicknesses beneath Sedimentary Basins. BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA , 103(3). 10.1785/0120120290
- Shen, WS, MH Ritzwoller, V Schulte-Pelkum and FC Lin. (Feb 2013). Joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and receiver functions: a Bayesian Monte-Carlo approach. GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL , 192(2). 10.1093/gji/ggs050
- Shen, WS, MH Ritzwoller and V Schulte-Pelkum. (Jan 2013). A 3-D model of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Central and Western US by joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 118(1). 10.1029/2012JB009602
- Schulte-Pelkum, V and Y Ben-Zion. (Dec 2012). Apparent Vertical Moho Offsets under Continental Strike-Slip Faults from Lithology Contrasts in the Seismogenic Crust. BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA , 102(6). 10.1785/0120120139
- Mahan, KH, V Schulte-Pelkum, TJ Blackburn, SA Bowring and FO Dudas. (Oct 2012). Seismic structure and lithospheric rheology from deep crustal xenoliths, central Montana, USA. GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS , 13. 10.1029/2012GC004332
- Ward D; Mahan K; Schulte-Pelkum V. (Aug 2012). Roles of quartz and mica in seismic anisotropy of mylonites. Geophysical Journal International , 190(2), 1123-1134. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2012.05528.x
- Schulte-Pelkum, V, G Biasi, A Sheehan and C Jones. (Sep 2011). Differential motion between upper crust and lithospheric mantle in the central Basin and Range. NATURE GEOSCIENCE , 4(9). 10.1038/ngeo1229
- van Wijk, K, TD Mikesell, V Schulte-Pelkum and J Stachnik. (Aug 2011). Estimating the Rayleigh-wave impulse response between seismic stations with the cross terms of the Green tensor. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS , 38. 10.1029/2011GL047442
- Schulte-Pelkum V. (Jun 2009). TECTONICS Draining Nevada. Nature Geoscience , 2(6), 381-382. 10.1038/ngeo532
- Monsalve, G, A Sheehan, V Schulte-Pelkum, S Rajaure, MR Pandey and F Wu. (Oct 2006). Seismicity and one-dimensional velocity structure of the Himalayan collision zone: Earthquakes in the crust and upper mantle. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 111(B10). 10.1029/2005JB004062
- Becker, TW, S Chevrot, V Schulte-Pelkum and DK Blackman. (Aug 2006). Statistical properties of seismic anisotropy predicted by upper mantle geodynamic models. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH , 111(B8). 10.1029/2005JB004095
- Becker, TW, V Schulte-Pelkum, DK Blackman, JB Kellogg and RJ O'Connell. (Jul 2006). Mantle flow under the western United States from shear wave splitting. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS , 247(4-Mar). 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.05.010
- Schulte-Pelkum, V, G Monsalve, A Sheehan, MR Pandey, S Sapkota, R Bilham and F Wu. (Jun 2005). Imaging the Indian subcontinent beneath the Himalaya. NATURE , 435(7046). 10.1038/nature03678
- Schulte-Pelkum, V, PS Earle and FL Vernon. (Mar 2004). Strong directivity of ocean-generated seismic noise. GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS , 5. 10.1029/2003GC000520
- Schulte-Pelkum, V and DK Blackman. (Jul 2003). A synthesis of seismic P and S anisotropy. GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL , 154(1). 10.1046/j.1365-246X.2003.01951.x
- Schulte-Pelkum, V, FL Vernon and J Eakins. (Apr 2003). Large teleseismic P wavefront deflections observed with broadband arrays. BULLETIN OF THE SEISMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA , 93(2). 10.1785/0120020126
- Schulte-Pelkum V; Masters G; Shearer PM. (Oct 2001). Upper mantle anisotropy from long-period P polarization. Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth , 106(B10), 21917-21934. 10.1029/2001JB000346