Victor's Homepage

Victor C. Tsai

Victor Tsai

email: tsai [at] caltech . edu
address:   California Institute of Technology
                1200 E. California Blvd., MS 252-21
                   Pasadena, CA 91125
phone: office: 626-395-6993

Professional Appointments
2011-present: Assistant Professor of Geophysics, Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
2009-2011: Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow, Geologic Hazards Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey
2009: Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University

Education
Ph.D., Earth and Planetary Sciences (Geophysics), Harvard University, 2009
M.A., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 2006
B.S., Geophysics with Honors, California Institute of Technology, 2004

Collaborators (Current and Past): Andrew Stewart, Andy Thompson, Hilmar Gudmundsson, Mark Simons, Florent Gimbert, Naofumi Aso, Zhongwen Zhan, Brandon Schmandt, Pablo Ampuero, Mike Lamb, Fan-Chi Lin, Zacharie Duputel, Gavin Hayes, Jeff Love, Dan McNamara, Jim Rice, Adam Dziewonski, John Wettlaufer, Goran Ekstrom, David Stevenson, Hiroo Kanamori

Academic Interests
I am interested in many different aspects of solid earth geophysics, including but not limited to: earthquakes, glaciers, seismic imaging techniques, solid/fluid interactions, melting processes, earth structure, mantle convection, and planetary formation/processes. Some of my current projects include understanding and making use of noise correlation measurements, improving earthquake source parameterizations, creating new tomographic methods, modeling short-timescale glacier physics, using non-traditional seismic methods to constrain various geophysical phenomena, and modeling tsunamis. For more details about individual projects, click on the links below:

Publications
2015:

Rice, J. R., V. C. Tsai, M. C. Fernandes, and J. D. Platt (2015). "Time scale for rapid draining of a surficial lake into the Greenland Ice Sheet"
J. Appl. Mech., submitted (Jan. 31, 2015).
Huang, H.-H., F.-C. Lin, B. Schmandt, J. Farrell, R. B. Smith, and V. C. Tsai (2015). "The Yellowstone magmatic system from the upper crust to the mantle plume"
submitted (Jan. 20, 2015).
Haney, M. M., and V. C. Tsai (2015). "A Dix-type relation for surface waves"
Geophys., submitted (Dec. 28, 2014).
Dow, C. F., B. Kulessa, I. C. Rutt, V. C. Tsai, S. Pimentel, S. H. Doyle, D. van As, K. Lindback, R. Pettersson, G. A. Jones, and A. Hubbard (2015). "Modeling of subglacial hydrological development following rapid supraglacial lake drainage"
J. Geophys. Res., submitted (Sept. 5, 2014).
Tsai, V. C., A. L. Stewart, and A. F. Thompson (2015). "Marine ice sheet profiles and stability under Coulomb basal conditions"
J. Glaciol., accepted (Feb. 14, 2015).
Bowden, D. C., V. C. Tsai, and F.-C. Lin (2015). "Site amplification, attenuation and scattering from noise correlation amplitudes across a dense array in Long Beach, CA"
Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1002/2014GL062662, accepted (Jan. 28, 2015). Preprint
Adhikari, S., and V. C. Tsai (2015). "A model for subglacial flooding through a pre-existing hydrological network during the rapid drainage of supraglacial lakes"
J. Geophys. Res., accepted (Feb. 10, 2015). Preprint
Chao, W.-A., Y.-M. Wu, L. Zhao, V. C. Tsai, and C.-H. Chen (2015). "Seismologically determined bedload flux during the typhoon season"
Sci. Rep., 5, 8261, doi:10.1038/srep08261, published (Feb. 5, 2015). PDF
Tsai, V. C., and G. H. Gudmundsson (2015). "An improved model for tidally-modulated grounding-line migration"
J. Glaciol., accepted (December 6, 2014). Preprint

2014:

Aso, N., and V. C. Tsai (2014). "Cooling magma model for deep volcanic long-period earthquakes"
J. Geophys. Res., 119, 8442-8456, doi:10.1002/2014JB011180, published (November 28, 2014). PDF
Thompson, J., M. Simons, and V. C. Tsai (2014). "Modeling the elastic transmission of tidal stresses to great distances inland in channelized ice streams"
The Cryosphere, 8, 2007-2029, doi:10.5194/tc-8-2007-2014, published (November 5, 2014). PDF
Gimbert, F., V. C. Tsai, and M. P. Lamb (2014). "A physical model for seismic noise generation by turbulent flow in rivers"
J. Geophys. Res., 119, 2209-2238, doi:10.1002/2014JF003201, published (October 16, 2014). PDF
Tsai, V. C., and S. Atiganyanun (2014). "Green's functions for surface waves in a generic velocity structure"
Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 104, 2573-2578, doi:10.1785/0120140121, published (September 9, 2014). PDF
Lin, F.-C., V. C. Tsai, and B. Schmandt (2014). "3-D crustal structure of the western United States: application of Rayleigh-wave ellipticity extracted from noise cross-correlations"
Geophys. J. Int., 198, 656-670, doi:10.1093/gji/ggu160. PDF
Zhan, Z., V. C. Tsai, J. M. Jackson, and D. V. Helmberger (2014). "Ambient noise correlation on the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica"
Geophys. J. Int., 196, 1796-1802, doi:10.1093/gji/ggt488. PDF
Zhan, Z., H. Kanamori, V. C. Tsai, D. V. Helmberger, and S. Wei (2014). "Rupture complexity of the 1994 Bolivia and 2013 Sea of Okhotsk deep earthquakes"
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 385, 89-96, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.028. PDF

2013:

Schmandt, B., R. C. Aster, D. Scherler, V. C. Tsai, and K. Karlstrom (2013). "Multiple fluvial processes detected by riverside seismic and infrasound monitoring of a controlled flood in the Grand Canyon"
Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 4858-4863, doi:10.1002/grl.50953. PDF
Lin, F.-C., and V. C. Tsai (2013). "Seismic interferometry with antipodal station pairs"
Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 4609-4613, doi:10.1002/grl.50907. PDF
Duputel, Z., V. C. Tsai, L. Rivera, and H. Kanamori (2013). "Using centroid time-delays to characterize source durations and identify earthquakes with unique characteristics"
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 374, 92-100, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.05.024. PDF
Zhan, Z., V. C. Tsai, and R. W. Clayton (2013). "Spurious velocity changes caused by temporal variations in ambient noise frequency content"
Geophys. J. Int., 194, 1574-1581, doi:10.1093/gji/ggt170. PDF
Lin, F.-C., V. C. Tsai, B. Schmandt, Z. Duputel, and Z. Zhan (2013). "Extracting seismic core phases with array interferometry"
Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 1049-1053, doi:10.1002/grl.50237. PDF
Tsai, V. C., J.-P. Ampuero, H. Kanamori, and D. J. Stevenson (2013). "Estimating the effect of elasticity and compressibility on tsunami speeds"
Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 492-496, doi:10.1002/grl.50147. PDF
Ma, Y., R. W. Clayton, V. C. Tsai, and Z. Zhan (2013). "Locating a scatterer in the active volcanic area of Southern Peru from ambient noise cross-correlation"
Geophys. J. Int., 192, 1332-1341, doi:10.1093/gji/ggs103. PDF

2012:

Zhan, Z., D. Helmberger, M. Simons, H. Kanamori, W. Wu, N. Cubas, Z. Duputel, J.-P. Avouac, R. Chu, V. C. Tsai, K. W. Hudnut, S. Ni, E. Hetland, F. H. Ortega Culaciati (2012). "Earthquakes with anomalously steep dip in the source region of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and possible explanations",
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 353-354, 121-133, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.07.038. PDF
Duputel, Z., H. Kanamori, V. C. Tsai, L. Rivera, L. Meng, J.-P. Ampuero, and J. Stock (2012). "The 2012 Sumatra great earthquake sequence",
Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 351-352, 247-257, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.07.017. PDF
Meng, L., J.-P. Ampuero, J. Stock, Z. Duputel, Y. Luo, and V. C. Tsai (2012). "Earthquake in a maze: compressional rupture branching during the 2012 MW 8.6 Sumatra earthquake",
Science, 337, 724-726, doi:10.1126/science.1224030. PDF w/ Supp.
Lin, F.-C., B. Schmandt, and V. C. Tsai (2012). "Joint inversion of Rayleigh wave phase velocity and ellipticity using USArray: constraining velocity and density structure in the upper crust",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L12303, doi:10.1029/2012GL052196. PDF
Lin, F.-C., V. C. Tsai, and M. H. Ritzwoller (2012). "The local amplification of surface waves: A new observable to constrain elastic velocities, density, and anelastic attenuation",
J. Geophys. Res., 117, B06302, doi:10.1029/2012JB009208. PDF
Tsai, V. C., and J. R. Rice (2012). "Modeling Turbulent Hydraulic Fracture Near a Free Surface",
J. Appl. Mech., 79, 031003, doi:10.1115/1.4005879. PDF
Tsai, V. C., B. Minchew, M. P. Lamb, and J.-P. Ampuero (2012). "A Physical Model for Seismic Noise Generation from Sediment Transport in Rivers",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L02404, doi:10.1029/2011GL050255. PDF

2011:

Tsai, V. C., and D. E. McNamara (2011). "Quantifying the Influence of Sea Ice on Ocean Microseism using Observations from the Bering Sea, Alaska",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L22502, doi:10.1029/2011GL049791. PDF
Love, J. L., K. Mursula, V. C. Tsai, and D. M. Perkins (2011). "Are Secular Correlations Between Sunspots, Geomagnetic Activity, and Global Temperature Significant?",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L21703, doi:10.1029/2011GL049380. PDF
Tsai, V. C., G. P. Hayes, and Z. Duputel (2011). "Constraints on the Long-Period Moment-Dip Tradeoff for the Tohoku Earthquake",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L00G17, doi:10.1029/2011GL049129. PDF
Tsai, V. C. (2011). "Understanding the Amplitudes of Noise Correlation Measurements",
J. Geophys. Res., 116, B09311, doi:10.1029/2011JB008483. PDF
Tsai, V. C. (2011). "A Model for Seasonal Changes in GPS Positions and Seismic Wave Speeds due to Thermoelastic and Hydrologic Variations",
J. Geophys. Res., 116, B04404, doi:10.1029/2010JB008156. PDF

2010:

Love, J. J., V. C. Tsai, and J. L. Gannon (2010). "Averaging and sampling for magnetic-observatory hourly data",
Ann. Geophys., 28, 2079-2096, doi:10.5194/angeo-28-2079-2010. PDF
Tsai, V. C., and J. R. Rice (2010). "A Model for Turbulent Hydraulic Fracture and Application to Crack Propagation at Glacier Beds",
J. Geophys. Res., 115, F03007, doi:10.1029/2009JF001474. PDF
Tsai, V. C. (2010). "The Relationship Between Noise Correlation and the Green's Function in the Presence of Degeneracy and the Absence of Equipartition",
Geophys. J. Int., 182, 1509-1514, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04693.x. PDF
Tsai, V. C., and M. P. Moschetti (2010). "An Explicit Relationship Between Time-Domain Noise Correlation and Spatial Autocorrelation (SPAC) Results",
Geophys. J. Int., 182, 454-460, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04633.x. PDF

2007-2009:

Tsai, V. C. (2009). "The Use of Simple Physical Models in Seismology and Glaciology",
Harvard University, Ph.D. Thesis, advised by J. R. Rice. PDF
Tsai, V. C. (2009). "On Establishing the Accuracy of Noise Tomography Travel-Time Measurements in a Realistic Medium",
Geophys. J. Int., 178, 1555-1564, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04239.x. PDF
Tsai, V. C., J. R. Rice, and M. Fahnestock (2008). "Possible Mechanisms for Glacial Earthquakes",
J. Geophys. Res., 113, F03014, doi:10.1029/2007JF000944. PDF
Joughin, I., I. Howat, R. B. Alley, G. Ekstrom, M. Fahnestock, T. Moon, M. Nettles, M. Truffer, and V. C. Tsai (2008).
"Ice-front variation and tidewater behavior on Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq Glaciers, Greenland",
J. Geophys. Res., 113, F01004, doi:10.1029/2007JF000837. PDF
Tsai, V. C. and J. S. Wettlaufer (2007). "The Formation of Lake Stars",
Physical Rev. E, 75, doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.75.066105. PDF
Tsai, V. C. and D. J. Stevenson (2007). "Theoretical Constraints on True Polar Wander",
J. Geophys. Res., 112, B05415, doi:10.1029/2005JB003923. PDF
Tsai, V. C. and G. Ekstrom (2007). "Analysis of Glacial Earthquakes",
J. Geophys. Res., 112, F03S22, doi:10.1029/2006JF000596. PDF

2001-2006:

Ekstrom, G., M. Nettles, and V. C. Tsai (2006). "Seasonality and Increasing Frequency of Greenland Glacial Earthquakes",
Science, 311, 5768, 1756-1758, doi:10.1126/science.1122112. PDF
Tsai, V. C., M. Nettles, G. Ekstrom, and A. M. Dziewonski (2005). "Multiple CMT source analysis of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake",
Geophys. Res. Lett., 32 (17), L17304, doi:10.1029/2005GL023398. PDF
Tsai, V. C., H. Kanamori, and J. Artru (2004). "The morning glory wave of southern California",
J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth, 109 (B2), B02307, doi:10.1029/2003JB002596. PDF
Tsai, V. C., A. Weinstein, and D. Ugolini (2001). "LIGO Physical Environment Monitoring at the 40-meter Prototype",
LIGO document T010161-00-R.

Last update 4:19PM February 15, 2015