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Victor C. Tsai

Victor Tsai email: vtsai[at]fas.harvard.edu address:   Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences                 20 Oxford St.                 Cambridge, MA 02138 phone: office: 5-9604 (at Harvard)

Where Am I Now?
I am currently a graduate student in geophysics in the Earth and Plantary Sciences Department (EPS) at Harvard University
Education
Ph.D., Geophysics, Harvard University, expected 2009
M.A., Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 2006
B.S., Geophysics with Honors, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), 2004

CV (updated January 2008)

Advisors (Current and Past): 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, mantle convection, solid earth/atmosphere interactions, melting processes, earth structure, seismic imaging techniques, and planetary formation/processes. My major focus right now is on understanding glacial earthquakes (my thesis project) although I am working on a number of other projects as well. For more details about individual projects, click on the links below:

• Understanding Glacial Earthquakes
• The Role of Fluids in Fault Zones
• The Formation of 'Lake Stars'
• Multiple CMT Analysis of the 2004 Sumatran Earthquake
• True Polar Wander - Theoretical Constraints
• Solid Earth/Atmosphere Interactions - the Morning Glory of Southern California

Publications:

• Tsai, V. C., C. A. Dalton, and A. M. Dziewonski (2007).
  "Constraints on How and When Noise Tomography is Possible in a Realistic Medium",
  (Submitted Sept. 26, 2007).
  
  
• Tsai, V. C., J. R. Rice, and M. Fahnestock (2008).
  "Possible Mechanisms for Glacial Earthquakes",
  J. Geophys. Res., (Accepted July 1, 2008). Preprint
  
  
• 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. Ekström (2007). "Analysis of Glacial Earthquakes",
  J. Geophys. Res., 112, F03S22, doi:10.1029/2006JF000596. PDF
  
  
• Ekström, 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. Ekström, 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 Physics Environmental Monitoring at the 40-meter Prototype",
  LIGO document T010161-00-R.
  
  

Selected Posters and Presentations:
Presentation on glacial earthquakes given at AGU Fall 2005
Presentation on thermal pressurization of fault gouge given at AGU Fall 2005
Presentation on TPW given at AGU Joint Assembly Spring 2005
Poster on TPW given at AGU Fall 2004
Poster on the Morning Glory given at AGU Fall 2002
Presentation on the Morning Glory given at SCCUR (Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research)

For more information about my publications and presentations, please see my CV.


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Last update 10:16AM July 3rd, 2008