Russell Pysklywec
Professor of Earth Sciences, FRGCS
Gordon Stollery Chair in Basin Analysis
University of Toronto
Department of Earth Sciences
22 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto
Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1
Tel.: 416 978 4852
e-mail: russ@es.utoronto.ca
Graduate Student Opportunities
Research Interests
The focus of my research program is to study deformation of the solid Earth–in particular exploring the complex dynamical couplings between tectonics in the crust, convection in the mantle, and surface processes controlled by the atmosphere. In particular, these investigations focus on mountain regions and the plate tectonic processes that form them.
The research program is characterised by a cross-disciplinary methodology where geological and geophysical field studies are integrated with computational models of mantle-crust-climate processes.
The geodynamics research relates to a variety of tectonic regimes that span Earth’s history from the Archean to present-day. Specific areas of study include: tectonics of Canada’s high arctic; active continental mountain building and volcanism in New Zealand; slab retreat and overlying orogenesis of the Apennines belt in Northern Italy; lithospheric delamination beneath Eastern Anatolia; and mantle-crust interactions on Io.
Selected Recent Publications
(* indicates a student, PDF, or RA supervised by Pysklywec)
Andersen*, A.J., O.H. Göğüş, R.N. Pysklywec, T. Santimano, E. Şengül Uluocak, Three-dimensional geodynamics of drip tectonics beneath the Central Andes (Puna Plateau), Communications Earth and Environment (Nature), 3(150), 2022.
Gun*, E., R. N. Pysklywec, O. Gogus, and G. Topuz, Terrane Geodynamics: Evolution on the Subduction Conveyor from Pre-Collision to Post-Collision and Implications on Tethyan Orogeny, Gondwana Research, 105, 399-415, 2022.
Gun*, E., R. N. Pysklywec, O. Gogus, and G. Topuz, Pre-collisional extension of microcontinental terranes by a subduction pulley, Nature Geoscience, 14(6), 2021.
Sengul-Uluocak, E., O. H. Gogus, R. N. Pysklywec, B. Chen, Geodynamics of East Anatolia-Caucasus Domain: Inferences from 3D Thermo-mechanical Models, Residual Topography, and Admittance Function Analyses, Tectonics, 40, 18 pp., 2021.
Gun*, E., R. N. Pysklywec, O. Gogus, and G. Topuz, Terrane Geodynamics: Evolution on the Subduction Conveyor from Pre-Collision to Post-Collision and Implications on Tethyan Orogeny, Gondwana Research, in press, 2021.
Shahnas*, M.H., and R. N. Pysklywec, Focused Penetrative Plumes: A Possible Consequence of Dissociation Transition of Post-Perovskite at ~0.9 TPa in Massive Rocky Super-Earths, G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 22(8), 2021.
Santimano*, T., and R. N. Pysklywec, The influence of lithospheric mantle scars and rheology on intraplate deformation and orogenesis: Insights from tectonic analogue models, Tectonics, 39(5), 2020.
Shahnas*, M.H., R. N. Pysklywec, and D. A. Yuen, Toward A Unified Model for the Thermal State of the Planetary Mantle – Estimations from Mean Field Deep Learning, Earth and Space Science, May, 2020.
Sengul-Uluocak*, E., R. N. Pysklywec, O. H. Gogus, E. U. Ulugergerli, Multidimensional Geodynamic Modeling in the Southeast Carpathians: Upper Mantle Flow‐Induced Surface Topography Anomalies, G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 20, 3134-3149, 2019.
Heron, P. J., A. L. Peace, K. McCaffrey, J.K. Welford, R. Wilson, J. van Hunen, R. N. Pysklywec, Segmentation of rifts through structural inheritance: Creation of the Davis Strait, Tectonics, 38, 1-20, 2019.
Shahnas*, M.H., D. A. Yuen, and R. N. Pysklywec, Inverse Problems in Geodynamics Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Journal of Geophysical Research, 123, 1-15, 2018.
Heron, P. J., R. N. Pysklywec, R. Stephenson, and J. van Hunen, Deformation driven by deep and distant structures: Influence of a mantle lithosphere suture in the Ouachita orogeny, southeastern United States, Geology, 47(2), 147-150, 2018.
Gogus, O., R. N. Pysklywec, A.M.C. Sengor, and E. Gun*, Drip tectonics and the enigmatic uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau, Nature Communications, 8, 1538, 1-9, 2017.
Heron*, P., R. N. Pysklywec, and R. Stephenson, Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics, Nature Communications, 7, June 10, 2016.
South slope of Mt. Tongariro, with Mt. Ngauruhoe in distance, 2020.