Campus
- Downtown Toronto (St. George)
Fields of Study
- Geophysics
- Tectonics
Areas of Interest
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. 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.
Heron, P., B. Murphy, D. Nance, R.N. Pysklywec, Pannotia’s mantle signature: the quest for supercontinent identification, Geological Society of London Special Publication: Pannotia to Pangaea: Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic orogenic cycles in the circum-Atlantic region, 503, 2021.
Ghalehnovi*, S., V.E. Ardestani, and R.N. Pysklywec, Elastic Thickness Determination of the lithosphere using Gravity and Topography data. Case study: a region including Golpayegan, Arak, and the Qom Blocks, Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13(23), 2020.
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.
Memis*, C., O. H. Gogus, E. Sengul-Uluocak*, R. N. Pysklywec, M. Keskin, A. M. C. Sengor, and G. Topuz, Long wavelength progressive plateau uplift in Eastern Anatolia since 20 Ma: Implications for the role of slab peel-back and break-off, G3: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21, 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.
Shahnas*, M.H., R. N. Pysklywec, and D. A. Yuen, Penetrative Convection in Super-Earth planets: Consequences of MgSiO3 post-Perovskite Dissociation Transition and Implications for super-Earth GJ876d, Journal of Geophysical Research, 123, 16 pages, 2018.
Bodur*, O.F., O.H. Gogus, R. N. Pysklywec, A.I. Okay, Mantle lithosphere rheology, vertical tectonics and the exhumation of (U)HP rocks, Journal of Geophysical Research, 123, 1824-1839, 2018.
Heron*, P. J., R. N. Pysklywec, and R. Stephenson, Exploring the theory of plate tectonics: the role of mantle lithosphere structure, Geological Society Special Publication: Tectonic Evolution: 50 Years of the Wilson Cycle Concept, 470, 19 pages, 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.