Brandon Shuck

Brandon-Shuck

I am a solid-earth geophysicist and broadly interested in tectonic processes within the lithosphere along plate boundaries and mature tectonic settings. I primarily use active-source seismic reflection data to image in situ the subsurface architecture of the lithosphere and wide-angle ocean-bottom seismometer data constrain their physical and chemical properties. I often combine these with other data types, such as shallow multibeam bathymetry/CHIRP, subsurface borehole geophysical logs and core data from drilling, passive seismology and earthquake catalogs, structural and petrology data from the geologic record, magnetics and gravity, and geodynamic models and plate reconstructions. 

Incorporating interdisciplinary data allows my group to holistically evaluate solid-earth processes, which are naturally complex over spatial and temporal scales. We are working in subduction zones, continental rifts and rifted margins, seafloor spreading systems, and transform faults across various settings, including Cascadia, Mexico, New Zealand, Eastern North American Margin, western Atlantic Ocean, and the Tyrrhenian Backarc Basin. 

Some current research questions I am focused on are: How do subduction zones initiate and cease? What allows continents to breakup and form new ocean basins? How does water stored within oceanic lithosphere and how do fluid-rock interactions influence seismogenic behavior of fault zones? Do inherited lithospheric properties from past tectonic events control subsequent tectonic systems, and if so, why?

I am an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoy hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and exploring nature. Besides research.

Assistant Professor

  • Postdoctoral Fellow | Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, 2021-2024
  •  Ph.D. | University of Texas at Austin, Geological Sciences, 2021
  • B.S. | Western Colorado University, Geology (Petroleum Emphasis), 2015
  • B.S. | Western Colorado University, Mathematics, 2015

Research

  • Structure and tectonic evolution of the Earth?s lithosphere at plate boundaries
  • Feedbacks between lithospheric stress, deformation, metamorphism, and fluid-rock interactions
  • Geologic hazards, including seismogenic behavior along plate boundary faults
  • Active-source seismic imaging, inversion, and interpretation, and general geophysical and geological data analysis

Opportunities

I am actively recruiting researchers for my group. If you are interested in pursuing a geophysics graduate degree, or postdoc or undergraduate research opportunities, please email me and share your CV. 

Current opportunities: (Starting Fall 2025) NSF-funded PhD position on mantle dynamics during early seafloor spreading in the Atlantic Ocean. Student will be able to sail on the R/V Langseth for a 42-day cruise to acquire new seismic data in the western Atlantic offshore eastern North America. This project will involve analysis of ocean-bottom seismic data to investigate inherited mantle properties and their controls on the formation of oceanic lithosphere during incipient seafloor spreading following the breakup of the Pangea supercontinent. 

Email: [email protected]
Office: E236 Howe-Russell-Kniffen Geoscience Complex
Phone: 225-578-3503
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=E71ELt0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brandon-Shuck

 

LSU