About

Justin Revenaugh is a Professor and Department Head of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. His primary research focus is on seismology, using earthquake waves to image deep Earth structures. He employs techniques derived from the oil industry to detect and characterize abrupt variations in Earth's material properties, such as discontinuities associated with phase changes, faulting, and the core-mantle boundary. His projects include studying the relationship between near-fault crustal scattering and seismogenesis, characterizing sub-cratonic reflectors, searching for discontinuities in the mid-mantle, detecting mantle water, and probing ultra-low velocity zones at the base of the mantle. Revenaugh's work has contributed to understanding the role of the crust in Earth's dynamics, the existence of a chemical and mechanical boundary layer near the core-mantle boundary, and the potential link between ultra-low velocity zones and mantle plumes. In addition to seismology, he has active interests in paleoclimate time-series analysis, geostatistics, and coastal processes. He holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received awards for excellence in teaching from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Research topics

• Geology
• Geophysics
• Seismology
• Computer Science
• World Wide Web
• Petrology
• Paleontology

Selected publications

• Joint Inversion of SPREE Receiver Functions and Surface Wave Dispersion Curves for 3‐D Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure Beneath the U.S. Midcontinent Rift

  Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth · 2023 · 2 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Geology
  • Seismology
  • Petrology

  Abstract Broadband seismograms from the EarthScope Transportable Array and Superior Province Rifting EarthScope Experiment (SPREE) deployments are used to map the crust and uppermost mantle structures beneath the failed Midcontinent Rift (MCR) of Minnesota/Wisconsin, USA. The results suggest the existence of a variable zone of mafic underplating that is up to 20 km thick (40–60 deep). We jointly invert receiver functions and Rayleigh wave dispersion curves to quantify the region's crustal and mantle shear‐wave velocity structure. Basin sediment thicknesses are mildly asymmetric about the rift axis, with thickest regions immediately beneath the rift. 3‐D modeling shows anomalous lower crust and crust‐mantle transitions beneath the MCR. Sub‐MCR crustal thicknesses are generally >50 km with lower crust Vs of 4.0–4.2 km/s. Away from the MCR, the crust is typically ∼40 km thick. Strong variations in apparent crustal thickness are found along the MCR, increasing significantly in places. An additional layer of shear velocities intermediate between typical lower crust and upper mantle velocities (4.1–4.6 km/s) exists beneath most of the MCR which is thickest beneath the rift axis and pinches out away from the rift. This structure corroborates previous proposals of the presence of an underplated layer near the Moho. Results cannot distinguish between different mechanisms of emplacement (e.g., mafic interfingering within a subsequently down‐dropped lower crust vs. development of a high‐density pyroxenitic residuum at the top of the mantle). Also observed are anomalously high (>4.7 km/s) sub‐rift shear‐wave velocities at ∼70–90‐km depths, suggesting the presence of cold, depleted upper mantle material.

  PublisherDOI

• Altered Mantle Fabric Beneath the Mid-Continent Rift

  2021

  • Computer Science
  • World Wide Web
  • Computer Science

  Earth and Space Science Open Archive This preprint has been submitted to and is under consideration at G-Cubed. ESSOAr is a venue for early communication or feedback before peer review. Data may be preliminary.Learn more about preprints preprintOpen AccessYou are viewing the latest version by default [v2]Altered Mantle Fabric Beneath the Mid-Continent RiftAuthorsAndrewFrederikseniDParthPokariDEddieBarrowJustin SRevenaughiDSuzanvan der LeeSee all authors Andrew FrederikseniDCorresponding Author• Submitting AuthorUniversity of ManitobaiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6938-6007view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressParth PokariDVale CanadaiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5345-6173view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressEddie BarrowUniversity of Manitobaview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressJustin S RevenaughiDUniversity of MinnesotaiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7855-5159view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressSuzan van der LeeNorthwestern Universityview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email address

  PublisherDOI

• Altered Mantle Fabric Beneath the Mid‐Continent Rift

  Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems · 2021 · 4 citations

  • Geology
  • Seismology
  • Geophysics

  Abstract We present new, densely sampled shear‐wave splitting results from southern Minnesota and adjacent areas of neighboring states, sampling the southwestern limit of the Archean Superior Province and straddling the Proterozoic Mid‐Continent Rift (MCR). The new measurements include data from the Earthscope Transportable Array (TA) as well as the Superior Province Rifting Earthscope Experiment (SPREE), yielding 99 new station‐averaged measurements. The split times show a consistent decrease from 1.1 s in the NE to 0.2 s in the SW, with the lowest values being associated with the Minnesota River Valley Terrane (MRVT). From modeling and other geophysical constraints, we interpret the split time variations to represent variations in fabric strength within a thick lithosphere, rather than lithospheric thinning or a multi‐layered effect, and propose that the weak fabric of the MRVT is associated with a different mechanism of formation than elsewhere in the Superior Province. The fast directions we measure range from NNE‐SSW to E‐W and vary on a shorter length scale than the split times, with a pattern of NE‐SW splits that closely follows the axis of the MCR. We interpret this as a perturbation of the net fast direction due to anisotropy in an underplate along the rift.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Altered Mantle Fabric Beneath the Mid-Continent Rift

  2021-07-01

  preprintOpen access

  We present new, densely sampled shear-wave splitting results from southern Minnesota and adjacent areas of neighboring states, sampling the southwestern limit of the Archean Superior Province and straddling the Proterozoic Mid-Continent Rift (MCR). The new measurements include data from the Earthscope Transportable Array (TA) as well as the Superior Province Rifting Earthscope Experiment (SPREE), yielding 99 new station-averaged measurements. The split times show a consistent decrease from 1.1 s in the NE to 0.2 s in the SW, with the lowest values being associated with the Minnesota River Valley Terrane (MRVT). From modelling and other geophysical constraints, we interpret the split time variations to represent variations in fabric strength within a thick lithosphere, rather than lithospheric thinning or a multi-layered effect, and propose that the weak fabric of the MRVT is associated with a different mechanism of formation than elsewhere in the Superior Province. The fast directions we measure range from NNE-SSW to E-W and vary on a shorter length scale than the split times, with a pattern of NE-SW splits that closely follows the axis of the MCR. We interpret this as a perturbation of the net fast direction due to anisotropy in an underplate along the rift.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• SEISMIC ANISOTROPY ACROSS AND ALONG THE MID-CONTINENT RIFT

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2020-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• <i>P</i> Wave Teleseismic Traveltime Tomography of the North American Midcontinent

  Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth · 2019-01-18 · 20 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The remains of the 1.1‐Ga Midcontinent Rift (MCR) lie in the middle of the tectonically stable portion of North America. Previous and ongoing studies have imaged strong heterogeneity associated with the MCR in the crust but have not imaged such within the mantle. It is unclear whether this is due to the absence of rift‐related mantle structures or these studies had insufficient resolution to image them. To address this issue, we measured 46,374 teleseismic P wave delay times from seismograms recorded by the USArray Transportable Array, Superior Province Rifting EarthScope Experiment, and surrounding permanent stations. We included these and 54,866 delay times from prior studies in our tomographic inversion. We find that high‐velocity anomalies are widespread in our study area, but there are also prominent low‐velocity anomalies. Two of these are coincident with high‐Bouguer gravity anomalies associated with the MCR in Iowa and the Minnesota/Wisconsin border at 50‐ to 150‐km depth. Extensive resolution testing shows that these anomalies could be the result of downward vertical smearing of relatively low velocities from rift‐related material that “underplated" the crust, although we cannot exclude that the subcrustal mantle lithosphere beneath the MCR is anomalously enriched, hydrated, or warm. Other anomalies occur at syntaxes of the Penokean Orogen. One with the Superior Province and Marshfield Terrane in southern Minnesota and another with the Yavapai and Mazatzal Terranes, both at 100‐ to 250‐km depth. In the midmantle, we image two linear high‐velocity anomalies, interpreted as subducted fragments of the Farallon and Kula plates.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Anisotropic Zonation in the Lithosphere of Central North America: Influence of a Strong Cratonic Lithosphere on the Mid-Continent Rift

  2019-10-17 · 2 citations

  preprint

  We present shear-wave splitting analyses of SKS and SKKS waves recorded at sixteen Superior Province Rifting Earthscope Experiment (SPREE) seismic stations on the north shore of Lake Superior, as well as fifteen selected Earthscope Transportable Array instruments south of the lake. These instruments bracket the Mid-Continent Rift (MCR) and sample the Superior, Penokean, Yavapai and Mazatzal tectonic provinces. The data set can be explained by a single layer of anisotropic fabric, which we interpret to be dominated by a lithospheric contribution. The fast S polarization directions are consistently ENE-WSW, but the split time varies greatly across the study area, showing strong anisotropy (up to 1.48 s) in the western Superior, moderate anisotropy in the eastern Superior, and moderate to low anisotropy in the terranes south of Lake Superior. We locate two localized zones of very low split time (less than 0.6 s) adjacent to the MCR: one in the Nipigon Embayment, an MCR-related magmatic feature immediately north of Lake Superior, and the other adjacent to the eastern end of the lake, at the southern end of the Kapuskasing Structural Zone (KSZ). Both low-splitting zones are adjacent to sharp bends in the MCR axis. We interpret these two zones, along with a low-velocity linear feature imaged by a previous tomographic study beneath Minnesota and the Dakotas, as failed lithospheric branches of the MCR. Given that all three of these branches failed to propagate into the Superior Province lithosphere, we propose that the sharp bend of the MCR through Lake Superior is a consequence of the high mechanical strength of the Superior lithosphere ca. 1.1 Ga.

  PublisherDOI

• The teleseismic signature of fossil subduction

  International Kimberlite Conference Extended Abstracts: 2008 · 2019-03-19

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• One billion year-old Mid-continent Rift leaves virtually no clues in the mantle

  AGUFM · 2017-12-01 · 1 citations

  article
  Publisher

• DISTINCT CRUSTAL STRUCTURE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MID-CONTINENT RIFT FROM <b>P </b>WAVE RECEIVER FUNCTIONS 

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2016-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Characterizing Radial Heterogeneity in the Mid Mantle

  NSF · $165k · 2004–2008

• Mantle Discontinuity Structure From 3D ScS Reverberation Mapping

  NSF · $146k · 2007–2010

Frequent coauthors

• J. W. Geissman

  University of New Mexico

  46 shared

• A.F. Spilhaus

  New York University

  46 shared

• Roland Bürgmann

  University of California, Berkeley

  46 shared

• Richard A. Gross

  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  46 shared

• Millard F. Coffin

  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

  46 shared

• William Carter

  University of California, Riverside

  46 shared

• Louise Prockter

  Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

  46 shared

• Sarah L. Shafer

  Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

  46 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1989

• BS, Geological Sciences

  Michigan State University

  1984

Awards & honors

• University of California, Santa Cruz, Alumni Association Tea…
• University of California, Santa Cruz, Committee on Teaching…