Research Interests

Nuclear explosion monitoring, event identification/discrimination, surface waves, lithospheric structure, attenuation, seismic tomography, moment tensor inversion, yield estimation.

Certificate in National Security Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, 2012

Ph.D., Geophysics, University of California at Berkeley, 1996

Sc.B., Geophysics, Brown University, 1991

Michael Pasyanos is the author of more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals, which have been cited over 2000 times.

ORCiD: 0000-0002-3222-4143

Selected publications

Pasyanos, M.E. and A. Chiang (2022).  Full moment tensor solutions of U.S. underground nuclear tests for event screening and yield estimation, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., 112, 538–552, doi: 10.1785/01202010167.

Pasyanos, M.E., and K. Kim (2019), Seismo-acoustic analysis of chemical explosions at the Nevada National Security Site, J. Geophys. Res. - Solid Earth, 124, 908-924, doi: 10.1029/2018JB016705.

Pasyanos, M.E. and S.C. Myers (2018). The coupled location/depth/yield problem for North Korea's declared nuclear tests, Seism. Res. Lett., 89, 2059-2067, doi: 10.1785/0220180109.

Pasyanos, M.E. and S.R. Ford (2015). Determining the source characteristics of explosions near the Earth’s surface, Geophys. Res. Lett. 42, 3786–3792, doi:10.1002/2015GL063624.

Pasyanos, M.E., T.G. Masters, G. Laske, and Z. Ma (2014). LITHO1.0: An updated crust and lithospheric model of the Earth, J. Geophys. Res. 119, 2153–2173, doi:10.1002/2013JB010626.

Pasyanos, M.E. (2013). A lithospheric attenuation model of North America, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer. 103, 3321–3333, doi:10.1785/0120130122.

Pasyanos, M.E., W.R. Walter, and K.M. Mayeda (2012). Exploiting regional amplitude envelopes: a case study for earthquakes and explosions in the Korean Peninsula, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer. 102, 1938–1948, doi:10.1785/0120120012.

Pasyanos, M.E. (2010). Lithospheric thickness modeled from long period surface wave dispersion, Tectonophys. 481, 38–50, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2009.02.023.

Pasyanos, M.E. and W.R. Walter (2009). Improvements to regional explosion identification using attenuation models of the lithosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L14304, doi:10.1029/2009GL038505.

Pasyanos, M.E., W.R. Walter, and E.M. Matzel (2009). A simultaneous multi-phase approach to determine P-wave and S-wave attenuation of the crust and upper mantle, Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer. 99, 3314–3325, doi:10.1785/0120090061.

Pasyanos, M.E., E.M. Matzel, W.R. Walter, and A.J. Rodgers (2009). Broadband Lg attenuation modeling of the Middle East, Geophys. J. Int. 177, 1166–1176, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04128.x.

Pasyanos, M.E. and A.A. Nyblade (2007). A top to bottom lithospheric study of Africa and Arabia, Tectonophysics 444, 27–44, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2007.07.008.

Pasyanos, M.E. (2005). A variable-resolution surface wave dispersion study of western Eurasia and North Africa, J. Geophys. Res. 110, B12301, doi:10.1029/2005JB003749.

• IGG International Fellowship, Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 2018
• Consortium for Verification Technologies (CVT) Fellowship, 2017