Brendan J. Meade
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [email protected] Harvard University summit.fas.harvard.edu Cambridge, MA 02138 617-495-8921
Positions Visiting Scientist (2015-present) Google Inc.
Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences (2013-present) Associate Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences (2009-2013) Assistant Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences (2005-2009) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
Daly Postdoctoral Fellow (2004-2005) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
Education Ph. D. (2004) Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Dissertation: Kinematic Models of Interseismic Deformation in Southern California
B.A. (1998) History of Science, Medicine, and Technology Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Thesis: Walter Elsasser and the Dynamic Earth
Research Topics Geodetic imaging of the earthquake cycle Earthquake prediction Computational geophysics Climate-tectonic coupling
Classes Environmental Risks and Disasters, Natural Disasters, EarthScope, Computer Tools for the Earth Sciences, Crustal Dynamics, Earthquakes and Faulting, Mathematical Modeling, On Broken Ground: The Science and Impact of Earthquakes
Invited Talks Google, California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Mt. Holyoke College, Cornell University, Brown University, SCEC Community Stress Model Workshop, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 8th Annual Northern California Earthquake Hazards Workshop, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast Geodesy Meeting, California Institute of Technology, American Geophysical Union (Fall Meeting), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, Brown University, CIG, Short-term crustal dynamics annual meeting, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Maryland, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Software Blocks (2004-present) - Block theory algorithms used to estimate fault slip rates, subduction zone coupling, elastic strain accumulation, internal block strain, and plate motions at plate boundary zones. Includes graphical user interfaces for constructing models and interactively visualizing model results.
CalcTriDisps (2007) - A set of codes that implement closed form analytic solutions for the displacements, strains (calculated with symbolic algebra tools), and stresses due to uniform slip on a triangular dislocation in a homogeneous elastic half-space.
Publications Evans, E. L., Loveless, J. P., and Meade, B. J. (2015). Total variation regularization of geodetically and geologically constrained models for the western United States, Geophysical Journal International
Thompson, B. T., Plesch, A., Shaw, J. H., and Meade, B. J. (2015). Rapid slip-deficit rates at the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau prior to the 2008 MW=7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, Geophysical Research Letters
Loveless, J. P., and Meade, B. J. (2015). Kinematic barrier constraints of the magnitudes of additional great earthquakes off the east coast of Japan, Seismological Research Letters
DeVries, P. M. R., and Meade, B. J. (2013). Earthquake cycle deformation in the Tibetan plateau with a weak mid-crustal layer, Journal of Geophysical Research
Langstaff, M. A., and Meade, B. J. (2013). Edge-driven mechanical microplate models of strike-slip faulting in the Tibetan plateau, Journal of Geophysical Research
Meade, B. J., Klinger, Y., and Hetland, E. A. (2013). Inference of multiple earthquake-cycle relaxation timescales from irregular geodetic sampling of interseismic deformation, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Meade, B. J. (2013). Revisiting the orogenic energy balance in the western Taiwan orogen with weak faults, Terra Nova
Evans, E. L., & Meade, B. J. (2012). Geodetic imaging of coseismic slip and postseismic afterslip: Sparsity promoting methods applied to the great Tohoku earthquake, Geophysical Research Letters
Loveless, J. P., and B. J. Meade (2011), Stress modulation on the San Andreas fault by interseismic fault system interactions, Geology
Loveless, J. P. and B. J. Meade (2011), Spatial correlation of interseismic coupling and coseismic rupture extent of the 2011 MW=9.0 Tohoku‐oki earthquake, Geophysical Research Letters
Loveless, J. P. and B. J. Meade (2011), Partitioning of localized and diffuse deformation in the Tibetan Plateau from joint inversions of geologic and geodetic observations, Earth & Planetary Science Letters
Meade, B. J., (2010), The signature of an unbalanced earthquake cycle in Himalayan topography, Geology
Loveless, J. P. and B. J. Meade (2010), Geodetic imaging of plate motions, slip rates, and partitioning of deformation in Japan, Journal of Geophysical Research
Meade, B. J., and J. P. Loveless (2009), Block modeling with connected fault-network geometries and a linear elastic coupling estimator in spherical coordinates, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Allmendinger, R. W., J. P. Loveless, M. E. Pritchard, and B. J. Meade (2009), From decades to epochs: Spanning the gap between geodesy and structural geology of active mountain belts, Journal of Structural Geology
Meade, B. J., and J. P. Loveless (2009), Predicting the geodetic signature of Mw ≥ 8 slow slip events, Geophysical Research Letters
McQuarrie, N., T. A. Ehlers, J. B. Barnes, and B. J. Meade (2008), Temporal variation in climate and tectonic coupling in the central Andes, Geology
Meade, B. J., and C. P. Conrad (2008), Andean growth and the deceleration of South American subduction: Time evolution of a coupled orogen-subduction system, Earth & Planetary Letters
Gayer, E., S. Mukhopadhay, and B. J. Meade (2008), Spatial variability of erosion rates inferred from the frequency distribution of cosmogenic 3He in olivines from Hawaiian river sediments, Earth & Planetary Science Letters
Meade, B. J. (2008), Present-day kinematics at the India-Asia collision zone: Reply, Geology
Meade, B. J. (2007), Power-law distribution of fault slip-rates in southern California, Geophysical Research Letters
Meade, B. J. (2007), Algorithms for the calculation of exact displacements, strains, and stresses for triangular dislocation elements in a uniform elastic half space, Computers & Geosciences
Meade, B. J. (2007), Present-day kinematics at the India-Asia collision zone, Geology
Whipple, K. X. and B. J. Meade (2006), Orogenic response to changes in climatic and tectonic forcing, Earth & Planetary Science Letters
Meade, B. J. and B. H. Hager (2005), Spatial localization of moment deficits in southern California, Journal of Geophysical Research
Meade, B. J. and B. H. Hager (2005), Block models of crustal motion in southern California constrained by GPS measurements, Journal of Geophysical Research
Meade, B. J. and B. H. Hager (2004), Viscoelastic deformation for a clustered earthquake cycle, Geophysical Research Letters
Whipple, K. X. and B. J. Meade (2004), Controls on the strength of coupling among climate, erosion, and deformation in two-sided, frictional orogenic wedges at steady state, Journal of Geophysical Research
Meade, B. J., B. H. Hager, S. C. McClusky, R. E. Reilinger, S. Ergintav, S., O. Lenk, A. Barka, and H. Ozener (2002), Estimates of seismic potential in the Marmara Sea region from block models of secular deformation constrained by Global Positioning System measurements, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Meade, B. J. and B. H. Hager (2001), The current distribution of deformation in the western Tien Shan from block models constrained by geodetic data, Geologia i Geofizika
McClusky, S. C., S. C. Bjornstad, B. H. Hager, R. W. King, B. J. Meade, M. M. Miller, F. C. Monastero, and B. J. Souter (2001), Present day kinematics of the eastern California shear zone from a geodetically constrained block model, Geophysical Research Letters