Xiaotao Yang

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University

About Me

I use seismological methods to solve geological/tectonic problems and to understand natural hazards. I am interested in a variety of research topics, including seismicity, structure and evolution of cratonic basins and uplifts, dynamics of subduction systems, and improvements in seismic data processing methods. I integrate results from geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and geodynamics to address tectonic questions. Checkout my Google Scholar & Research Gate pages to know more!

Please email me for opportunities (students & postdocs) in my group!

*NEWS*: News report on our new paper published in AGU Advances, proposing lithospheric delamination below the North American midcontinent that ended subsidence in cratonic basins. Our paper also received the editor's highlight. Report here: https://www.eaps.purdue.edu/news/articles/2026/0422_midcontinent_yang.html. Paper link here: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025AV002051?_ga=2.147337525.325831827.1780023639-642212063.1778431670

An overview of my research

Current Group Members

Graduate students

Vince Sassard (PhD, Fall 2022 - ): Subduction segmentation and implications on seismicity and volcanic activity

Ya-Li Lizik (PhD, Fall 2023 - ): Seismic imaging and seismicity analysis at active volcanoes

Haoyu Li (PhD, Fall 2023 - ): Seismic imaging and tectonic evolution of cratons

Undergraduate researchers

Jessica Cyr (Fall 2025 - )

Jessica has been working on seismic characterization of river flow with ambient noise data analysis.

Alumni

Elizabeth Alzate Gutierrez

MS (2024-2026)

Seismicity analysis at active volcanoes.

Cody Kupres

MS (2022-2024)

Transient velocity changes at active volcanoes from ambient noise interferometry.

Noah Trupin

Undergraduate Researcher (Fall 2023-Spring 2024)

Noah worked on optimizing least squares matrix inversion.

Nikhil D'Souza (Summer 2021 - Fall 2021)

Nikhil worked as an undergraduate researcher on clustering of seismic velocity profiles.

Nathan Dodson (Fall 2020 - Spring 2021)

Nathan joined the group as an undergraduate researcher in Fall 2020. He worked on characterizing the occurrence of global earthquake sequences, focusing on b-values and magnitude of completeness.

Isabella Zuffoletti (Fall 2020 - Spring 2021)

Isabella (Izzy) joined the group as an undergraduate researcher in Fall 2020. She worked on the development of the data downloading functionality of SeisGo, an open-source seismic data processing package in Python.

Google Sites

Report abuse