Welcome
In 2004 I became Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in 2005 I was named Honorary Professor at the University of British Columbia, where I have a laboratory for measuring rock physical properties at elevated pressures. My current research focuses on seismic studies of the Cascadia subduction zone, the origin of serpentinites from the forearc region of the Mariana convergent margin, Taiwan crustal structure and composition, Fiordland New Zealand seismic properties, and crustal S-wave splitting in the Pacific Northwest.
Selected Publications
Christensen, N.I. (1965), Compressional wave velocities in metamorphic rocks at pressures to 10 kilobars, J. Geophys. Res., 70, 6147-6164. PDF
Christensen, N.I., and M.H. Salisbury (1975), Structure and constitution of the lower oceanic crust, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 13, 57-86. PDF
Christensen, N.I. (1984), The magnitude, symmetry and origin of upper mantle anisotropy based on fabric analyses of ultramafic tectonites,Geophys. J.R. Astr. Soc., 76, 89-111. PDF
Christensen, N.I., and W.D. Mooney (1995), Seismic velocity structure and composition of the continental crust: A global view, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 9761-9788. PDF
Christensen, N. I. (1996), Poisson's ratio and crustal seismology, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 3139-3156. PDF
Christensen, N. I. (2004), Serpentinites, peridotites, and seismology, International Geology Review, vol. 46, 795-816.
Peacock, S. M., N. I. Christensen, M. G. Bostock, and P. Audet (2011), High pore pressures and porosity at 35 km depth in the Cascadia subduction zone, Geology, 470-474, doi: 10.1130/G31649.1.
