COLLABORATIVE RESARCH: The Role of Gravitational Potential Energy in the Deformation of the Western United States

小行星9725192 岩石圈板块内部的变形不如板块间相互作用所引起的变形那样令人熟知。 由于板块相互作用引起的外力不能完全解释板内变形，还包括岩石圈浮力的贡献。 该项目旨在评估岩石圈浮力对美国西部过去和现在变形的贡献，那里有大量的数据可以量化各种力。 这项工作涉及广泛的数学模型与各种观测参数的结合，这些参数允许估计引力势能。 结果应允许确定变形的敏感性，不同的因素，如流变学和边界力的变化有关的板块相互作用。 验证和完善板块内部重力势能和变形之间的这种关系，将提高对世界其他地区驱动力和变形的理解。

9725192 Sonder Deformation within lithospheric plates in less well-understood than the deformations accompanying interaction between plates. Externally derived forces due to plate interactions can not be wholly responsible for the within-plate deformation, and include a contribution from lithospheric buoyancy forces. This project is aimed at assessing the contribution of lithospheric buoyancy forces to past and present deformation in the western United States, where an abundance of data may allow the various forces to quantified. The work involves a combination of extensive mathematical models coupled with various observational parameters that allow the gravitational potential energy to be estimated. Results should allow the determinations of the sensitivity of deformation to different factors such as variation of rheology and boundary forces related to plate interaction. Validation and refinement of this relationship between gravitational potential energy and deformation within a plate will improve understanding of driving forces and deformation in other parts of the world.