Theoretical and Modeling Studies of Strain Partitioning

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9725717 Davis Strain partitioning at convergent margins is a common feature of orogens, yet the various models put forward to explain and predict strain partitioning frequently disagree in their predictions. Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that analog models are mostly well coupled to the base beneath them, while analytical models frequently assume rheologies and decoupled behavior not generally found in laboratory analog models. This project will address this mismatch by attempting to adapt analytical models for testing in an experimental apparatus and by making laboratory models that have boundary conditions as close as possible to the simple ones required for analytical tract ability. By parallel laboratory and theoretical modeling, it is intended to establish a theoretical understanding of how kinematics, rheology, and plate geometry affect strain partitioning in laboratory models. Results will be a logical step towards using models as tools in interpreting geologic, seismic, and geodetic data that bear upon the physics of strain partitioning at convergent margins.