Using Geology to Constrain the Role of Plate Bounding Forces in Geodynamic Models of Mantle Convection with Plates

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9901477ConradRecent models of mantle convection show that the history of plate motions can be partly described by the coupling of plates to mantle convection driven by previously subducted slabs. Because the distribution of slabs in the mantle changes only slowly, changes in plate motion that occur on time scales of a few million years must be due to some other dynamical component of the plate-mantle system. The PI will investigate the role of plate bounding forces that may occur at subduction zones and transform faults. Models of mantle convection that include such forces should yield predictions of changes in plate velocity, dynamic stresses, and the distribution of density in the mantle. These predictions can be tested against data from geological observables such as the history of plate motions, observations of stress history and uplift, and seismic tomography, and should constrain the role of plate bounding forces in the dynamics of mantle convection and plate tectonics.