Collaborative Research: Mantle Flow at Rifts: Analysis of a Natural Laboratory at the Gulf of Suez Using a PASSCAL Seismic Array and Mumerical Modeling

这个项目涉及对红海北部的地球物理研究，裂谷的末端是左侧死海改造和苏伊士湾的一个缓慢扩张区。该地区是检验大陆裂谷过程中板块驱动的软流圈流动和浮力驱动的软流圈流动的良好天然实验室。从地表表现(地形、地质历史、盆地沉降史)和利用被动地震台阵探测深层结构来评估每个过程的相对重要性。反过来，地震阵列又有两个部分：用于确定基本几何形状的基本地壳结构组件和用于观察地幔流动的横波分裂组件。这些研究的结果将与模拟研究(裂谷侧翼和地幔流动模型的弯曲模拟)相结合，以发展地球动力学的综合。***

9910850SparksThis project involves a geophysical study of the northern Red Sea where the rift terminates into the sinistral Dead Sea transform and a slow spreading zone in the gulf of Suez. This area is a good natural laboratory for testing plate driven asthenospheric flow vs. bouyancy driven asthenospheric flow during continental rifting. The relative importance of each of these processes is to be evaluated from a combination of surface manifestations (topography, geologic history, subsidence history of basins) and probing of the deep structure with a passive seismic array. The seismic array, in turn, has two parts: a basic crustal structure component to determine basic geometry and a shear wave splitting component to look at mantle flow. The results of these studies will be combined with modeling studies (flexural modeling of rift flanks and mantle flow models) to develop a synthesis of the geodynamics. ***