The Thermo-Chemical State and Thermo-Tectonic Evolution of Cratons and Deep Cratonic Lithosphere

禤浩焯·勒纳迪克大陆克拉通是一个在十亿年左右保持构造稳定的地区。许多克拉通还与厚厚的岩石圈有关，岩石圈与地幔再循环隔离了相当长的一段时间。了解有助于克拉通稳定性和深部克拉通岩石圈长寿的因素，是弥合大陆构造研究和地幔动力学研究之间差距的相关问题。为了解决这些问题，研究人员将约束当今的热化学结构，并探索几个克拉通之下地壳和地幔岩石圈的热构造演化。他们将与蒙特利尔和澳大利亚的合作者合作，收集和汇编加拿大地盾和西澳大利亚克拉通岩石圈热模型的数据约束。然后，他们将为这些区域内克拉通岩石圈的当今热化学结构开发数据约束模型。来自对流地幔的热量将以完全自洽的方式处理，并将探索岩石圈结构的垂直和横向变化。研究人员还将直接与以数据为导向的同事合作，收集、分析和合成所有可以限制目标克拉通演化的数据。然后，他们将探索耦合的地幔对流和大陆构造模型，以分离允许克拉通深部岩石圈寿命和克拉通地壳稳定性的因素。这将使用一种强大的新的数值模拟工具来实现，该工具旨在弥合地幔对流模拟和大陆构造模拟之间的差距。先进的建模方法，加上将用于手头问题的数据，将使该小组能够开发严格的、可测试的模型，以自洽的方式处理大陆地壳的克拉通化和克拉通岩石圈的寿命。

Adrian Lenardic A continental craton is a region that has remained tectonically stable for on the order of a billion years. Many cratons are also associated with thick lithosphere that has been isolated from mantle recycling for an equally long period of time. Understanding the factors that provide for the stability of cratons and for the longevity of deep cratonic lithosphere are related issues that bridge the gap between studies of continental tectonics and of mantle dynamics. To address these issues, the investigators will constrain the present day thermo-chemical structure and explore the thermo-tectonic evolution of the crust and mantle lithosphere below several cratons. They will work with collaborators from Montreal and Australia to collect and compile data constraints for thermal models of the cratonic lithosphere in the Canadian Shield and in Western Australia. They will then develop data constrained models for the present day thermo-chemical structure of cratonic lithosphere within these regions. The heat that comes from the convecting mantle will be treated in a fully self-consistent way and both vertical and lateral variations in lithospheric structure will be explored. The researchers will also work directly with data oriented colleagues to collect, analyse, and synthesize all the data that can constrain the evolution of target cratons. They will then explore models of coupled mantle convection and continental tectonics to isolate the factors that allow for the longevity of deep cratonic lithosphere and the stability of cratonic crust. This will be accomplished using a powerful new numerical simulation tool that has been designed to bridge the gap between mantle convection modeling and continental tectonics modeling. The advanced modeling methodology, together with the data that will be brought to bear on the problem at hand, will allow this team to develop rigorous and testable models that address the cratonization of continental crust and the longevity of cratonic lithosphere in a self-consistent manner.