Interaction between Plate Tectonics and Mantle Flow: From Regional to Global Scales

戈尔尼斯，0107137，研究人员提议建立板块构造与地幔对流和大陆变形相互作用的动力学模型。他们将继续进行建模研究，将地幔动力学置于明确的板块构造框架内，以便用时间域的观测(例如对地表隆起的地质约束)和当今的地球物理观测(如地震层析成像)来测试模型。他们将明确关注在板块构造框架内提出的三个问题：1)早白垩世以来与冈瓦瓦兰裂解有关的大规模流动；始新世汤加-克尔马德克俯冲带形成以来随时间的演化；中中新世以来北美西部岩石圈和上地幔的变形。在所有情况下，他们都将使用一种通用的方法，即在球面区域内使用能够处理粘度变化非常大的问题的有限元程序来求解对流方程。他们将在内部312处理器的Beowulf计算机上使用并行化软件解决大型、解决得很好的问题。

Gurnis 0107137 The investigators propose to develop dynamic models of the interaction of plate tectonics with mantle convection and continental deformation. They will continue with modeling studies in which mantle dynamics is placed within an explicit plate tectonics framework, such that models are tested with observations in both the time domain (for example geological constraints on surface uplift) and present day geophysical observations (such as seismic tomography). They will explicitly focus on three problems which are well posed within a plate tectonics framework: 1.) The large-scale flow since the Early Cretaceous associated with the breakup of Gondwanaland; 2.) The time-dependent evolution of the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone since its inception during the Eocene; 3.) The deformation of western North American lithosphere and upper mantle since the Middle Miocene. In all cases, they will use a common methodology in which the convection equations are solved within a spherical domain using a finite element code capable handling problems with very large variations in viscosity. They will solve large, well-resolved problems using the parallelized software on an in-house 312 processor Beowulf computer.