Modeling the Dispersion of Plume Heads Beneath Ridges and the Growth of Large Igneous Provinces

这项研究将使用数值和实验室（模拟）模型相结合的方法来研究地幔柱头部和它们撞击的岩石圈板块之间的扩散和相互作用。模型将包括熔化的影响，轴上和离轴情况，以及脊分割和板流变对沿轴流动的影响。模型包括二维和三维数值模型和三维缩放模拟模型。建模将包括羽头（lip）和更稳定的尾部。总的来说，实验将探索一系列条件下羽头的热、成分和动态演化。更具体的模型将研究onong - java高原系统——地球上已知的最大的羽头。建模工作是观察、理论、预测、更多观察周期的一部分，这些周期有望导致具体的ODP钻井建议。

This study will use a combination of numerical and laboratory (analog) models to investigate the dispersal and interaction between plume heads and the overlying lithospheric plates upon which they impinge. Models will include the effects of melting, on and off-axis cases, and the influence of ridge segmentation and plate rheology on along-axis flow. Models include both 2D and 3D numerical models and 3D scaled analog ones. The modeling will include both plume heads (LIPs), and their more steady-state tails. In general, the experiments will explore the thermal, compositional, and dynamic evolution of plume heads for a range of conditions. More specific models will examine the case of the Ontong-Java plateau system- the earth's largest known plume head. The modeling efforts are part of a cycle of observations, theory, predictions, more observation which is expected to lead to specific ODP drilling proposals.