Dynamic Subduction Zone Thermal Modeling

俯冲板块的压力-温度环境对许多研究领域至关重要。因此，板状热结构计算被用于地震学、矿物物理学、重力、岩石学和热流研究。这里提出的工作与以前的板坯热结构研究有很大的不同，因为这些模型中的板坯和板坯运动将是动态计算的。这将使研究人员能够测试在大多数板坯热结构计算中使用的最关键的基本假设之一的有效性：运动学板坯近似。现有的板坯热结构模型没有考虑板坯内部变形的影响。此外，由于板坯的密度结构没有反馈到板流和楔流中，目前的模型在动态上不一致。随着地震层析成像分辨率的提高和地震各向异性测量预测流动模式的能力的提高，观测中的分辨率似乎达到了一个点，即有必要认真重新考虑平板热结构工具。此外，现在有更好的估计板流变，从实验室和从观察约束和可测试的模型板密度结构。为了充分利用这些新的限制条件，需要新一代的板坯热模型。利用新的板坯热建模工具，研究人员计划将重点放在两个具体问题上：板坯变形对板坯热结构的影响是什么；对板块浮力的估计在多大程度上与观测到的板块和板块本身的运动不一致？这项工作的更广泛的影响将是计算新一代板热结构模型的工具的发展。研究人员设想，这将在几个方面影响俯冲带的研究人员。首先，他们将能够量化限制板坯变形对热结构影响的温度范围。这将给研究人员在简单的运动学模型上放置温度边界。生成板坯热结构模型的新工具将比现有工具更加复杂和计算密集。然而，它们也将产生一系列类似于当前主要活动俯冲带的各种几何形状的热场。这些数据可以从网站上下载，以便其他研究人员可以使用它们。此外，他们计划根据要求将这个新工具的源代码提供给研究人员，并计划创建一个相当友好的GUI前端，以便非专业人员也可以使用它。

The pressure-temperature environment of the subducting slab is critical for a variety of research fields. Hence, slab thermal structure calculations are used in seismology, mineral physics, gravity, petrology, and heat flow studies. The work proposed here is a major departure from previous slab thermal structure studies because the plate and slab motion in these models will be calculated dynamically. This will enable the investigators to test the validity of one of the most critical underlying assumptions used in the majority of slab thermal structure calculations: the kinematic slab approximation. Current slab thermal structure models are not able to consider the effect of deformation within the slab. Furthermore, current models are dynamically inconsistent because the density structure of the slab does not feed back into the plate and wedge flow. With the increased resolution of seismic tomography and the ability to predict flow patterns from seismic anisotropy measurements, it appears that the resolution in the observations is reaching a point that serious reconsideration of the slab thermal structure tools is warranted. In addition, there are now much better estimates of slab rheology, both from the lab and from observational constraints, and testable models of slab density structure. In order to use these new constraints to their fullest potential, a new generation of slab thermal models is needed. With a new slab thermal modeling tool, the researchers plan to focus on two specific issues: what is the impact of slab deformation on the thermal structure of the slab; and to what extend are estimates of slab buoyancy inconsistent with the observed motion of the incoming plate and the slab itself?The broader impact of this work will be the development of a tool for calculating a new generation of slab thermal structure models. The investigators envision that this will impact subduction zone researchers in several ways. First, they will be able to quantify a range of temperatures that bound the effect of slab deformation on thermal structure. This will give researchers temperature bounds to place on simple kinematic models. The new tool for generating slab thermal structure models will be significantly more complex and computationally intensive than current tools. However, they will also generate a set series of thermal fields for a variety of geometries approximating the major currently active subduction zones. These would be available for downloading from a website so that other researchers could work with them. In addition, they plan to make the source code for this new tool available to researchers on request and plan to create a reasonably friendly GUI front-end so that non-specialists will be able to work with it.