CAUGHT: Central Andean Uplift and the Geodynamics of High Topography

这是一个雄心勃勃的项目，有可能填补安第斯山脉中部造山作用和总体会聚边缘构造作用总体图景中的重要空白。该项目围绕着一个定义明确的基础科学问题来构建，安第斯山脉是快速上升的，还是逐渐上升的？在这一研究地区发现的产生高度和地壳厚度的问题仍然是大陆构造中的一个关键问题。这个问题为PIS开发各种相关项目提供了基础，包括：安第斯山脉褶皱冲断带缩短的三维结构分析，古海拔分析的新方法的测试，利用地震研究来确定山脉的根源(包括在地壳深层和下部地幔)，创造性地使用岩石学和同位素数据来约束过去有时增厚的地壳。该项目有可能解决造山运动期间的三维物质平衡问题，以及隆起的山带对大陆范围天气系统的影响。值得注意的是，为了将地形天气研究的分析放在背景下进行，PIS还将进行更广泛的古气候研究。所有要研究的问题都是当前和重要的，跨越了传统学科的界限，而且，概述的研究战略具有很高的潜力来回答它提出的问题。

This is an ambitious project that has the potential to fill in important gaps in the overall picture of orogenesis in the central Andes, and of convergent-margin tectonism in general. The project is constructed around a well defined basic-science question, did the Andes rise in a rapid pulse, or did they rise gradually? Producing elevations and crustal thicknesses of the magnitude found in this study area remains a key problem in continental tectonics.This question provides a foundation from which the PIs develop a variety of linked projects, including: 3-D structural analysis of fold-thrust belt shortening in the Andes, testing of new methods of paleo-elevation analysis, use of seismic studies to characterize the roots of the range (both in the deep crust and in the underlying mantle), creative use of petrologic and isotopic data to constrain thickened crust at times in the past. The project has the potential to address 3-D mass balance issues during orogeny, as well as the impact of a rising mountain belt on continent-scale weather systems. Of note, to put the analysis of orographic weather studies in context, the PIs will also undertake a broader paleo-climate study. All of the questions to be studied are current and important, and are of interest across traditional disciplinary boundaries and, the research strategy as outlined has a high potential to answer the questions that it poses.