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整体图景中的重要空白，以及一般的辐合边缘构造。这个项目是围绕一个明确的基础科学问题建立起来的，安第斯山脉是快速上升的，还是逐渐上升的？在本研究区产生如此大的高程和地壳厚度仍然是大陆构造学的一个关键问题。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，测试古海拔分析的新方法，使用地震研究来表征范围的根源（在地壳深处和地幔下），创造性地使用岩石学和同位素数据来限制过去有时变厚的地壳。该项目有潜力解决造山运动期间的三维物质平衡问题，以及上升的山带对大陆尺度天气系统的影响。值得注意的是，将地形天气研究的分析置于背景之下，pi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的和重要的，并且是跨越传统学科界限的兴趣，并且概述的研究策略具有很高的潜力来回答它所提出的问题。

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.