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一般会聚边缘构造作用的总体情况中的重要空白。这个项目是围绕一个明确的基础科学问题构建的，安第斯山脉是快速上升的，还是逐渐上升的？在这一研究区发现的高程和地壳厚度的大小仍然是大陆构造的一个关键问题。这一问题提供了一个基础，PI可以据此制定各种相关项目，包括：安第斯山脉褶皱-冲断带缩短的三维结构分析，测试古高程分析的新方法，利用地震研究来确定山脉根部的特征（地壳深部和下伏地幔），创造性地使用岩石学和同位素数据来限制过去增厚的地壳。该项目有可能解决造山运动期间的三维质量平衡问题，以及山脉上升带对大陆尺度天气系统的影响。值得注意的是，为了将地形天气研究的分析放在背景下，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和重要的，并且是跨传统学科界限的兴趣，所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.