Collaborative Research: Structure and Composition of Oceanic Lithosphere and the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary

合作研究：海洋岩石圈的结构和组成以及岩石圈/软流圈边界

• 批准号: 0928270
• 负责人: James Gaherty
• 金额: $ 35.33万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-01 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0928270&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Structure; Composition; Oceanic

The lithosphere is the Earth's rocky outer shell. Lithospheric 'plates' drift over the Earth, carrying the continents, and large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur where the plates interact. Hence, understanding the lithosphere is central to our understanding of how the Earth works. The oceanic lithosphere, which covers some 70% of the Earth, is central to our understanding of global geodynamics and plate tectonics, but our understanding of its character (including composition and thickness) and the factors that control them is poor. Variations of seismic and electrical properties of the Earth are indicators of compositional variations. The aim of this project is to use the most up-to-date seismic and electromagnetic methods to address two fundamental questions about the lithosphere that lies beneath the Pacific basin: What factors control the seismic structure of the lithosphere, and what defines the base of the lithosphere? The broader impacts of this work include improved understanding of factors such as the composition of the lithosphere that affect volcanic eruptions, great earthquakes and tsunamis that threaten heavily populated areas in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere around the Pacific Rim.

岩石圈是地球的岩石外壳。岩石圈的“板块”在地球上空漂移，携带着大陆，在板块相互作用的地方会发生大地震和火山喷发。因此，了解岩石圈是我们理解地球如何工作的核心。覆盖地球约70%的大洋岩石圈是我们理解全球地球动力学和板块构造的核心，但我们对其特征(包括成分和厚度)以及控制它们的因素的了解很差。地球的地震和电学性质的变化是成分变化的指标。这个项目的目的是使用最新的地震和电磁方法来解决太平洋盆地下面的岩石圈的两个基本问题：什么因素控制着岩石圈的地震结构，以及什么定义了岩石圈的底部？这项工作的更广泛影响包括更好地了解各种因素，如影响火山喷发的岩石圈组成、威胁阿拉斯加、太平洋西北部和环太平洋其他地区人口稠密地区的大地震和海啸。