Collaborative Research: Constraints on the Evolution of Hotspot-Ridge Interactions: The Northern Galapagos Region

加拉帕戈斯群岛及其周围的海底构造独特，是海底地壳构造过程科学研究的中心。 这项研究补充了已经在加拉帕戈斯进行的工作，这些工作旨在了解海底线性构造（沃尔夫-达尔文线性构造和Genovesa海岭）的性质和作用及其与加拉帕戈斯火山活动和太平洋板块构造的联系。 目标是：（1）利用40 Ar/39 Ar定年法确定沿这两条线性构造沿着火山岩的年龄，以了解该地区火山喷发的时间;（2）利用微量元素组成和比值确定地幔来源和熔融制度。 沿着这些数据，以及从文献和德国合作者最近的航行中收集的其他数据，将用于制作一套海底构造图，显示过去1 000万年来加拉帕戈斯地区火山活动的位置和构成。 这些地图将用于制作加拉帕戈斯热点-海脊相互作用的构造重建图。 这项工作的更广泛影响包括与德国科学家的国际合作，以及在让本科生参与研究活动方面将研究和教育紧密结合起来，包括让他们参加海洋学巡航，充分参与研究规划和实施，以及最先进的地球化学技术培训。该计划指出，该项目涉及两个本科院校的专业研究员。

The Galapagos Archipelago and surrounding seafloor are unique in their construction and the center of much scientific investigation of processes of seafloor crustal construction. This research complements already on-going work in the Galapagos seeking to understand the nature and role of lineaments (Wolf-Darwin Lineament and Genovesa Ridge) on the seafloor and their ties to Galapagos volcanism and Pacific plate tectonics. Goals are to: (1) determine the age of volcanic rocks along the two lineaments using 40Ar/39Ar dating to understand the timing of eruptions in the area and (2) use trace elements compositions and ratios to determine mantle sources and melting regimes. These data, along with a compilation of other data from the literature and from recent cruises by German collaborators will be used to generate a set of seafloor tectonic maps showing the location and composition of volcanism in the Galapagos region over the past 10 million years. These maps will be used to produce a tectonic reconstruction of Galapagos hotspot-ridge interactions. Broader impacts of the work include international collaboration with German scientists and strong integration of research and education in terms of involving undergraduates in research activities which include having them participate in an oceanographic cruise, participate fully in research planning and implementation, and training in state of the art geochemical techniques. The Program notes that the project involves PIs from two undergraduate institutions.