EarthScope Institute: The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary

地球显微镜研究所：岩石圈-软流圈边界岩石圈是定义构造板块和大陆的基础，但它的尺寸、起源和演化仍然知之甚少。对强岩石圈和弱软流圈交界处的新观察，为形成这一边界的热、机械和化学变化提供了线索。来自地球望远镜设备的数据在岩石圈-软流圈边界(LAB)提供了丰富的此类观测数据，其中一些相互矛盾。地震速度、衰减和各向异性的变化和不连续性导致了大量的特征和结构，这些特征和结构颠覆了将岩石圈视为热边界层的经典观点。正在举办一次研讨会，将地震学家、动力学家、实验学家和岩石学家聚集在一起，将这些新的观测结果纳入对实验室的新概念理解中，并对导致这一特征的地球-S动力学行为提出新的想法。研讨会的主要目标是：1)提供智力领导，并培养对定义实验室及其起源和演化背后的物理机制的观察的批判性思维；2)促进广泛的社区对实验室的兴趣，以及基于实验室的观察、理论和实验室研究计划之间的种子合作；3)讨论对实验室进行新的观察并为其起源开发模型所需的新方法或关键数据。这次研讨会是在实验室促进广泛的多学科合作的第一步，并将为一个由地球范围国家办公室推动的虚拟在线研究所奠定基础。

EarthScope Institute: The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary The lithosphere is fundamental to the definition of tectonic plates and continents, and yet its dimensions, origins and evolution are still poorly understood. New observations at the interface between the strong lithosphere and weak asthenosphere hold clues as to the thermal, mechanical and chemical variations that create this boundary. Data from the EarthScope Facility have provided a rich array of such observations at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), some of them conflicting. The variations and discontinuities in seismic velocities, attenuation and anisotropy have led to a proliferation of features and structures that confound the classical view of the lithosphere as a thermal boundary layer. A workshop is being held to bring together seismologists, dynamicists, experimentalists and petrologists to integrate these new observations into a new conceptual understanding of the LAB and to develop new ideas about Earth?s dynamic behavior that give rise to this feature. The primary goals of the workshop are: 1) to provide intellectual leadership and foster critical thinking about the observations that define the LAB and the physical mechanisms behind its origin and evolution; 2) to promote broad, community interest in the LAB and seed collaborations between observational, theoretical, and laboratory based research programs; and 3) to discuss novel approaches or critical data that are needed to make new observations on the LAB and develop models for its origins. This workshop is the initial step in fostering broad, multidisciplinary collaboration on the LAB and will provide the foundation for a virtual online Institute that will be facilitated by the EarthScope National Office.