EarthScope Institute: The Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary

岩石圈是构造板块和大陆定义的基础，然而它的大小、起源和演化仍然知之甚少。在强岩石圈和弱软流圈之间的界面上进行的新观测为形成这一边界的热、机械和化学变化提供了线索。EarthScope设备提供的数据在岩石圈-软流圈边界（LAB）提供了丰富的此类观测结果，其中一些结果相互矛盾。地震速度、衰减和各向异性的变化和不连续导致了大量的特征和结构，这些特征和结构混淆了岩石圈作为热边界层的经典观点。正在举办一个讲习班，把地震学家、动力学家、实验学家和岩石学家聚集在一起，把这些新的观察结果纳入对实验室的新的概念理解，并发展关于地球的新想法。产生此特性的S动态行为。研讨会的主要目标是：1)提供智力领导并培养对定义LAB及其起源和演变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，促进观测、理论和实验室研究项目之间的合作；3)讨论新方法或关键数据，以对LAB进行新的观测，并为其起源建立模型。这个讲习班是促进关于实验室的广泛、多学科合作的第一步，并将为一个虚拟的联机研究所奠定基础，该研究所将由地球观测国家办事处提供便利。

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.