Collaborative Research: Assessment of the Role of Water in Cratonic Roots and their Post-Archean Margins on the Strength and Longevity of Continental Lithosphere

合作研究：评估克拉通根部及其太古代边缘中的水对大陆岩石圈强度和寿命的作用

• 批准号: 1118335
• 负责人: Anne Peslier
• 金额: $ 17.24万
• 依托单位: Jacobs Technology Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-10-01 至 2016-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1118335&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Assessment; Role; Water

Intellectual merit: This collaborative proposal requests funds for 3 years to analyze water by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) in minerals from peridotite xenoliths brought up by kimberlite magmas in cratons and their margins. The key physical property evoked in this project is the hydrolytic weakening of olivine (and potentially pyroxene and garnets) that occurs when hydrogen (H) is incorporated as a trace element in mineral defects of these ?nominally anhydrous? minerals. The main purpose is to test in the Slave craton (Canada) and the Siberian craton (Russia) whether the olivines at the bottom of the lithosphere have low water contents (amount of H calculated as ppm H2O) similar to what may be observed beneath the Kaapvaal craton (Peslier et al., 2010a). If this is the case, the hypothesis that dry olivines at the base of the lithosphere are in part responsible for a high viscosity contrast between a strong lower lithosphere and a more deformable asthenosphere would be confirmed as a general mechanism for craton longevity. If cratons other than the Kaapvaal do not have dry olivines at the bottom of their lithosphere, then other mechanisms will have to be proposed for craton longevity and the role of water in cratonic root survival will have to be re-assessed. A second part of this proposal is to explore the water distribution in mantle minerals at craton margins, using xenoliths from post-Archean mobile belts surrounding the Kaapvaal craton (Proterozoic Namaqua-Natal and Rehoboth terranes, South Africa and Namibia), and at Kilbourne Hole (Phanerozoic continental rift, southern New Mexico, USA), and decipher the role of water in the preservation of these terrains? mantle roots. In all parts of the proposal, all peridotite minerals (not only olivine) will be analyzed for water on well-characterized xenoliths in terms of petrography, major and trace elements, and radiogenic isotopes. Ten samples per xenolith suite will be selected, spanning the widest possible range of equilibration pressures. The effect on water content of melting, metasomatism or refertilization in the mantle, and water loss or gain during host magma ascent will be assessed. This work will also provide information on hydrogen speciation in mantle minerals. The water contents will then be incorporated into laws of viscous creep of olivine assemblages to estimate their effect on mantle rheology. This project will provide crucial data and constraints on Earth geodynamics and continental lithosphere history and longevity.Broader impacts. The analyses will be performed on a NSF-funded FTIR. Two graduate students, and two undergraduate students will benefit from this study. The graduate students will have enhanced their skills for future employment in the geosciences by performing complex analytical tasks in combination with comprehensive modeling of the data. Undergraduate students will be included in the research via various available internship, senior thesis, and work-study programs. Students from underrepresented populations (a large portion of enrolled students at the University of Houston) will have important access to state-of-theart equipment and cutting-edge research in petrology and geochemistry. The collaboration is cross-institutional and international, work will be presented at international conferences, and peer-reviewed papers will come out of this study. The results from this work will be crucial for our understanding of Earth?s mantle dynamics and will bring fundamental data to scientists interested in geodynamic modeling, rock deformation, seismology, mantle thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity, volcanology, and the history of continents.

智力优势：这项合作提案要求提供为期3年的资金，用于通过傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)分析克拉通及其边缘金伯利岩浆形成的橄榄岩包体矿物中的水。这个项目中的关键物理性质是橄榄石(以及潜在的辉石和石榴石)的水解性减弱，当氢(H)作为微量元素加入到这些矿物缺陷中时，发生了这种情况？名义上是无水的？矿物。主要目的是在奴隶克拉通(加拿大)和西伯利亚克拉通(俄罗斯)测试岩石圈底部的橄榄石是否具有与Kaapvaal克拉通下可能观察到的相似的低水分(H的量以ppm H2O计算)(Peslier等人，2010a)。如果是这样的话，岩石圈底部的干橄榄石是较强的下部岩石圈和较易变形的软流圈之间高粘度对比的部分原因的假说将被证实为克拉通长寿的一般机制。如果除卡帕瓦尔以外的克拉通在其岩石圈底部没有干橄榄石，那么将不得不提出其他机制来延长克拉通的寿命，并且必须重新评估水在克拉通根存活中的作用。这项建议的第二部分是探索克拉通边缘地幔矿物中的水分布，利用Kaapvaal克拉通周围的后太古代活动带(南非和纳米比亚的元古界Namaqua-Natal和Rehobus地体)以及基尔本洞(美国新墨西哥州南部显生宙大陆裂谷)的捕虏体，并破译水在这些地体保存中的作用？地幔根部。在提案的所有部分，将对所有橄榄岩矿物(不仅是橄榄石)在特征良好的包体上进行水的分析，包括岩石学、常量元素和微量元素以及放射性同位素。每套捕虏体将选择10个样品，跨越最大可能的平衡压力范围。将评估地幔中熔融、交代或参照作用对水含量的影响，以及宿主岩浆上升过程中水的损失或增加。这项工作还将提供有关地幔矿物中氢形态的信息。然后将水含量纳入橄榄石组合的粘性蠕变定律，以评估其对地幔流变学的影响。该项目将提供有关地球地球动力学、大陆岩石圈历史和寿命的关键数据和制约因素。这些分析将在NSF资助的FTIR上进行。两名研究生和两名本科生将从这项研究中受益。研究生将通过执行复杂的分析任务并结合数据的全面建模来提高他们未来在地球科学领域就业的技能。本科生将通过各种可用的实习、高级论文和勤工俭学项目被纳入研究范围。来自代表性不足人群的学生(休斯顿大学在校学生的很大一部分)将有机会获得最先进的设备以及岩石学和地球化学方面的尖端研究。这种合作是跨机构的和国际的，工作将在国际会议上提交，同行评议的论文将来自这项研究。这项工作的结果将对我们理解地球-S地幔动力学至关重要，并将为对地球动力学模拟、岩石变形、地震学、地幔热导率和电阻率、火山学和大陆历史感兴趣的科学家提供基础数据。