Collaborative Research: Mantle Structure and Dynamics of the Ross Sea from a Passive Seismic Deployment on the Ross Ice Shelf

知识价值：PIs建议建立一个由18个宽带地震仪组成的冰架网络，部署两年，以获得罗斯海海湾下地球结构的高分辨率地幔尺度图像。先前的海洋地球物理工作为冰架向海区域提供了良好的地壳速度模型，但由于缺乏先前的地震部署，地幔结构仅受低分辨率图像的限制。拟议中的车站将建在罗斯岛和玛丽伯德地之间。这些台站将填补这个伸展大陆省内的一个主要地质缺口，并将在南极横贯山脉过渡/高原地区（TAMSEIS）和南极洲西部（POLENET）收集的数据集联系起来，以提高南极洲下面地幔特征的分辨率。拟议的部署将允许pi收集地震数据，而无需费用，后勤复杂性，以及与海底地震仪部署相关的冰山风险。从提出的数据开发的层析模型将用于在罗斯海动力学的竞争模型之间进行选择。特别地，PIs将调查包括东罗斯海在内的一大片热地幔区域是否表明了最近的构造活动分布，这将对提出东罗斯伸展在中生代停止的模型提出质疑。这些数据还将允许pi研究更深层次的地球结构，以评估地幔柱和/或小尺度对流在驱动区域火山活动和构造活动中的可能作用。更广泛的影响：此次部署的数据将具有广泛的跨学科用途。本项目将资助3名研究生和2名本科生。至少有一名学生是未被充分代表的少数族裔学生。pi将与媒体互动，并将K-12教育工作者纳入他们的实地工作。

Intellectual Merit: The PIs propose to establish an ice shelf network of 18 broadband seismographs deployed for two years to obtain high-resolution, mantle-scale images of Earth structure underlying the Ross Sea Embayment. Prior marine geophysical work provides good crustal velocity models for the region seaward of the ice shelf but mantle structure is constrained by only low-resolution images due to the lack of prior seismic deployments. The proposed stations would be established between Ross Island and Marie Byrd Land. These stations would fill a major geological gap within this extensional continental province and would link data sets collected in the Transantarctic Mountain transition/Plateau region (TAMSEIS) and in West Antarctica (POLENET) to improve resolution of mantle features beneath Antarctica. The proposed deployment would allow the PIs to collect seismic data without the expense, logistical complexity, and iceberg hazards associated with ocean bottom seismograph deployments. Tomographic models developed from the proposed data will be used to choose between competing models for the dynamics of the Ross Sea. In particular, the PIs will investigate whether a broad region of hot mantle, including the Eastern Ross Sea, indicates distributed recent tectonic activity, which would call into question models proposing that Eastern Ross extension ceased during the Mesozoic. These data will also allow the PIs to investigate the deeper earth structure to evaluate the possible role of mantle plumes and/or small-scale convection in driving regional volcanism and tectonism across the region.Broader impacts: Data from this deployment will be of broad interdisciplinary use. This project will support three graduate and two undergraduate students. At least one student will be an underrepresented minority student. The PIs will interact with the media and include K-12 educators in their fieldwork.