Noble Gases, Lower Mantle Structures, and the Origin of Ocean Island Basalts

柯蒂斯威廉姆斯博士已被授予NSF博士后奖学金，在加州大学戴维斯分校开展研究和扩大参与计划。研究人员将确定惰性气体系统学，并开发地幔对流模型，以更好地约束地幔柱源区的形成、位置和保存。洋岛玄武岩（OIBs）代表了起源于下地幔的地幔柱的表面表现;因此，OIBs提供了有关地球下地幔化学结构和动力学的宝贵信息。OIB中稀有气体的研究对于理解地球下地幔的化学组成和结构，理解地球的吸积，随后的分异和脱气以及大气的形成至关重要。威廉姆斯博士将通过成为榜样和吸引来自代表性不足群体的学生，为培养下一代地球科学家做出贡献。这项研究将利用OIB的惰性气体系统学来：[1]限制下地幔原始惰性气体的源区; [2]记录富集地幔组分的重惰性气体特征，并了解由惰性气体确定的不同组分之间的成因关系;[3]第一章使用地幔对流的动力学模型来了解化学不均匀性的保存以及下地幔致密基底层的夹带程度是否与地球化学相一致对地幔柱的观察

Dr. Curtis Williams has been awarded an NSF EAR Postdoctoral fellowship to carry out a research and broadening participation plan at the University of California - Davis. The investigator will determine noble gas systematics and develop models of mantle convection to better constrain the formation, location, and preservation of the source region for mantle plumes. Ocean island basalts (OIBs) represent the surface manifestation of plumes that originate in the lower mantle; as such, OIBs provide valuable information regarding chemical structure and dynamics of Earth's lower mantle. The study of noble gases in OIBs is crucial to the understanding of the chemical composition and structure of Earth's lower mantle, the understanding of Earth's accretion, its subsequent differentiation and degassing, and the formation of the atmosphere. Dr. Williams will contribute to the training of the next generation of Earth scientists by being a role model and engaging students from under-represented groups. This investigation will use noble gas systematics of OIBs to: [1] constrain the source region of the primitive noble gases in the lower mantle; [2] document the heavy noble gas signature of enriched mantle components and understand the genetic relationship between the different components as determined from the noble gases; [3] use dynamic models of mantle convection to understand the preservation of chemical heterogeneities and whether the degree of entrainment of a dense basal layer in the lower mantle is consistent with geochemical observations in mantle plumes.