Isaac Newton Institute Program on Melt in the Mantle

艾萨克·牛顿研究所(INI)关于地幔熔岩的项目是一个研究和教育项目，于2016年2月至6月在英国剑桥大学开展。该计划将集中于2月、4月和6月举办的三期讲习班，其中将涵盖(1)地幔和岩浆动力学的物理、数学和数值方法的基础；(2)将物理、模拟和地球物理观测从颗粒和孔隙尺度扩大到熔融地幔的连续体尺度；以及(3)连续统物理和模型在构造和行星环境中的应用。这项提案寻求资金，以帮助美国的早期科学家，包括学生和博士后学者，前往参加这些研讨会。每个研讨会将有大约5名科学家参加，总共15名。INI计划将为这些科学家提供一个建立国际合作的绝佳机会，并从世界上一些领先的地球科学家和应用数学家那里了解地幔融化。地球的地幔几乎完全是固体的，但在地质时间尺度上，它强烈地对流，这是众所周知的板块构造。在板块构造边界(大洋中脊和俯冲带)下100公里的深处，以及夏威夷等海洋岛屿之下，地幔熔化，熔化后上升到地表，为火山活动提供养分，形成新的地壳。这种岩浆作用在我们星球的化学演化和动力学中起着关键作用。了解地幔中熔体的形成和迁移是一项艰巨的科学和数学挑战。一个关键的挑战是连接不同的长度尺度：熔体位于微米尺度的晶界，可能集中在米尺度的通道中，并迁移超过100公里。需要复杂的数学技术，如均匀化理论，才能将对物理学的理解从最小的尺度映射到板块构造的尺度。地震学提供了一种对地幔熔融进行成像的方法，但需要开发逆理论中的新工具来提取信息。熔体输运模型最终被归结为一系列耦合的非线性偏微分方程组，这需要先进的数值技术来求解。INI计划将把范围广泛的数学家和固体地球科学家聚集在一起，解决地幔融化的这些和其他根本挑战。该奖项的支持将使职业生涯早期的美国科学家能够参与这一国际努力。

The Isaac Newton Institute (INI) program on Melt in the Mantle is a research and educational program running from February to June, 2016, at Cambridge University (UK). The program will focus around three workshops in February, April and June, which will cover (1) foundations in the physics, mathematical and numerical approaches of mantle and magma dynamics; (2) upscaling the physics, modeling and geophysical observations from the grain and pore scale to the the continuum scale of molten mantle; and (3) applications of the continuum physics and models to tectonic and planetary environments. This proposal seeks funds to assist early-career scientists based in the United States, including students and postdoctoral scholars, for travel to these workshops. Approximately 5 scientists will attend each workshop, for a total of 15. The INI program will provide these scientists an excellent opportunity to build international collaborations and learn about mantle melting from some of the leading Earth scientists and applied mathematicians in the world.Earth's mantle is almost entirely solid, but on geological timescales it convects vigorously, the well-known surface expression of this being plate tectonics. At depths up to 100 km beneath plate-tectonic boundaries (mid-ocean ridges and subduction zones), and beneath ocean islands such as Hawaii, the mantle melts, and that melt rises to the surface to feed volcanism and form new crust. Such magmatism plays a key role in the chemical evolution and dynamics of our planet. Understanding the formation and migration of melt in the mantle presents a formidable scientific and mathematical challenge. One key challenge is in bridging diverse length scales: melt lies along grain boundaries at micron scales, may focus into channels at meter scales, and migrates over 100 km. Sophisticated mathematical techniques, such as homogenization theory, are needed to map an understanding of physics at the smallest scales to plate-tectonic scales. Seismology offers a way to image melt in the mantle, but the development of new tools in inverse theory are required to extract that information. Models of melt transport are eventually cast as a series of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations, which require advanced numerical techniques to solve. The INI program will bring together a broad spectrum of mathematicians and solid Earth scientists to tackle these and other fundamental challenges of melt in the mantle. The support from this award will enable early-career US scientists to participate in this international endeavor.