Collaborative Research: Quantifying temporal relationships between tectonic forcing and landscape responses in the central Andean Precordillera, Argentina

该项目将重点了解构造板块碰撞引起的景观变化，例如造山和侵蚀。通过使用结合两种不同类型分析（热年代学和宇宙成因放射性核素测年）的新方法，研究小组将能够确定碰撞系统中断层如何生长以及地貌变化速度的模式。这两种不同的测年技术是互补的，因为它们记录了不同但重叠的时间尺度上的地质变化信息，因此将它们结合起来将填补短期和长期地质变化之间的重要空白。该项目将通过提供研究和教学方面的专业培训以及与国际同事建立联系来促进博士后的专业发展。博士后研究员将接受新的教学和教育方法的指导，并通过参与 K-12 的既定项目以及主导的地球科学研讨会和实地考察来应用这些方法。该项目将开发和使用低温测时法和宇宙成因放射性核素技术的新型组合，以量化与压缩构造驱动的断层和沉积相关的近期和古侵蚀率的变化。这项研究将开发和完善两种跨越不同时空尺度的地质年代学方法的组合，以了解岩石隆起、断层、盆地沉降以及侵蚀和沉积物沉积之间的滞后时间之间的联系。安第斯山脉中部的Precordillera地区非常适合这项研究，因为从中新世早期到当时气候条件相对稳定和干旱的地区，一直存在活跃的断层和变形。这表明景观的发展主要是由构造而不是气候驱动的。获取新数据来解决多个地质结构的变形率和景观响应时间问题，不仅可以增进对安第斯山脉中部前记录勒拉褶皱冲断带发育的了解，而且还可以更广泛地为不断增长的构造扰动景观响应研究做出贡献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will focus on understanding landscape changes, such as mountain building and erosion, caused by the collision of tectonic plates. By using a new method of combining two different types of analyses (thermochronology and cosmogenic radio nuclide dating) the research team will be able to determine patterns in how faults grow and how fast a landscape can change in a collisional system. The two different dating techniques are complementary as they record information about geologic changes on different but overlapping timescales, and thus combining them will fill an important gap between shorter- and longer-term geologic changes. This project will facilitate the professional development of a postdoctoral fellow by providing professional training in both research and teaching, and by establishing connections with international colleagues. The postdoctoral fellow will receive instruction on new methods of teaching and education and apply these approaches through participation in established programs for K-12 outreach and by leading Earth Science seminars and field trips.The project will develop and use a novel combination of low-temperature thermochronometry and cosmogenic radionuclide techniques to quantify changes in recent and paleo erosion rates related to faulting and sedimentation driven by compressional tectonics. This study will develop and refine the combination of two geochronological methods that span different spatiotemporal scales to understand links between rock uplift, faulting, basin subsidence, and lag times between erosion and sediment deposition. The central Andean Precordillera is ideal for this study as there has been active faulting and deformation from the early Miocene to present in a region with relatively stable and arid climate conditions during that time. This suggests that landscape development has been driven primarily by tectonics rather than climate. Acquiring new data to address rates of deformation and landscape response times across several geologic structures will not only advance knowledge about the development of the central Andean Precordillera fold-thrust belt, but also contribute more generally to the growing body of research on landscape responses to tectonic perturbations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.