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

该项目将侧重于了解构造板块碰撞造成的山体建筑和侵蚀等景观变化。通过使用一种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断层如何生长以及碰撞系统中地形变化的速度有多快。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，并通过与国际同事建立联系，促进博士后研究员的专业发展。博士后研究员将接受关于新的教学和教育方法的指导，并通过参与已建立的K-12推广计划以及领导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热计时和宇宙成因放射性核素技术的新组合，以量化与挤压构造驱动的断层和沉积有关的现代和古侵蚀速率的变化。这项研究将发展和完善跨越不同时空尺度的两种地质年代学方法的组合，以了解岩石抬升、断层作用、盆地沉降和侵蚀与泥沙沉积之间的滞后时间之间的联系。安第斯山脉中部前纪是本研究的理想地区，因为从中新世早期到现在，在气候条件相对稳定和干旱的地区，存在着活跃的断裂和变形。这表明，景观开发主要是由构造而不是气候驱动的。获取新的数据以解决几个地质结构的变形速率和景观响应时间，不仅将促进对安第斯中央前纪褶皱冲断带发展的了解，还将对越来越多的关于景观对构造扰动的响应的研究做出更广泛的贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.