Upgrade of Computing Facilities to support Geodynamics and Tectonics Research at UC Davis

该奖项将资助购买计算节点，以添加到加州大学戴维斯分校的社区集群之一，以支持目前资助和未来的NSF研究项目。有了这笔资金，8个节点（384个核心）和128 TB的存储将被添加到社区集群中，提供进行与几个不同研究项目相关的数值模拟所需的计算资源。 计算节点将支持当前和未来的研究生和本科生以及在地球和行星科学系内进行研究的博士后的项目。直接访问这些资源有助于学生学习高性能计算。数值模拟是一种强有力的方法，用于检验有关俯冲各方面如何发生的假设，包括动力学，材料特性和矿物学之间的相互作用。这笔资金将提供进行以下模型所需的基础设施：1）目前资助的NSF项目，包括俯冲带中晶格优先取向的发展及其与地震各向异性的联系，以及现今卡斯卡迪亚俯冲带中板幔变形和地表变形之间的耦合，2）其他当前关于板块边界剪切带在控制海沟后退中的作用的项目，和模拟深部板块内的热剪切不稳定性; 3）计划的研究项目，包括俯冲岩石圈应变率变化与深源地震分布和触发机制之间的联系，流体进入外隆弯曲区洋壳的机制，以及上升的地幔柱和俯冲板块之间的相互作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This award will fund the acquisition of compute nodes to add to one of UC Davis' community clusters in order to support both currently funded and future NSF research projects. With this funding, 8 nodes (384 cores) with 128 TB of storage will be added to the community cluster providing computing resources needed to carry out numerical simulations related to several different research projects. The compute nodes will support projects for both current and future graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs conducting research within the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Having direct access to these resources helps students to learn about high performance computing. Numerical simulations are a powerful method for testing hypothesis about how various aspects of subduction occur, including the interplay between dynamics, material properties and mineralogy. This funding will provide the infrastructure needed to conduct models on: 1) currently funded NSF projects including the development of lattice-preferred orientation in subduction zones and its connection to seismic anisotropy and the coupling between, slab and mantle deformation and surface deformation in the present-day Cascadia subduction zone, 2) other current projects on the role of the plate boundary shear zone in controlling trench retreat, and modeling thermal shear instabilities within the deep slab, and 3) planned research projects, including the link between strain-rate variation in subducted lithosphere and the distribution and triggering mechanism for deep earthquakes, the mechanism by which fluids enter the oceanic crust in the bending region of the outer rise, and the interaction between rising mantle plumes and subducting slabs.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.