EAR-PF: A high-resolution 142Nd/144Nd record of mantle-derived rocks to constrain mantle stirring rate and tectonic regimes

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。Eugenia Hyung博士被授予EAR博士后奖学金，在哈佛大学和内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校开展研究和教育计划。香博士将使用高精度测量地球深处和时间深处的岩石成分，以更好地了解地球的历史。板块构造--巨大岩石板块在地球表面的运动--影响着地球演化的命运。通过板块构造，地球表面由下面的地幔塑造，影响山体建设，创造海底，并产生许多大地震和火山喷发。然而，板块构造的起源和历史还没有被很好地理解。了解地幔是如何随着时间的推移而形成的，将有助于回答这些问题。由于在整个地质历史中，高精度的化学数据在关键的时间间隔中缺失，因此关于地幔如何以及以多快的速度在一段时间内变得均质的精确限制仍然存在。该项目旨在通过从数十亿年前的岩石中获取高精度数据来确定地幔的搅拌时间来解决这些问题。这项工作将在斯坦因·B·雅各布森教授(哈佛大学)和黄世春教授(内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校)的指导下进行。在进行这项研究时，香博士将为研究生和本科生提供指导，参与开发教学方法和课程，并参与推广活动，以促进在当前问题的背景下对地球及其随时间演变的理解和欣赏。在短暂的146Sm同位素灭绝后很久，142Nd144Nd值的存在导致了这样的想法，即地球历史早期的构造学模式与今天的构造学形式有根本不同，从而能够在数十亿年的时间里保持地球化学的不均一性。构造模式(活动与停滞的盖子)被认为对地幔混合的效率和硅酸盐地球的均一化产生影响。通过这个项目，Pi Eugenia Hyung博士的目标是限制地幔的搅拌速度，并推断发生这种情况的时间框架内的主要构造模式，方法是(I)通过对元古代样品进行高精度测量来填补第142/144Nd同位素记录中的空白，(Ii)通过使用数据作为约束条件，通过建模得出这段时间内的地幔搅拌速度。Pi Eugenia Hyung博士非常适合从事这项拟议的研究，他之前开发了以非常高的精确度测量142/144ND比率的方法，同时具有建模经验。这一奖项反映了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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Dr. Eugenia Hyung has been granted an EAR Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out research and education plans at Harvard University and University of Nevada Las Vegas. Dr. Hyung will use high precision measurements of the composition of rocks from deep in the Earth and deep in time to better understand Earth’s history. Plate tectonics – the movement of large rocky plates over the surface of the Earth – influences the fate of Earth’s evolution. Through plate tectonics, the surface of the Earth is shaped by the mantle below, influencing mountain building, creating the ocean floor, and generating many major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Yet the origin and history of plate tectonics is not well understood. Understanding how the mantle is shaped throughout time, will help to answer these questions. Because high-precision chemical data are missing from key time intervals throughout geologic history, questions remain about precise limits on how and at what rate the mantle becomes homogenous through time. This project aims to address these questions by acquiring high-precision data from rocks that are billions of years old to establish the stirring time of the mantle. The work will be carried out under the mentorship of Professor Stein B. Jacobsen (Harvard University) and Professor Shichun Huang (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). While conducting this research, Dr. Hyung will provide mentorship to both graduate and undergraduate students, be involved in developing teaching methods and courses, and engage in outreach activities that promote understanding and appreciation of the Earth in the context of current issues, as well as its evolution throughout time.The presence of 142Nd/144Nd variability well after the extinction of the short-lived 146Sm isotope has led to the idea that the mode of tectonics early in Earth’s history would have been fundamentally different from the present-day form of tectonics to have enabled the preservation of geochemical heterogeneity over billions of years. The mode of tectonics (mobile vs. stagnant lid) is thought to exert influence on the efficiency of mantle mixing, and homogenization of the silicate Earth. Through this project, PI Dr. Eugenia Hyung aims to constrain the stirring rate of the Earth’s mantle and to deduce the dominant mode of tectonics in the time frame in which this occurs, by (i) filling the gap in the 142Nd/144Nd isotope record by performing high-precision measurements on Proterozoic samples and (ii) derive the stirring rate of the mantle during this time period through modeling, using the data as constraints. PI Dr. Eugenia Hyung is well-positioned to undertake the proposed study, having previously developed the methods in measuring 142Nd/144Nd ratios at a very high degree of precision while having experience in modeling.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.