Seismological imaging and evolution of young plate margins and their associated basins.

当地球表面的构造板块碰撞或被拉开时，它们会形成深凹陷(通常充满沉积物)和/或高山。这个项目是关于成像(通过先进的回波测深)和解释板块构造过程，当它们发生时，或不久之后，在两个不同的地区。第一个是大西洋加拿大的大陆边缘，它是由1亿多年前的伸展和海底扩张形成的(从地质学上来说，时间不长)。这一边缘保存了事件的地质记录，并蕴藏着重要的碳氢化合物。纽芬兰边缘和它的伊比利亚共轭形成了一对经过充分研究的组合，具有异常广泛的(&gt；100公里)大陆-海洋过渡。最近对纽芬兰边缘的钻探发现了挖掘出的地幔物质，与在共轭上发现的类似岩石相匹配。早先关于非对称延伸的想法需要修改！对更多地震资料的处理和解释将使我们能够更清楚地圈定沉积盆地和过渡带，并重建边缘是如何形成的。第二个区域是地中海东部目前活跃的塞浦路斯弧区，它正处于从俯冲到大陆碰撞的过渡阶段。我们最近的工作记录了在过去的1500万年中，随着汇聚方向旋转45度，盆地沉积和变形的模式发生了变化。现在，计划是在塞浦路斯和希腊弧线的交界处获取、处理和解释4000公里的地震反射数据。弧形连接是非常动态的板块角落，通常是极端表面起伏的地方(例如，5公里深的罗兹盆地)，但人们对此知之甚少。这些数据将为了解这一特定角落的历史提供新的见解，并概括为板块相互作用中最不为人所知的方面之一。这些过程的机制支持了减少它们构成的自然灾害和开发它们可能包含的资源的尝试。因此，这项研究将有助于对基本板块过程感兴趣的地质学家、参与应对地质灾害的地质学家以及寻找碳氢化合物能源的地质学家。

When the tectonic plates of Earth's surface collide, or are pulled apart, they create deep depressions (that usually fill with sediments) and/or high mountains. This program is about imaging (by advanced echo sounding) and interpreting plate tectonic processes as they occur, or shortly afterwards, in two contrasted areas.The first is the continental edge of Atlantic Canada, which formed by extension and seafloor spreading over 100 million years ago (not long, geologically). This edge preserves a geological record of the events, and hosts significant hydrocarbons. The Newfoundland margin and its Iberian conjugate form a well-studied pair with unusually wide (>100 km) continent-ocean transitions. Recent drilling of the Newfoundland margin found exhumed mantle material, matching similar rocks discovered on the conjugate. Earlier ideas of asymmetrical extension need to be revised! Processing and interpretation of additional seismic data will enable us to delineate the sedimentary basins and transition zones more clearly, and to reconstruct how the margin formed.The second area is the presently-active Cyprus arc in the eastern Mediterranean, which is in transition from subduction to continental collision. Our recent work has documented changing patterns of basin sedimentation and deformation as the convergence direction rotated 45 degrees in the last 15 million years. Now, the intention is to acquire, process and interpret 4000 km of seismic reflection data, at the junction of the Cyprus and Hellenic arcs. Arc junctions are very dynamic plate corners, often the sites of extreme surface relief (e.g., the 5-km deep Rhodes Basin), but poorly understood. These data will provide new insights into the history of this particular corner and, by generalization, into one of the least well-understood aspects of plate interactions.The mechanics of these processes underpin attempts to reduce the natural hazards they pose, and to exploit the resources they may contain. So this research will aid geologists interested in fundamental plate processes, those involved in coping with geological hazards, and those searching for hydrocarbon energy resources.