Geodynamics of the active continental mantle lithosphere

拟议的研究将调查活动的大陆地幔岩石圈(即次地壳岩石圈)的动力学及其与地壳构造的关系。地幔岩石圈是构造板块的最大组成部分，但与上覆地壳和下部流体地幔相比，其演化研究较少，了解也较少。该研究计划将通过解决大陆地幔岩石圈在构造上活动的三个环境中的问题，在我们对地球这一部分的理解上取得切实的进展：(1)大陆板块碰撞时消耗的地幔岩石圈板块会发生什么？(2)地球周围不同位置的大块地幔岩石圈是如何/为什么消失的？(3)太古代地球萌芽时期不同的自然(大气、固体地球)环境如何改变地幔岩石圈的行为方式？该研究计划将试图通过一种跨学科的“自上而下”的方法来回答这些问题，在这种方法中，计算和实验室动态地球过程模拟的新技术将与相关的地质/大地测量/地球物理观测约束相结合。

The proposed research will investigate the dynamics of the active continental mantle lithosphere (i.e., sub-crustal lithosphere) and its relationship to crustal tectonics. The mantle lithosphere makes up the largest component member of the tectonic plates, but compared to the overlying crust and fluid mantle below, its evolution is little studied and poorly understood. The research program will make tangible advancements in our understanding of this part of the Earth by addressing questions in three environments where continental mantle lithosphere is/was tectonically active: (1) what happens to consumed mantle lithosphere plate at a continental plate collision?; (2) How/why are large blocks of mantle lithosphere missing at various locations around the Earth?; (3) How did the different natural (atmospheric, solid Earth) environment during the Earth's infancy in the Archean change the way mantle lithosphere behaved? The research program will try to answer these questions by a cross-disciplinary "top-down" methodology, wherein new and developing techniques of computational and laboratory modeling of dynamic Earth processes will be integrated with associated geological/geodetic/geophysical observational constraints.