Experiments on Strength of the Earth

PI将通过在高达100 GPa和5000K的压力-温度条件下对晶体和非晶态矿物进行实验，为地幔的强度和蠕变流变学提供新的约束条件。这个实验室在过去几年里发展起来的新实验技术现在使这种研究成为可能。室温下的结果已经表明，在晶体和亚稳液体（即玻璃态）相中，流变学受到压力和压力诱导的转变的显著影响。这项工作将为全球变形过程提供第一个实验约束，对我们理解地球的热、化学和地球动力学演化具有深远的意义。

The PI will provide new constraints on the strength and creep rheology of the Earth's mantle by carrying out experiments on crystalline and amorphous minerals at pressure-temperature conditions ranging up to 100 GPa and 5000K. Novel experimental techniques developed in this laboratory during the past few years now make such research possible. Results at room temperature already demonstrate that rheology is significantly affected by pressure and by pressure-induced transformations, both in crystalline and in metastable liquid (i.e., glassy) phases. The work would provide the first experimental constraints on global deformation processes, with far-reaching implications for our understanding of the thermal, chemical, and geodynamic evolution of the Earth.