Assessment of the Degree of Synchroneity of Magmatic Events Within and Between the Circum-Pacific and Mediterranean Regions During the Last 40 MA

该项目的两个主要目标是确定(1)在过去40万年的岩浆活动中是否存在系统的全球尺度模式；(2)岩石圈下岩石形成过程的性质模式识别研究。研究方法包括汇编和评估所有已发表的环太平洋和地中海地区40 Ma至今的火成岩（主要是火山岩）辐射测年资料，然后对这些资料进行统计分析。一项由美国国家科学基金会支持的为期两年的试点研究已经确立了这些方法的有效性，并为认识北环太平洋地区岩浆活动的几种统计意义显著的模式提供了基础。为了评估全球意义并为了解岩石圈下的影响提供更可靠的基础，本研究将涵盖整个环太平洋和地中海（即远远超出单一板块的影响）。因此，这些先前定义的模式将在更大的区域进行测试，火山事件与板块运动、磁极反转、垂直隆起事件和其他全球范围的构造事件之间可能的相关性将得到评估。

The two major goals of this project are to determine (1) if there are systematic global scale patterns in the magmatic activity of the past 40 m.y., and (2) the nature of sub-lithospheric petrogenetic processes pattern recognition study. The methods of study include compilation and assessment of all the published radiometric dates of igneous rocks (mainly volcanic) in the Circum-Pacific and Mediterranean regions, for the time interval 40 Ma to present, followed by statistical analysis of the data. A two-year NSF supported pilot study has established the validity of the methods and provided a basis for recognizing several statistically-significant patterns in the magmatic activity of the northern Circum-Pacific belt. To evaluate global significance and provide a sounder basis for understanding sub-lithospheric influence, the present study will cover the entire Circum-Pacific and to Mediterranean (i.e. well beyond the influence of a single plate). Thus these previously defined patterns will be tested over a much larger area, and possible correlations of volcanic episodes with plate motions, magnetic polarity reversals, episodes of vertical uplift, and other global scale tectonic events will be evaluated.