Collaborative Research: The Southern Sierra Continental Dynamics Project

该项目涉及多学科（地震， 沿沿着和横跨内华达州山脉的大地电磁）断面， 为了检查这些岩石之下的地壳和上地幔 山脉 主要调查人员希望解决原因 内华达州山脉的隆升及其与邻近地区的关系 死亡谷延伸省和圣华金南部 盆地 目前，两个端元模型的隆起范围 已经提交。 它们是：（a）均衡补偿 地壳深根和（B）软流圈上涌 与向东延伸有关。 这两个模型具有 从根本上不同的后果的动态行为 大陆，特别是地壳 部分或者（a）用来自上部的材料进行底镀 地幔或（B）弱化和挤压填充在伸展空隙中。 除了类似的隆起和相关的延伸之外， 世界各地的山脉，全球重要的例子 通过分辨率可以更好地理解的功能 Sierran的根本问题包括：控制方式的因素， 硅铝质基底推覆体的分离;碰撞带如何坍塌 以及大陆内部的断层如何 莫霍面和莫霍面以外的区域。

This project involves multidisciplinary (seismic, magnetotelluric) transects along and across the Sierra Nevada in order to examine the crust and upper mantle beneath these mountains. The principal investigators hope to resolve the cause of uplift of the Sierra Nevada and its relation to the adjoining Death Valley extensional province and the southern San Joaquin basin. Currently, two end-member models for uplift of the range have been presented. These are: (a) isostatic compensation of a deep crustal root and (b) upwelling of the asthenosphere associated with extension to the east. These two models have fundamentally different consequences for the dynamic behavior of the continents, particularly in the manner in which crustal sections are either (a) underplated by materials from the upper mantle or (b) weakened and extruded to fill in extensional voids. In addition to the uplift and related extension of comparable mountain ranges worldwide, examples of globally significant features that will be better understood by resolution of the Sierran root question include: factors controlling the manner in which sialic basement nappes detach; how collision zones collapse under their own burden; and how intracontinental transform faults partition strain to and beyond the Moho.