Studies of Mantle Plumes and Sinking Lithosphere

[218923]奥康奈尔这项研究是为了研究黏度变化较大的地幔中的流动。这包括地幔柱的上升，以及强大的岩石圈作为俯冲板块的下沉。目的是了解地幔柱上升的动力学是如何与地幔的流变和热特性相关的，以及它们如何与地核-地幔边界、过渡带和地球表面相互作用。另一个目的是了解下沉板块的变形，将它们的地震活动性和形状与地幔的结构和动力学联系起来，并确定板块如何与过渡带中的流变和热力学边界相互作用。问题的分析将使用边界积分方法，该方法允许通过大位移和变形遵循内部边界，并使一些三维俯冲和羽流问题的处理变得可行。将该方法推广到处理相边界。＊＊＊

9218923 O'Connell The research is to study flow in the mantle where large viscosity variations are present. This includes the rise of plumes through the mantle, and the sinking of strong lithosphere as subducted slabs. The aim is to understand how the dynamics of the ascent of plumes is related to the rheological and thermal properties of the mantle, and how they interact with the core- mantle boundary, the transition zone and the Earth's surface. Another aim is to understand the deformation of sinking slabs, and to relate their seismicity and shape to the structure and dynamics of the mantle, and to determine how slabs interact with rheological and thermodynamic boundaries in the transition zone. The analysis of the problems will use the boundary integral method, which allows internal boundaries to be followed through large displacements and deformations, and makes the treatment of some three-dimensional subduction and plume problems feasible. The method will be extended to treat a phase boundary. ***