Three-Dimensional Kinematics and Mechanics of Oblique Convergence and Divergence

小行星9628381 主要的造山带发生在刚性板块或块体之间相互作用的地带，这些板块或块体相互匡威或斜向分开。 在斜向会聚区，材料既能承受横跨带的缩短，又能承受平行于带的横向剪切。 在上地壳中，这种变形并不均匀，收缩结构的缩短方向垂直于造山带，同时存在平行于造山带的走滑断层。 这种走滑分割现象发生在俯冲和大陆碰撞带的各种尺度上，但至今还没有一个明确的力学解释。 这个项目的目的是检验这一假设，即走滑分割是内在相关的非平面应变性质的变形在斜向构造。 通过结合运动学模拟与一系列的物理和数值实验，走滑分割的动力学进行了研究。 研究结果有望提高对上地壳走滑分划基本机制的认识。

9628381 Tikoff Major orogenic belts occur at zones of interaction between rigid plates or blocks which converse or diverge obliquely relative to one another. At zones of oblique convergence, material accommodates both shortening across the belt and lateral shearing parallel to the belt. In the upper crust this deformation is not accommodated homogeneously, with contraction structures having shortening directions perpendicular to the orogen coexisting with strike-slip faults oriented parallel to the belt. This phenomena of strike-slip partitioning occurs at subduction and continental collision zones on a variety of scales, but as yet does not have a clear mechanical explanation. The objective of this project is to test the hypothesis that strike-slip partitioning is inherently related to the nonplane-strain character of deformation in oblique tectonics. By combining kinematic modeling with a series of physical and numerical experiments, the dynamics of strike-slip partitioning will be investigated. Results are expected to improve the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of strike-slip partitioning in the upper crust.