COLLABORATIVE RESARCH: The Role of Gravitational Potential Energy in the Deformation of the Western United States

9725192 Sonder岩石圈板块内部的变形不如板块间相互作用时的变形了解得多。由于板块相互作用而产生的外源力不能完全造成板块内部的变形，岩石圈浮力也有影响。这个项目的目的是评估岩石圈浮力对美国西部过去和现在的变形的贡献，在那里大量的数据可以使各种力量量化。这项工作包括将广泛的数学模型与各种观测参数相结合，从而可以估计重力势能。结果应允许确定变形对不同因素的敏感性，如流变变化和与板相互作用有关的边界力。验证和改进板块内重力势能和变形之间的这种关系，将提高对世界其他地区的驱动力和变形的理解。

9725192 Sonder Deformation within lithospheric plates in less well-understood than the deformations accompanying interaction between plates. Externally derived forces due to plate interactions can not be wholly responsible for the within-plate deformation, and include a contribution from lithospheric buoyancy forces. This project is aimed at assessing the contribution of lithospheric buoyancy forces to past and present deformation in the western United States, where an abundance of data may allow the various forces to quantified. The work involves a combination of extensive mathematical models coupled with various observational parameters that allow the gravitational potential energy to be estimated. Results should allow the determinations of the sensitivity of deformation to different factors such as variation of rheology and boundary forces related to plate interaction. Validation and refinement of this relationship between gravitational potential energy and deformation within a plate will improve understanding of driving forces and deformation in other parts of the world.