The Thermo-Chemical State and Thermo-Tectonic Evolution of Cratons and Deep Cratonic Lithosphere

大陆克拉通是一个在十亿年的时间里保持构造稳定的区域。许多地幔子也与同样长时间与地幔循环隔离的厚岩石圈有关。对地幔稳定性和深部地幔岩石圈寿命的影响因素的认识是弥补大陆构造学和地幔动力学研究之间差距的相关问题。为了解决这些问题，研究人员将限制现今的热化学结构，并探讨地壳和地幔岩石圈的热构造演化下几个地幔。他们将与来自蒙特利尔和澳大利亚的合作者合作，收集和编译加拿大地盾和西澳大利亚的超声波岩石圈热模型的数据约束。然后，他们将开发数据约束模型，为当今的热化学结构的岩石圈在这些地区。来自对流地幔的热量将以完全自洽的方式处理，并将探讨岩石圈结构的垂直和横向变化。研究人员还将直接与面向数据的同事合作，收集、分析和综合所有可以约束目标分子进化的数据。然后，他们将探索耦合地幔对流和大陆构造的模型，以隔离的因素，使长寿的深地幔岩石圈和稳定的地幔地壳。这将使用一个强大的新的数值模拟工具来完成，该工具旨在弥合地幔对流建模和大陆构造建模之间的差距。先进的建模方法，加上将带来的数据，对手头的问题，将使这个团队开发严格的和可测试的模型，解决大陆地壳的岩石圈的寿命在一个自我一致的方式。

Adrian Lenardic A continental craton is a region that has remained tectonically stable for on the order of a billion years. Many cratons are also associated with thick lithosphere that has been isolated from mantle recycling for an equally long period of time. Understanding the factors that provide for the stability of cratons and for the longevity of deep cratonic lithosphere are related issues that bridge the gap between studies of continental tectonics and of mantle dynamics. To address these issues, the investigators will constrain the present day thermo-chemical structure and explore the thermo-tectonic evolution of the crust and mantle lithosphere below several cratons. They will work with collaborators from Montreal and Australia to collect and compile data constraints for thermal models of the cratonic lithosphere in the Canadian Shield and in Western Australia. They will then develop data constrained models for the present day thermo-chemical structure of cratonic lithosphere within these regions. The heat that comes from the convecting mantle will be treated in a fully self-consistent way and both vertical and lateral variations in lithospheric structure will be explored. The researchers will also work directly with data oriented colleagues to collect, analyse, and synthesize all the data that can constrain the evolution of target cratons. They will then explore models of coupled mantle convection and continental tectonics to isolate the factors that allow for the longevity of deep cratonic lithosphere and the stability of cratonic crust. This will be accomplished using a powerful new numerical simulation tool that has been designed to bridge the gap between mantle convection modeling and continental tectonics modeling. The advanced modeling methodology, together with the data that will be brought to bear on the problem at hand, will allow this team to develop rigorous and testable models that address the cratonization of continental crust and the longevity of cratonic lithosphere in a self-consistent manner.