MT Survey of the Kaapvaal Craton

我们对大陆演化的理解的核心是更好地理解地幔如何参与了古代克拉通的生长和稳定。这是一个项目，涉及一系列横跨南部非洲Kaapvaal克拉通及其边界地体的大地电磁断面，探测具有足够台站密度的地壳、岩石圈和软流层，以提供克拉通的三维横截面电子图像。地幔的电结构受到热结构、石墨和溶解氢等导电相存在的影响，在适用的情况下，还受到互连熔体的影响。许多被认为与大陆吸积有关的过程导致了MT调查可以帮助识别的特征几何和结构。实验是一项国际合作，美国和加拿大的PI与非洲的科学家合作，也有来自德国的同事参与。这些专业人员将与南非学者和学生密切合作，对他们进行大地电磁测深数据采集、数据处理和建模方面的培训。该项目是由之前的一个多学科大陆动力学项目推动的，该项目旨在研究卡普瓦尔克拉通的结构和演化。投资促进机构将在项目第二年主办一次讲习班，在讲习班上，他们将把自己的成果与前一个Kaapva项目的成果结合起来。

0309584EvansCentral to our understanding of continental evolution is providing a better understanding of how the mantle participated in the growth and stabilization of ancient cratons. This is a project involving a series of magnetotelluric (MT) transects crossing the Kaapvaal craton in southern Africa and its bounding terranes, probing the crust, lithosphere and asthenosphere with sufficient station density to provide a 3D cross sectional electrical image of the craton. The electrical structure of the mantle is impacted by thermal structure, by the presence of conducting phases such as graphite and dissolved hydrogen, and where applicable, by interconnected melt. Many of the processes thought to be involved in continental accretion result in characteristic geometries and structures that MT surveys can help identify.The experiment is an international collaboration, involving US and Canadian PIs working with scientists in Africa and also involving colleagues from Germany. The PIs will collaborate closely with South African academics and students and they will train them in MT data acquisition, data processing and modeling. The project has been motivated by a previous multi-disciplinary Continental Dynamics project to study the structure and evolution of the Kaapvaal craton. The PIs will host a workshop in the second year of the project at which they will integrate their results with those of the previous Kaapvaal project.