CSEDI Collaborative Research: Electrical conductivity of deformed partially molten rocks: Implications for upper mantle structure and dynamics

该项目是对变形部分熔融岩石的电导率进行的实验室研究，以帮助了解板块构造的运作机制。组成地球岩石圈的刚性板块相对于下面的对流地幔的运动被认为促进了岩石圈下剪切岩石和/或部分熔融区的形成。 这种变形被认为可以解释在岩石圈以下深处检测到的地球物理异常，例如高电导率和低地震速度的区域。 已知部分熔体在剪切下重新分布成织构，其中熔体在剪切方向上聚集成具有强优选取向的带。 建议的实验旨在确定变形的部分熔融地幔岩石的电导率随剪切和取向而变化的方式。 研究结果将有助于理解岩石圈板块与下伏地幔的耦合机制以及控制板块构造的过程。 这项工作将涉及多学科的电导率签名调查，在相对于剪切方向的幅度和各向异性方面，部分熔融地幔岩石变形到高剪切应变相结合的相关性，现场电气测量。 上地幔部分熔融物质在高剪切应变下变形时，熔体的空间排列会产生高度各向异性的地球物理特征。在剪切实验中的熔体结构的演变，促进熔体丰富的带的形成，预计有显着的影响，体电导率和电各向异性，但这种影响还没有得到充分的实验研究。 将合成橄榄石熔体系统中的变形部分熔融样品，并在亚固相线和超固相线条件下，对这些样品的制备部分进行电导率测量，相对于最大施加的剪切应力进行取向。 熔体组合物将包括无水、含水和含碳酸盐的熔体。温度，压实长度和总剪切应变的影响将被调查。样品将通过光学和电子显微镜进行二维表征，并通过同步加速器X射线断层扫描进行三维表征。电测量将与样品的结构表征相结合，以开发基于几何结构的电导率模型，作为物理和化学参数的函数。我们将应用我们的电导率模型来解释场电数据。这些结果将有助于限制软流圈的性质和过程。

This project is a laboratory investigation of the electrical conductivity of deformed partially molten rocks to help understand the mechanisms by which plate tectonics operates. The motion of rigid plates that comprise Earth's lithosphere relative to the underlying convecting mantle is thought to promote the formation of sheared rock and/or partially molten zones beneath the lithosphere. This deformation has been suggested to explain geophysical anomalies detected at depths below the lithosphere, such as zones of high electrical conductivity and low seismic velocity. Partial melt is known to redistribute under shear into a texture in which melt is focused into bands with a strong preferred orientation in the direction of the shearing. The proposed experiments are designed to determine the manner in which the electrical conductivity of deformed partially molten mantle rocks varies with shear and orientation. The results will provide information that helps to understand the mechanisms of coupling of lithospheric plates with the underlying mantle and the processes that govern plate tectonics. This work will involve multidisciplinary investigation of the electrical conductivity signature, in terms of both magnitude and anisotropy relative to the shear direction, of partially molten mantle rocks deformed to high shear strain combined with correlation to field electrical measurements. Melt spatial arrangement in partially molten materials in the upper mantle can result in highly anisotropic geophysical signatures when the materials are deformed to high shear strains. The evolution of melt structure in shear experiments, promoting formation of melt-rich bands, is expected to have significant effects on both bulk conductivity and electrical anisotropy, but such effects have not been fully experimentally investigated. Deformed partially molten samples in the olivine-melt system will be synthesized and electrical conductivity measurements will be performed on prepared sections of these samples, oriented with respect to the maximum applied shear stress, under sub- and super-solidus conditions. Melt compositions will include anhydrous, hydrous and carbonate-bearing melts. The effects of temperature, compaction length and total shear strain will be investigated. Samples will be characterized in 2-D with optical and electron microscopy and in 3-D by synchrotron x-ray tomography. Electrical measurements will be combined with the textural characterization of the samples to develop geometry-based conductivity models as a function of physical and chemical parameters. We will apply our conductivity models to interpret field electrical data. These results will help constrain the nature of and processes in the asthenosphere.