Collaborative Research: Petrological controls on continental uplift: static- and reactive-transport modeling of hydration-driven de-densification

在其他稳定的低洼大陆内部形成广阔、高海拔高原的地质过程，人们知之甚少。然而，这种抬升可以对整个地球系统的许多方面产生深远的影响，包括大气环流和生物多样性。最终，高原隆起的原因是由地壳和岩石圈内部的深层过程驱动的，但由于难以接近，这些过程仍然是谜。最近提出的一项假说认为，向名义上干燥的下地壳添加含水流体和/或水可能引起矿物反应，从而导致密度和体积的显著变化，从而导致膨胀，从而导致表面隆起。然而，这些变化的幅度作为岩石组成、流体添加比例和地表以下深度的函数是无法量化的。该研究通过对从美国科罗拉多高原收集的岩石进行实验室分析和计算建模来解决这一知识差距，从而产生了一个新的预测工具箱，可以在全球任何地质情景下限制地壳水化的地形影响。这项研究将培养一名新的博士生和两名来自代表性不足背景的本科生，并促进两名美国早期职业研究人员之间的新合作。由于缺乏现实的模拟框架来量化中-下地壳变质条件下流体-岩石相互作用的岩石物理效应，因此对地壳水化作用的构造作用知之甚少。本研究旨在直接解决这一问题，采用最新开发的算法，利用平衡热力学量化开放和封闭岩石系统的演化。将产生一维和二维算法，量化压力、温度、岩石体积密度、水化状态和表面隆起之间的关系，这可以应用于任何发生流体-岩石相互作用的地壳环境。这也将处理封闭系统和开放系统的地质情景，考虑小规模和短期流体流入（如岩浆结晶）到大规模、连续流体流入（如俯冲板块的脱挥发）。对洲际高原形成的预测将通过测量从科罗拉多高原地壳不同层次暴露的自然样品中的矿物成分和水分含量，通过电子探针微分析、电子背散射衍射和二次离子质谱测定来证实。这一研究结果将有助于解释其在新生代隆升的动力，以及从法拉龙板块俯冲释放的流体在中间岩石圈地幔和下/中大陆地壳之间的分割程度。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The geological processes that form broad, high-elevation plateaus in otherwise stable and low-lying continental interiors are poorly understood. Yet, such uplift can have profound effects on many aspects of the whole earth system, including atmospheric circulation and biodiversity. Ultimately, the causes of plateau uplift are driven by deep-seated processes within the Earth's crust and lithosphere, but due to inaccessibility, such processes remain enigmatic. A recently proposed hypothesis suggests that the addition of hydrous fluids and/or water to nominally dry lower crust could cause mineral reactions that result in significant changes in density and volume, leading to expansion and therefore surface uplift. However, the magnitude of these changes as functions of rock composition, proportion of fluid added, and depth below the Earth's surface are unquantified. The proposed study addresses this knowledge gap by performing laboratory analysis on rocks collected from the Colorado Plateau, USA, and computational modeling to produce a new predictive toolbox that can constrain the topographic effects of crustal hydration in any geological scenario worldwide. This research will train one new PhD student, two undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, and promote new collaboration between two US-based early-career researchers.The tectonic effects of crustal hydration are poorly understood, owing to the absence of realistic modeling frameworks for quantifying the petrophysical effects of fluid-rock interaction at middle- to lower-crustal metamorphic conditions. This research aims to directly address this issue by employing recently developed algorithms that quantify the evolution of open and closed petrological systems using equilibrium thermodynamics. Both 1-D and 2-D algorithms will be produced that quantify the relationships between pressure, temperature, bulk-rock density, hydration state, and surface uplift, which can be applied to any crustal environment where fluid-rock interaction takes place. This will also address both closed- and open-system geological scenarios, considering small-scale and short-term fluid influx (e.g. crystallizing magmas) to large-scale, continuous fluid influx (e.g. devolatilization of a subducting slab). Predictions made for intercontinental plateau formation will be ground-truthed by measuring mineral compositions and water contents within natural samples exposed from different levels of the Colorado Plateau crust, as determined by electron probe microanalysis, electron backscatter diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results of this work will assist in deciphering the driving force for its uplift during the Cenozoic and the extent to which fluids released from the subducted Farallon slab were partitioned between the intermediate lithospheric mantle and the lower/middle continental crust.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.