NSFGEO-NERC: The Cracking of a Craton: Understanding Volatile Release during Continental Breakup

挥发性元素（氢、碳、氮）在固体地球的长期演化和生命的最终出现中发挥了重要作用。在地球历史上，挥发物——包括“微量挥发物”，如惰性气体——通过俯冲和火山作用在地球表面、地壳和地幔储层之间运输。大陆克拉通相对稳定，可能代表着一个大的、但约束较差的挥发性储层（例如，Sherwood Lollar et al., 2014）。当克拉通被主要的火山和/或裂谷事件破坏时，它们会释放大量的挥发物到地壳和大气中。此类事件还释放出经济上重要的气体（如氦和H2），这些气体长期储存在稳定的克拉通中（例如，Ballentine and Burnard 2002; Lowenstern et al., 2014）。这项提议的目的是确定控制克拉通挥发性生产、通过地壳迁移和以渗漏形式在地表释放的地质过程。

Volatile elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen) played an essential role in the secular evolution of the solid Earth and the eventual emergence of life. Over Earth history, volatiles - including "trace volatiles" such as noble gases - have been transported between Earth's surface, crust, and mantle reservoirs, via subduction and volcanism. Continental cratons are relatively stable and potentially represent a large, yet poorly-constrained volatile reservoir (e.g., Sherwood Lollar et al., 2014). When cratons are disrupted by major volcanic and/or rifting events, they release large amounts of volatiles into Earth's crust and atmosphere. Such events also release economically important gases (e.g., helium and H2), which have long been stored in the stable craton (e.g., Ballentine and Burnard 2002; Lowenstern et al., 2014). The objective of this proposal is to determine the geological processes that control volatile production in the craton, migration through the crust and release at the surface in the form of seeps.