Conditions, rates and mechanisms of fundamental metamorphic processes

岩石结构和微观结构的起源是变质岩石学中最不为人所知的方面之一。然而，众所周知，它极大地影响了地壳的一些最基本的特性，比如它在塑性变形时的行为，它传播地震波的方式，或者响应构造过程的热异常形成和消散的速度。要求资助的研究将导致对控制岩石结构和微观结构形成的基本过程的理解提高到一个新的水平。这项研究将结合详细的岩石学和地质年代学调查，以及平衡和动力学模型，量化这些基本过程的速率、压力、温度和化学条件，包括成核、晶体生长、扩散和矿物溶解。

The origin of rock texture and microstructure is one of the least understood aspects of metamorphic petrology. Yet it is known that it drastically influences some of the most elemental properties of Earth’s crust such as its behavior during plastic deformation, the way it transmits seismic waves, or the rate with which thermal anomalies form and dissipate in response to tectonic processes. Funding is requested for research that will lead to a new level of understanding of the fundamental processes that govern the formation of rock texture and microstructure. This research will integrate detailed petrographic and geochronological investigations with equilibrium and kinetic modelling to quantify the rates and pressure, temperature and chemical conditions of these fundamental processes that include nucleation, crystal growth, diffusion and mineral dissolution.