Origin of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle

我提出了一项研究计划，涉及科罗拉多高原纳瓦霍火山场地幔包体的岩石学和地球化学(包括稳定同位素调查和年龄测定)。这些样品的特征介于已知的地幔物质之间，这些物质来自金伯利岩带到地表的捕虏体套体，以及位于活动大陆边缘或缝合带的化石俯冲带中的高压变质大洋岩石圈的碎片。通过对纳瓦霍捕虏体的研究，我们将促进我们对导致大陆深部地幔根形成的过程的理解。此外，这些数据将涉及科罗拉多高原如何以及何时上升到目前的高度这一长期存在的问题，以及总体上是什么导致大陆高原抬升。

I propose a research program involving the petrology and geochemistry (including stable isotope investigations and age dating) of mantle xenoliths from the Navajo Volcanic Field on the Colorado Plateau. These samples have characteristics that are intermediate between mantle materials known from xenoliths suites brought to the surface by kimberlites and from slivers of high-pressure metamorphosed oceanic lithosphere emplaced in fossil subductions zones at active continental margins or in suture zones. Through a study of the Navajo xenoliths we will advance our understanding of the processes that led to the formation of the deep mantle roots of continents. Furthermore, these data will bear on the long-standing question of how and when the Colorado Plateau rose to its present elevation, as well as what causes uplift of continental plateaux in general.