Origin of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle

我提出了一个研究计划，涉及科罗拉多高原纳瓦霍火山场地幔捕虏体的岩石学和地球化学（包括稳定同位素研究和年龄测定）。这些样品的特征介于由金伯利岩带到地表的包体套件和位于活跃大陆边缘化石俯冲带或缝合带的高压变质海洋岩石圈碎屑中已知的地幔物质之间。通过对纳瓦霍捕虏体的研究，我们将进一步了解导致大陆深部地幔根形成的过程。此外，这些数据将对科罗拉多高原如何以及何时上升到目前高度的长期问题产生影响，以及通常是什么原因导致大陆高原隆起。

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.