Collaborative Research: The Growth of the Tibetan Plateau - A Seismic Investigation of the Qilian Shan and Surrounding Tectonic Blocks

合作研究：青藏高原的生长——祁连山及周边构造块的地震调查

• 批准号: 0738779
• 负责人: Yang Shen
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-01 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0738779&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Growth; Tibetan; Plateau

The rise of the Tibetan plateau has profoundly changed the Earth's atmospheric circulation and climate. For this reason, it has been the prime site to understand the link between tectonics and climate change as well as the processes of continental collision. There are several competing hypotheses for the rise of the Tibetan plateau: a rapid and broad increase in the elevation of the plateau, an expansion of the plateau by continuous viscous flow of lower crust, or an expansion of the plateau by sequential and localized shear between coherent crust and mantle blocks. At the center of the competing scenarios is the question whether the plateau has grown upward en masse or outward over time. The best place to address this question is the northeast Tibetan plateau, where the plateau is at a nascent stage with features and dynamic processes in the crust and shallow mantle that are keys to the understanding of the mechanisms that may have operated for the entire Tibetan plateau.This collaborative project between U.S. and Chinese institutions acquires seismic data from the northeast Tibetan plateau. The research includes detailed studies to image the crust and mantle structures in the region, to test the current hypotheses against seismic observations, and to develop new models that integrate seismic observations and other geological constraints. The research also includes focused studies to analyze regional earthquake activity, which helps to mitigate earthquake hazards in one of the seismically most active areas in the interior of a continental plate.

藏族高原的崛起极大地改变了地球的大气循环和气候。 因此，它一直是了解构造与气候变化以及大陆碰撞过程之间的联系的主要站点。 藏族高原的崛起有几种相互竞争的假设：高原的高度快速而广泛地增加，高原通过下层壳的连续粘性流量扩大，或者通过相干壳和地形块之间的顺序剪切和局部化的剪切扩展。 在竞争场景的中心，高原是随着时间的推移而大集中还是向外发展的问题。 解决这个问题的最佳场所是藏族东北高原，高原处于一个新生的阶段，在地壳和浅层地壳中具有特征和动态过程，这是理解对整个藏族高原机制的关键。 该研究包括详细的研究，以形象图像该地区的地壳和地幔结构，以测试针对地震观测的当前假设，并开发出整合地震观测和其他地质约束的新模型。 该研究还包括针对分析区域地震活动的重点研究，这有助于减轻大陆板内部最活跃的地区之一的地震危害。