Collaborative Research: Structure and Composition of Oceanic Lithosphere and the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere Boundary

合作研究：海洋岩石圈的结构和组成以及岩石圈/软流圈边界

• 批准号: 0928270
• 负责人: James Gaherty
• 金额: $ 35.33万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-03-01 至 2015-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0928270&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Structure; Composition; Oceanic

The lithosphere is the Earth's rocky outer shell. Lithospheric 'plates' drift over the Earth, carrying the continents, and large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur where the plates interact. Hence, understanding the lithosphere is central to our understanding of how the Earth works. The oceanic lithosphere, which covers some 70% of the Earth, is central to our understanding of global geodynamics and plate tectonics, but our understanding of its character (including composition and thickness) and the factors that control them is poor. Variations of seismic and electrical properties of the Earth are indicators of compositional variations. The aim of this project is to use the most up-to-date seismic and electromagnetic methods to address two fundamental questions about the lithosphere that lies beneath the Pacific basin: What factors control the seismic structure of the lithosphere, and what defines the base of the lithosphere? The broader impacts of this work include improved understanding of factors such as the composition of the lithosphere that affect volcanic eruptions, great earthquakes and tsunamis that threaten heavily populated areas in Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere around the Pacific Rim.

岩石圈是地球的岩石外壳。岩石圈“板块”在地球上空漂移，承载着大陆，板块相互作用的地方会发生大地震和火山爆发。因此，了解岩石圈对于我们了解地球如何运作至关重要。海洋岩石圈覆盖了地球约 70% 的面积，是我们了解全球地球动力学和板块构造的核心，但我们对其特征（包括成分和厚度）以及控制它们的因素了解甚少。地球地震和电特性的变化是成分变化的指标。该项目的目的是利用最新的地震和电磁方法来解决有关太平洋盆地下方岩石圈的两个基本问题：哪些因素控制着岩石圈的地震结构，以及什么定义了岩石圈的基础岩石圈？这项工作的更广泛影响包括提高对影响火山喷发、大地震和海啸等因素的了解，这些因素威胁着阿拉斯加、太平洋西北地区和环太平洋其他地区人口稠密的地区。