Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The Earth is unique among the terrestrial planets in the solar system in that it has plate tectonics - the uppermost 150 to 250km thick layer (called the lithosphere) consists of many "plates" moving relative to each other above the underlying mantle. Plate movement causes earthquakes and volcanoes and is responsible for the formation of mountain belts and ocean basins. Human beings live on the lithosphere and derive energy, mineral, and other resources from it. Despite its close relationship to humanity, it remains incompletely understood how the continental lithosphere deforms in response to plate movement over long time (more than millions of years) and vast space (comparable to the size of a continent like the North America) scales. Two complementary approaches are applied to advance our understanding: One involves laboratory experiments on lithospheric materials under as close to natural conditions as possible. The other which is the one followed by this applicant is to study the "signatures" of ancient lithospheric deformation recorded in rocks which are called "deformation structures", and to model the development of these structures by computers. This proposal requests funds to support my research on intra-continental deformation using the east part of the North China Craton as a field example. The research will involve students at both graduate and undergraduate levels, combining scientific investigation with the training of new scientists.