Small amounts of melting in the silicate part of the Earth's deep interior exert a disproportionate influence on the physical and chemical properties of rocks. Melt is often distributed in tubes, disks, or pockets, whose dimensions are as small as the fraction of the width of a human hair. Relative abundance of these different shapes of melt units depend on both the dynamic environment of melting and chemical composition of the melts. The signature of melt geometry, an averaged description of melt distribution in these various units, is sampled by earthquake waves passing through these regions. Deciphering the signals of these earthquake waves, one can find out about the processes associated with melting in the deep Earth.

In this project, we continue to develop a new theoretical toolbox, `microgeodynamics', to address the issues of detection of partial melting in the Earth?s interior and dynamics of melt storage and segregation. We will study the influence of melt volume fraction, wetting behavior, and deformation on the physical properties such as elastic moduli and melt mobility using a SemiAnalytical Model (SAM) and a Boundary Elements Model (BEM). The output of these models, dynamic melt geometry, will be processed to explain observed anomalies in various physical properties in the Earth's deep interior.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Earth Sciences (EAR)
Application #
1215800
Program Officer
Robin Reichlin
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2019-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$191,077
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland College Park
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
College Park
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
20742