The goal of the researh is to better understand how melts segregate from the mantle, with particular application to the Hawaiian Islands. The PI plans an analytical and numerical study of four model problems: 1) Melt segregation with suction, to determine whether melt segregation is driven primarily by differential buoyancy or by externally applied pressure gradients. 2) A finite-element study of thermal convection with melting, to evaluate the influence of latent heat and melt byoyancy on the dynamics of convection. 3) Dynamical-chemical models for the origin of the Hawaiian Islands, to test two possible explanations for the petrological/geochemical evolution of Hawaiian volcanic: chemical variations across a mantle plume, and interaction of the plume with the oceanic lithosphere. 4) Melting in ascending thermals, to determine how melting occurs in isolated buoyant parcels in the mantle. Funding at the revised level is recommended.
