There are two main thrusts to the research. The first is to support collaboration between the Principal Investigator and Professor Claude Allegre, University of Paris, on the interpretation of isotopic and other geochemical data in terms of mantle convection and related processes. The object is to understand how mantle dynamics leads to the geochemical signitures of mid-ocean ridge basalts, ocean island basalts, island arc volcanism, and continental volcanism. An important question is whether mantle convection is "chaotic" and the implications of chaotic convection. A second major thrust of the research is to support collaboration between the Principal Investigator and Professor David Spence, Imperial College, on the mechanisms of magma fracture.
