| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 10, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 17, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1220453 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
David Fountain
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2012 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $381,675.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $381,675.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2014 = $128,543.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
438 WHITNEY RD EXTENSION UNIT 1133 STORRS CT US 06269-9018 (860)486-3622 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
CT US 06269-1133 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
Tectonics, International Research Collab |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
This project, in collaboration with scientists from Taiwan, will study of the deformation, exhumation, and landscape evolution of the Central Range of Taiwan with focus on recently recognized patches of low relief at high elevations that straddle the crest of the range and stand in stark contrast to the steep and rugged topography predicted for an orogenic system considered to have reached steady-state topography. The research team will test the idea that these areas of low relief are uplifted remnants of a relict landscape that formed prior to a recent transient acceleration in rock uplift rate and that the acceleration in uplift was driven by crustal-scale imbrication as suggested by preliminary interpretations of seismic tomographic analyses. To test these linked hypotheses, the team will carry out three related lines of research: 1) geomorphology and cosmogenic analyses (detailed analysis of the topography; detailed field mapping of fluvial terraces; and determination of erosion rates for the areas of low relief primarily using 10Be); 2) field-based and crustal-scale kinematic analyses (documentation of the spatial distribution, relative age, and orientation of outcrop-scale faults and kinematics; determination of the dominant deformation mechanisms; and inversion of fault earthquake data for the shape and orientation of the strain ellipsoid); 3) thermochronometry studies. The integrated dataset from this study has the potential to transform understanding of the crustal deformation and landscape evolution of one of the type examples of an active, arc-continent collision.
Taiwan represents one of the most active tectonic environments on Earth. The island marks the collision between the Luzon volcanic arc and the passive margin of Asia and for decades the collision has motivated geodynamic models to explain the evolution of many mountain belts around the world. The paradigm for Taiwan is that the obliquity between the northeast-southwest trending passive margin and the north-south trending volcanic arc has led to steady southward propagation of the mountain belt and a time-for-space equivalence so that cross sections of the belt can be treated as time slices for different stages in a characteristic evolution. Moreover, the relatively constant width of the orogen has led numerous workers to argue for a topographic steady state where the influx of material is balanced by erosion. This project aims to examine the idea that the mountain belt is punctuated by episodic events that perturb the steady state system.
This project is supported by the Earth Sciences Division Tectonics Program and the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
We proposed a collaborative, international research program that focused on three hypotheses:
(1) Areas of subdued topography perched on the crest of the southern Central Range, Taiwan, represent a relict landscape that formed prior to a recent acceleration in mountain building, or rock uplift.
(2) The southern Central Range displays along-strike changes in deformation from dominantly normally faulting in the central of the belt to a vertical gradient with extension at shallow levels and shortening at depth in the south.
(3) Taken together, subdued topography and structural analysis suggest a coupled lithospheric response between plate convergence and collision in Taiwan ~1 to 3 Ma.
We also designed the program to have significant broader impacts to the community through undergraduate and graduate education and outreach activities to an international community.
In addressing the research objectives we: published 6 manuscripts in peer-reviewed, international journals; advised a PhD and MS student (both graduated and are either employed or enrolled in a PhD program); and 2 senior theses (one was an Honors thesis and the second as a female). The primary results of the research are described below.
Published research results:
Hsu, W.-H., Byrne, T., Ouimet, W., Lee, Y.-H., Chen, Y.-G., Van Soest, M., and Hodges, K., 2016, Pleistocene onset of rapid, punctuated exhumation in the eastern Central Range of the Taiwan orogenic belt: Geology, v. 44, no. 9, p. 719.
Huang, C., Byrne, T., Ouimet, W., Lin, C.-W., Hu, J.-C., Fei, L.-Y., and Wang, Y.-B., 2016, Tectonic foliations and the distribution of landslides in the southern Central Range, Taiwan: Tectonophysics.10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.004
Lee, Y.-H., Byrne, T., Wang, W.-H., Lo, W., and Rau, R.-J., 2015, Simultaneous mountain building in the Taiwan orogenic belt: Geology, v. 43, p. 447-450.
Derrieux, F., Siame, L., Bourlés, D., Chen, R.-F., Braucher, R., Léanni, L., Lee, J.-C., Chu, H.-T., and Byrne, T., 2014, How fast is the denudation of the Taiwan Mountain belt? : Journal of East Asian Sciences.10.1016/j.jseaes.2014.03.012
Huang, C., and Byrne, T., 2014, Tectonic evolution of a major tectonostratigraphic boundary in an active accretionary wedge: an example from the Tulungwan Fault, southern Taiwan: Journal of Structural Geology.10.1016/j.jsg.2014.06.007
Chuang, L. Y., Chen, K. H., Wech, A., Byrne, T., and Peng, W., 2014, Ambient tremors in a collisional orogenic belt: Geophysical Research Letters.10.1002/2014GL059476
Research Summary
The research allowed us for the first time to determine the timing of initial exhumation (~4-5 Ma) and show that the more recent exhumation history is characterized by a rapid acceleration at about 1.5 Ma. We have also documented for the first time that the mountain belt grows by crustal-scale imbrication (recorded by seismic tremors and active surface deformation), rather than by progressive imbrication of sedimentary rocks. Both results are significant and will transform the way we, and future generations of geoscientists, look at and study mountain belts.
Broader Impacts:
As part of the boarder impacts we:
(1) Taught several hundred students about the importance of understanding geologic hazards (e.g., earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions)
(2) Gave ~30 undergraduate students field experience in geologic mapping and understanding geologic hazards in one of the world’s most active tectonic environments (Taiwan)
(3) Presented our research results and their societal implications at international conferences around the world (US, Taiwan, Japan).
Last Modified: 12/19/2016
Modified by: Timothy B Byrne
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