| NSF Org: |
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 2, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 2, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1458184 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Robin Reichlin
EAR Division Of Earth Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | July 23, 2014 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $70,005.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $70,005.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
800 W MAIN ST WHITEWATER WI US 53190-1705 (262)472-5289 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
800 West Main Street Whitewater WI US 53190-1705 |
| 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): | STUDIES OF THE EARTHS DEEP INT |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| 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
Earth's continents have been assembled via amalgamation of land masses over geologic time, eventually forming stable continental interiors, with associated tectonic activity and deformation typically isolated to the periphery of the continent. Over time, successive episodes of deformation in the form of extension, compression, magmatism, accretion, and rifting have left the sub-continental upper mantle with a complex signature of thermal and chemical variability. Many ancient continental areas have been modified by relatively recent dynamic processes, for example active volcanism, rifting, and subduction at continental edges contribute to a complex sub-continental mantle. Of particular interest is the history and influence of melting, melt production, melt migration, and melt storage in sub-continental upper mantle, as it provides a window into past and present dynamical processes, including the formation of continents. This multi-disciplinary project will provide a systematic and geographically-detailed investigation of the dynamical, chemical, and thermal processes at work within the sub-continental upper mantle and their relationships to past and present melting within the Earth. The research team links a primarily undergraduate institution with a research institution and will include training of a postdoctoral researcher, undergraduate researchers through online and face-to-face research collaborations. These connections will be strengthened through long-term cross-institutional research experiences and the inclusion of a pre-service teacher working with the researchers to develop curricular activities describing Earth structure for high school and undergraduate classrooms.
This two-year project will develop and apply rock physics models of melt, material mineralogies, and rheologies against observables provided by complementary seismic approaches, providing a comprehensive characterization of the velocity and density structure within the sub-continental upper mantle. The team will investigate the hypothesis that seismic signatures within the sub-continental upper mantle are relatable to past or current episodes of partial melting, and that they bear the fingerprints of thermal, chemical, and dynamical processes brought about by convective motions and mantle flow, both past and present. They will decipher these signals by: 1) using four seismic tools sensitive to absolute shear and compressional wavespeeds, their relative variations, as well as impedance contrasts, discontinuity sharpness, and anisotropic structure, 2) through geodynamic modeling of the seismic observables to quantify whether the presence of melt (or remnant, frozen-in melt) is consistent with the observed seismic structures, and 3) comparison of the inferred models to predictions for mantle rheology, electrical conductivity, temperatures, and composition, and the relationship of variations in these parameters to tectonic evolution and dynamical settings.
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.
This intellectual merit of this project investigated the interior structure of the Earth (specifically, Earth’s mantle), focusing on regions beneath continents. Wave energy from earthquakes was used to analyze variability in Earth’s interior to identify the fingerprints of thermal and chemical processes related to mantle flow, both in the past and present.
A large portion of this grant focused on undergraduate training and mentoring. A geology and a physics undergraduate student from a small, undergraduate-only institution each spent 10-week internships working a research university to gain technical experience in geophysical techniques. This was structured using a tiered mentoring program between faculty members, staff, and graduate students at the research university paired with the undergraduate students from the smaller institution. One of these students chose to pursue a career in the discipline, a sign that the mentoring structure was successful and supportive. Both of the undergraduates who participated in this 10-week program were able to present their results at a national scientific conference. Additional publications related to this research are expected in the future.
The other mentoring component was in curriculum and instruction, and this was a major focus of the broader impacts of the project. Two pre-service teachers (undergraduate students preparing for an education degree) worked to develop activities and lesson plans that incorporated basic concepts from the primary research component into activities for children. The goal was to help students visualize Earth structure in both two and three dimensions, both for Earth’s surface (map vs globe, for example), and Earth’s interior. The lessons were designed for elementary schoolers, but include suggestions for how to adapt the lessons to be appropriate for middle and high school students. The lessons also include links to the Next Generation Science Standards, to make it easier for current teachers to identify where these activities may support their in-class content.
Last Modified: 11/02/2017
Modified by: Anna M Courtier
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