The Surface Manifestation of Mantle Topography

Supervisor: Nicky White

My project involves studying the vertical surface expression of mantle convection (dynamic topography), initially in the oceanic realm.

Rising plumes act to support the overlying crust at higher elevations, such as can be observed in the very long wavelength topography high over mantle swells such as Hawaii and Iceland. Similarly downwelling regions drawdown the overlying crust which has been observed in places such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Northwest Shelf of Australia.

The first task is to map the present-day dynamic topography, which is done using the extensively studied age-depth evolution of oceanic lithosphere.

The next steps involve finding methods of extracting the history of vertical motions such as from the subsidence record, integrating these results with any onshore observations, and attempting to relate these surface effects with mantle processes. The initial areas that we have been studying include the margins of Australia and India.

 


Last updated on 17-Oct-12 12:23