Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C004574/1
Understanding Extension within a Convergent Orogen: Lithospheric Structure of the Pannonian Basin
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor G Houseman, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor G Stuart, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Natural Resource Management
- Global Change
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Survey & Monitoring
- Earth Resources
- Tectonic Processes
- Mantle & Core Processes
- Abstract:
- The Pannonian Basin was formed as a result of extension of the crust and lithosphere (the outer 100 km or so of the Earth) between about 20 and 15 million years ago. To understand why this occurred, and what is the present day structure in the outer few hundred km of the Earth beneath this basin, we need to: (A) run experiments on computer models that simulate the stress and strain-rate fields and deformation processes on geological timescales, and (B) make seismological measurements of the lithosphere and upper mantle in its present state. Using a new 3D computer model of viscous creeping flow in the Earth's crust and lithosphere, we will examine the mechanical and dynamical aspects of 3D flow models in which deformation is driven by gravitational overturn of an unstable stratification. Such models are constrained by observations of topography, gravity, deformation history, and seismology. We will also make new seismological measurements of remote earthquakes that will provide better images of the upper mantle beneath the Pannonian Basin than have previously been achieved. By recording distant earthquakes for a period of 1 year or more on recorders that we will place in Austria and Hungary, and analysing the paths on which the seismic energy travels, we can construct tomographic images (analogous to 3D pictures of the human body produced by an MRI scan) that will allow us to interpret the variation of physical properties in the upper mantle to depths of several hundred km beneath the basin. Seismological measurements can show directly how cold mantle has been replaced by hot, which can arise from gravitational overturn of an unstable layer. They can also show flow directions because, when rocks are sheared, waves may travel faster in one direction than in others. By integrating the results of numerical modelling and seismology, we plan to develop and test new and quantitative dynamical models of the extensional process and create a better understanding of how this classic geological province developed.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C004574/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £208,766
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Staff | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30,658 | £103,914 | £11,016 | £63,177 |
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