COLLOQUIUM
Tuesday November 30, 2010
12:00 P.M.–1:00 P.m.
Room SB 3130 (Council Chambers) @ University of Toronto Mississauga
Julian Lowman
University of Toronto Scarborough
“MODELLING THE FEEDBACK BETWEEN MANTLE CONVECTION AND TECTONIC PLATES”
Mantle convection influences the Earth's topography and gravitational field, the geodynamo, the formation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources and the planet's climatic system. Consequently, it is even responsible for influencing cycles of environmental and biological evolution. Modern parallel computing clusters have made it feasible to study 3D mantle convection on time scales of billions of years. Numerical models tailored to take advantage of parallel machines are used to examine problems where the need for large computational grids and long integration times are critical. As a result, it has become possible to solve problems once considered intractable from a computational standpoint. Here, I describe some of the findings from recent studies examining the feedback between mantle convection, tectonic plates and supercontinent assembly. I also discuss the differences between mixed heating mode convection in rectangular and spherical systems.
No comments:
Post a Comment