From subduction to sand: Quantifying the balance between tectonic and surface processes during early continental collision and UHP rock exhumation
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Environment, Earth & Ecosystems
Abstract
Many of the Earth's great mountain ranges, such as the Alps and the Himalaya, result from the collision between two continents. As mountains get pushed up by tectonic forces, they also get worn away by surface erosion. The uplift of topography causes long-term regional and global climate change, and conversely, changes in climate have also been linked to changes in the rate of tectonic processes. This project will define and quantify the competition between growth and erosion during the early stages of mountain uplift by exploiting a combination of state-of the art advances in numerical modelling and analytical techniques. During the early stages of continental collision, unusual (and diagnostic) rock types form under very high pressure conditions. Certain minerals in these rocks preserve details of the pressures and temperatures experienced during the journey from initial formation deep in the mantle, through their subsequent transport to the Earth's surface, their erosion, and their final deposition as sand grains in a sedimentary rock. The minerals retain distinctive chemical signatures which allows them to be distinguished from those formed in other rock types, even when eroded and turned into sand. Sand grains retain information about not only the original rock type, but also about details of the formation and transport history of the original rock. Unlocking this information will therefore yield insight into earlier stages of mountain belt growth history than is currently preserved in the bedrock record. However the methods needed to decipher these details are currently insufficiently precise to provide useful insight into changes in rates of tectonic or erosive processes, or constraints for the models. This project will therefore also develop and exploit innovative techniques for obtaining high-precision data from these high pressure rocks and their eroded remains. These data will enable the competing forces which act to shape a mountain belt during the early stages of formation to be quantified and allow the numerical models to be robustly tested. The unique contribution of this proposal lies in the combination of geodynamic numerical modelling with studies based on observational data and hence exploiting the synergy between these two, normally disparate, fields.
Organisations
Publications
Airaghi L
(2018)
Influence of dissolution/reprecipitation reactions on metamorphic greenschist to amphibolite facies mica 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages in the Longmen Shan (eastern Tibet)
in Journal of Metamorphic Geology
Greenwood L
(2015)
The geology and tectonics of central Bhutan
in Journal of the Geological Society
Grujic D
(2011)
Rapid synconvergent exhumation of Miocene-aged lower orogenic crust in the eastern Himalaya
in Lithosphere
Hopkinson T
(2019)
Evolution of the melt source during protracted crustal anatexis: An example from the Bhutan Himalaya
in Geology
McDonald C
(2019)
Determining cooling rates from mica 40 Ar/ 39 Ar thermochronology data: Effect of cooling path shape
in Terra Nova
McDonald C
(2018)
Recycling argon through metamorphic reactions: The record in symplectites
in Lithos
Mottram C
(2014)
Tectonic interleaving along the Main Central Thrust, Sikkim Himalaya
in Journal of the Geological Society
Description | One of the key findings of this research was determining how and when metamorphic rocks record the rates and timescales of their formation and transport deep underground. I did this by developing new insights into how to link the isotopic signature ('time') in geochronometer minerals with trace elemental fingerprints of their growth and destruction in the main rock-forming minerals. I have also developed new tools for understanding how rocks record the timing of their transport back to the surface, and understanding when these temperature-related 'clocks' start ticking. My results have opened up new avenues for exploration in constraining rates and timescales of tectonic processes more tightly. My research is also opening up avenues for dating geological processes caused by or modified by fluid flow (including ore generation), and also constraining the rates and timescales of their formation. |
Exploitation Route | Useful for academia - tectonic processes modelling. Some potential for mining industry in terms of rare earth element cycling |
Sectors | Energy,Environment |
Description | I have published my findings in international, peer-reviewed journals. I have presented my work at international conferences to my peers, and I have worked with local schools to boost the uptake of science amongst teenagers. |
First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
Sector | Education,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | NERC DTP and CDT 'added value activities in innovation' |
Amount | £149,755 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2016 |
End | 07/2017 |
Description | NERC DTP and CDT 'added value activities' |
Amount | £142,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2014 |
End | 04/2015 |
Description | Open UNiversity Charter Studentships |
Amount | £75,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Open University |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 10/2014 |
Description | Christmas schools lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 200 children attended the OU Science Christmas lectures, in which 4 academics from different subject areas and at different career stages presented their work in an engaging manner. There was also a Q+A afterwards I have been asked by many of the networked schools to talk to school kids about careers in science |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/per/?p=1791 |
Description | Denbigh school careers day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I was asked to run a series of sessions on career opportunities in the geo-sciences for a schools science career day. I ran 8 x 30 minute sessions for 13-14 year olds. The sessions generated much discussion. I was later contacted by one of the students to ask about work experience |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Public lecture (Lapworth) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 50 people attended my public lecture at the Lapworth museum, Birmingham. The talk sparked questions and discussion. I was later contacted by a student who wished to write a report on my talk for their seminar module (4th year) and also by an Open University (distance learning) MSc student who wished to work with some of my samples for their MSc dissertation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/lapworth-museum/events/lectures.aspx |
Description | St Pauls School talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I gave a talk as part of one of the local schools "science matters" talks. There were about 40 people in the audience, of whom about 10 were school children and 30 from the general public. The talk sparked lots of questions and discussion afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |