. 24/7 Space News .
EARTH OBSERVATION
Supercomputing helps researchers understand Earth's interior
by Staff Writers
Chicago IL (SPX) May 26, 2017


Researchers created a three-dimensional representation of predicted slab geometry and mantle flow. The image outlines areas with a temperature at 300 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding mantle, with different colors representing different depths. Oceanic plates and slabs are semi-transparent, and continents are entirely transparent. Green arrows represent velocity vectors inside the mantle Credit Lijun Liu, University of Illinois.

Contrary to posters you may have seen hanging on the walls in science buildings and classrooms, Lijun Liu, professor of geology at Illinois, knows that Earth's interior is not like an onion.

While most textbooks demonstrate the outer surface of the Earth as the crust, the next inner level as the mantle, and then the most inner layer as the core, Liu said the reality isn't as clear-cut.

"It's not just in layers, because the Earth's interior is not stationary," Liu said.

In fact, underneath our feet there's tectonic activity that many scientists have been aware of, but Liu and his team have created a computer model to help better explain it - a model so effective that researchers believe it has the potential to predict where earthquakes and volcanoes will occur.

Using this model, Liu, along with doctoral student Jiashun Hu, and Manuele Faccenda from the University of Padua in Italy, recently published a research paper in the journal of Earth and Planetary Science Letters that focuses on the deep mantle and its relationship to plate tectonics.

"It's well-known that there are plate tectonics driving the Earth's evolution, but exactly how this process works is not entirely clear," he said.

Liu and Hu looked specifically at the continent of South America to determine which tectonic factors contribute to the deformation, or the evolution, of the mantle.

To answer this question, the team created a data-centric model using the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois. The sophisticated four-dimensional data-oriented geodynamic models are among the first of their kind.

"We are actually the first ones to use data assimilation models in studying mantle deformation, in an approach similar to weather forecasting," Liu said. "We are trying to produce a system model that simultaneously satisfies all the observations we have. We can then obtain a better understanding about dynamic processes of the Earth evolution."

While there are many debates in regards to how the Earth's internal evolution is driven, the model created by the team seemed to find an answer that better fits available observations and underlying physics. The team found that the subducting slab - a portion of the oceanic plate that slides beneath a continental plate - is the dominant driving force behind the deformation of the mantle.

Essentially, the active subduction of the slab determines most other processes that happen as part of a chain reaction. "The result is game-changing. The driving force of mantle flow is actually simpler than people thought," Liu said. "It is the most direct consequence of plate tectonics. When the slab subducts, it naturally controls everything surrounding it. In a way this is elegant, because it's simple."

By understanding this mechanism of Earth evolution, the team can make better predictions regarding the movement of the mantle and the lithosphere, or crust.

The team then evaluated the model's predictions using other data. Hu, the lead author on the paper, said that by comparing the predictions to tectonic activities such as the formation of mountains and volcanoes, a clear consistency emerged.

"We think our story is correct," Hu said.

Consequently, the model also provides interesting insight on the evolution of continents as far back as the Jurassic, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth on Pangaea, the only continent at the time. This is still the team's ongoing research.

Liu said that in a separate paper that uses the same simulation, published by Liu and Hu in Earth and Planetary Science Letters in 2016, the model provided an accurate prediction for why earthquakes happen in particular locations below South America. He explained that earthquakes aren't evenly spread within the subducting slab, meaning there are potentially areas where an earthquake is more or less likely to take place.

"We found that whenever you see a lack of earthquakes in a region, it corresponds to a hole in the slab," Liu said. "Because of the missing slab in the hole, there's no way to generate earthquakes, so we might be able to know where more earthquakes will take place."

The model also explained why certain volcanoes might exist further inland and have different compositions, despite the common thought that volcanoes should exist solely along the coast, as a result of water coming off the down-going slab. As the model helps explain, a volcano can form inland if the slab subducts at a shallower angle, and a hole in the shallow slab allows for a special type of magma to form by melting of the crust.

"Ultimately this model will provide a promising way of solving the question of how and why continents move the way they do," Liu said. "The answer should depend on what the mantle is doing. This is a way to much better understand Earth evolution."

The team is currently expanding the model to analyze the entire globe.

"We are looking forward to more exciting results," Liu said.

Research paper

EARTH OBSERVATION
Russia aims for 15 remote sensing satellites in orbit by 2020
Bocharov Ruchey, Russia (Sputnik) May 24, 2017
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the remote sensing technologies must be used to boost the Russian defense and security, develop the economy and social sphere, and increase the quality of the state's governance. The number of operating Russian remote sensing satellites orbiting the Earth will reach 15 by 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. Currently, a ... read more

Related Links
University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

EARTH OBSERVATION
DARPA Picks Design for Next-Generation Spaceplane

First Year of BEAM Demo Offers Valuable Data on Expandable Habitats

SDL-Supported SmallSat Launched from International Space Station

'Victory' for US astronauts on critical spacewalk to replace power box

EARTH OBSERVATION
Neptune: Neutralizer-free plasma propulsion

Dream Chaser Spacecraft Passes Major Milestone

NASA's Space Launch System Engine Testing Heats Up

Successful launch puts New Zealand in space race

EARTH OBSERVATION
Preparations Continue Before Driving into 'Perseverance Valley'

Student-Made Mars Rover Concepts Lift Off

Illinois Company Among Hundreds Supporting NASA Mission to Mars

Schiaparelli landing investigation completed

EARTH OBSERVATION
California Woman Charged for Trying to Hand Over Sensitive Space Tech to China

A cabin on the moon? China hones the lunar lifestyle

China tests 'Lunar Palace' as it eyes moon mission

China to conduct several manned space flights around 2020

EARTH OBSERVATION
AsiaSat 9 ready for shipment

SES Networks offers new hybrid resiliency service

Allied Minds' portfolio company BridgeSat raises $6 million in Series A financing

AIA report outlines policies needed to boost the US Space Industry competitiveness

EARTH OBSERVATION
Camera on NASA's Lunar Orbiter survived 2014 meteoroid hit

Arralis launches plug and play Ka band chipset

A new tool for discovering nanoporous materials

One-dimensional crystals for low-temperature thermoelectric cooling

EARTH OBSERVATION
Water forms superstructure around DNA, new study shows

Russia thinks microorganisms may be living outside the space station

NASA Scientist Parlays Experience to Build Ocean Worlds Instrument

The race to trace TRAPPIST-1h

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA's Juno probe forces 'rethink' on Jupiter

A whole new Jupiter with first science results from Juno

First Juno Science Results Supported by University's Jupiter 'Forecast'

First results from Juno show cyclones and massive magnetism









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.