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Three-Dimensional Modeling Of Continental Subduction And The Evolution Of Ultra High Pressure Metamorphism, Peter O. Koons

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This project investigates driving forces and material behavior associated with continental subduction and ultra high-pressure metamorphism through an integration of numerical modeling of continental subduction and structural/petrological evolution of the material caught in the collision. The natural ultra high-pressure and high-pressure assemblages of the Western Gneiss of Norway provide rheological, geometric and geochronological information for the modeling, while the active obliquely convergent plate boundary of central New Zealand serves as a modern analog of a collision-subduction transition. Continental subduction zones represent regions where the crust-mantle interaction changes from nearly horizontal to dominantly vertical, accentuating the competing influences of body and …