Blog: New View of Tectonic Plates

New View of Tectonic Plates
California Institute of Technology (08/26/10) Svitil, Kathy

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) have developed algorithms that can simultaneously model the earth's mantle flow, analyze large-scale tectonic plate motions, and simulate the behavior of individual fault zones. The researchers say that together the algorithms produce an unprecedented view of plate tectonics and the forces that drive it. The research "illustrates the interplay between making important advances in science and pushing the envelope of computational science," says Caltech's Michael Gurnis. The researchers used a technique called Adaptive Mesh Refinement to create the algorithms. The algorithms "allow for adaptivity in a way that scales to the hundreds of thousands of processor cores of the largest supercomputers available today," says UTA's Carsten Burstedde. The algorithms helped the researchers simulate global mantle flow and how it manifests as plate tectonics and the motion of individual faults. The investigators found that anomalous rapid motion of microplates emerged from the simulations. Another surprising result of the research was that much of the energy dissipation occurs deep within the earth's interior.

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