CAREER: Rheology of Materials of Earth's Mantle: High-end Computational/Visualization Research and Education

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal aims to systematically apply ideas and techniques of computer and materials sciences to challenging problems in the theoretical investigation of fundamental issues of Earth materials. One such issue is to understand the rheological properties of the component materials of Earth's mantle at geophysically relevant pressure and temperature conditions that are still experimentally inaccessible. Rheology is a key factor, which has strong influence on the complicated mantle dynamics implied by seismological observations and other sources. Large-scale atomistic simulations will be performed on massively parallel machines using a combination of first-principles quantum mechanical (QM), classical molecular dynamics (MD) and hybrid QM/MD approaches. The simulations will predict several crucial rheology-related properties and processes in major silicate and oxide mantle minerals, including point defects, dislocations and associated long-range mechanical phenomena, and deformation of polycrystalline minerals under anisotropic stresses. The resulting massive multivariate datasets will be visualized in an immersive and interactive environment to gain insight into complex mechanical behavior of minerals. The aforementioned interdisciplinary research activities will be integrated into teaching/learning/training activities. They include training a new generation of students with expertise in computational and Earth materials sciences (through a dual-degree graduate program in computer and geosciences), developing an Access Grid-based remote teaching/learning environment (encompassing minority institutions in Louisiana) and organizing computational science workshop for underrepresented groups and Mardi Gras conference that have previously been organized at Louisiana State University (LSU). The successful execution of these activities will have broad substantive involvement of students and faculty including those from underrepresented groups in research and education at the interface of geopysics and information technology. The project will exploit the world-class 1024-processor Linux cluster, Immersadesk virtual reality, and Access Grid facilities recently acquired by LSU. --