Shun-ichiro Karato – författare

Though the deep interior of the Earth (and other terrestrial planets) is inaccessible to humans, we are able to combine observational, experimental and computational (theoretical) studies to begin to understand the role of the deep Earth in the dynamics and evolution of the planet. This book brings together a series of reviews of key areas in this important and vibrant field of studies.A range of material properties, including phase transformations and rheological properties, influences the way in which material is circulated within the planet. This circulation re-distributes key materials such as volatiles that affect the pattern of materials circulation. The understanding of deep Earth structure and dynamics is a key to the understanding of evolution and dynamics of terrestrial planets, including planets orbiting other stars.This book contains chapters on deep Earth materials, compositional models, and geophysical studies of material circulation which together provide an invaluable synthesis of deep Earth research.Readership: advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers in geophysics, mineral physics and geochemistry.

This graduate textbook presents a comprehensive, unified treatment of the materials science of deformation as applied to solid Earth geophysics and geology. The deformation of Earth materials is presented in a systematic way covering elastic, anelastic and viscous deformation. Advanced discussions on relevant debates are also included to bring readers a full picture of science in this interdisciplinary area. This textbook is ideal for graduate courses on the rheology and dynamics of solid Earth, and includes review questions with solutions so readers can monitor their understanding of the material presented. It is also a much-needed reference for geoscientists in many fields including geology, geophysics, geochemistry, materials science, mineralogy and ceramics.

Forty years ago when plate tectonics was first discovered, there was a major shift in thinking in the Earth Sciences. Little was known at that time about the deep mantle because of the lack of knowledge about material properties, the absence of any seismic tomography or concepts such as mantle convection. Thus the theory of platetectonicswasbuiltonsurfaceobservationsandkinematicconstraints.Thetheory of plate tectonics is not independent but consists of several assumptions. Examples are the origin of arc magma, MORB or OIB, and the distribution of earthquakes and the plate margin processes are all part of plate tectonics theory. In the intervening years much progress has been made in all three burgeoning areas of mineral physics, seismic tomography and mantle dynamics, thanks to the technological advances in synchrotron radiation and supercomputers. Mineralphysicsstudieshaveprovidedsomeofthekeyparametersthatcontrolthe style of mantle convection. The style of convection in the Earth’s mantle is largely controlled by complex material properties including the changes in density and v- cosityassociatedwithalargevariationinthepressureandtemperatureoftheEarth’s interior. These key physical properties have become the target of both experimental andtheoreticalstudiesinmineralphysics.Startingfromtheearly90s,theadvancesin high-performance computational capability has allowed us to incorporate these m- eral physics findings into large-scale computational modeling of mantle convection; and these studies have highlighted the complexities of mantle convection caused by the variation in density due to both thermal and chemical anomalies (and viscosity) in the Earth’s deep interior.

Forty years ago when plate tectonics was first discovered, there was a major shift in thinking in the Earth Sciences. Little was known at that time about the deep mantle because of the lack of knowledge about material properties, the absence of any seismic tomography or concepts such as mantle convection. Thus the theory of platetectonicswasbuiltonsurfaceobservationsandkinematicconstraints.Thetheory of plate tectonics is not independent but consists of several assumptions. Examples are the origin of arc magma, MORB or OIB, and the distribution of earthquakes and the plate margin processes are all part of plate tectonics theory. In the intervening years much progress has been made in all three burgeoning areas of mineral physics, seismic tomography and mantle dynamics, thanks to the technological advances in synchrotron radiation and supercomputers. Mineralphysicsstudieshaveprovidedsomeofthekeyparametersthatcontrolthe style of mantle convection. The style of convection in the Earth’s mantle is largely controlled by complex material properties including the changes in density and v- cosityassociatedwithalargevariationinthepressureandtemperatureoftheEarth’s interior. These key physical properties have become the target of both experimental andtheoreticalstudiesinmineralphysics.Startingfromtheearly90s,theadvancesin high-performance computational capability has allowed us to incorporate these m- eral physics findings into large-scale computational modeling of mantle convection; and these studies have highlighted the complexities of mantle convection caused by the variation in density due to both thermal and chemical anomalies (and viscosity) in the Earth’s deep interior.

The study of the structure and dynamics of Earth's deep interior represents one of the most active frontiers of Earth sciences. This book provides a definitive summary of current research in this field, which is revealing many surprises. In a thorough, immensely informed, yet easy-to-understand presentation, Shun-ichiro Karato deftly integrates the atomic-level description of Earth materials that mineral physics addresses with global-scale modeling and observations on mantle and core dynamics that are the purview of seismology and geodynamics. He depicts an Earth whose interior is as active as its surface, and whose processes in the deep interior often control surface dynamics. The richly varied dynamic processes in Earth's deep interior can be understood only through a better understanding of the properties of materials under the conditions prevalent there, Karato emphasizes. Materials properties change dramatically in the deep interior, and this has decisive consequences on mantle convection, which is the engine of plate tectonics.The importance of the hydrogen in water in determining the structure of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is discussed, as is the role of phase transformation in controlling the density and plastic flow properties of Earth's materials. Models for enigmatic observations such as deep earthquakes and the anisotropic structures at the center of the Earth are covered in detail. The Dynamic Structure of the Deep Earth is an indispensable text for advanced-level undergraduate students and graduate students of Earth sciences, materials sciences, and physics.