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Paul Tackley, Professor of Geophysics and Planetary Physics |
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Courses Taught |
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ESS 9
ESS 134
ESS 136
ESS 200A
ESS 202
ESS 286C
ESS 287
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Current Research Interest |
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| | I am interested in the structure, dynamics and
evolution of Earth and other terrestrial bodies, particularly as related to convective
processes in the mantle, and lithospheric dynamics. My approach emphasizes numerical
simulation, using state-of-the-art numerical methods and high performance (massively-parallel
+ Beowulf) supercomputers to obtain more realistic, three-dimensional numerical
models of dynamical processes than previously possible. Specific recent or ongoing
projects include: - Developing integrated, self-consistent models of
plate tectonics and mantle convection- a long-standing problem in geodynamics.
Temperature-dependent viscosity by itself leads to a rigid, immobile lithosphere
('single-plate planet')- additional rheological complexities are necessary to
allow plates to form. I have developed some of the first 3-D models in which plates
form in such a manner.
- Thermo-chemical convection, including the possibility
of deep chemical layering, and the thermo-chemical evolution of Earth and other
terrestrial planets. The melting associated with plate tectonics causes mantle
differentiation, whereas convection causes mantle mixing, and the complex interaction
between these two opposing processes is what determines the planet's evolution.
- Asthenospheric dynamics and the Yellowstone hotspot. Partial melting
in the asthenosphere results in buoyancy sources that can drive flow and cause
further melting. This could be an explanation explanation to deep mantle plumes
for certain hotspots and other volcanism on Earth. Even if the heat source is
a deep plume, these compositional effects will strongly modulate what happens
in the melting region.
- Plume dynamics and plume-lithosphere interaction.
Previous mantle plume models usually assume rather small viscosity contrasts and
linear rheology, and are often 2-D (axisymmetric). When you allow more realistic
rheology and three-dimensionality, things can be quite different, as we have been
discovering!
- Continental collisional dynamics. A planned effort is to
model the India:Asia collision.
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Education |
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| | B.A., 1987, Cambridge University, England
M.S., 1991, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D., 1994, California Institute of Technology |
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Selected Publications |
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| | Tackley, P.J., D.J. Stevenson, G.A. Glatzmaier, and G. Schubert,
Effects of an endothermic phase-transition at 670 km depth in a spherical model
of convection in the earth's mantle, Nature, 361 (6414), 699-704, 1993. |
| | Tackley, P.J., and D.J. Stevenson, A mechanism for spontaneous
self-perpetuating volcanism on the terrestrial planets, in Flow and Creep in the
Solar System: Observations, Modeling and Theory, edited by D.B. Stone and S.K.
Runcorn, pp. 307-322, Kluwer, 1993. | | | Tackley, P.J.,
Effects of strongly variable viscosity on three-dimensional compressible convection
in planetary mantles, Journal of Geophysical Research., 101, 3311-3332, 1996. | | | Tackley,
P.J., On the ability of phase transitions and viscosity layering to induce long-wavelength
heterogeneity in the mantle, Geophysical Research Lett., 23, 1985-1988, 1996.
| | | Tackley, P.J., Three-dimensional simulations of mantle
convection with a thermochemical CMB boundary layer: D"?, in The Core-Mantle Boundary
Region, edited by Gurnis.et. al., pp. 231-253, American Geophysical Union, 1998c.
| | | Tackley, P.J., Mantle convection and plate tectonics:
Towards an integrated physical and chemical theory, Science, 288, 2002-2007, 2000
| | | Tackley, P.J., Self-consistent generation of tectonic
plates in time-dependent, three-dimensional mantle convection simulations, part
1: Pseudoplastic yielding, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Volume 1, 2000. | | | Tackley,
P.J., Self-consistent generation of tectonic plates in time-dependent, three-dimensional
mantle convection simulations, part 2: Strain weakening and asthenosphere, Geochemistry,
Geophysics, Geosystems, Volume 1, 2000. | | | Tackley, P.J.,
G. Schubert, G.A. Glatzmaier, P. Schenk, J.T. Ratcliffe and J.-P. Matas, Three-dimensional
spherical simulations of mantle convection in Io, Icarus, in press, 2000. | | | Full
publication list at: http://artemis.ess.ucla.edu/~pjt/bibliography.html
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Graduate Students |
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| | Shunxing Xie
sxie@ess.ucla.edu
http://www2.ess.ucla.edu/~sxie/sxie.html | | | John
Hernlund
hernlund@ess.ucla.edu |
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