Planetary Pulsations: Exploring Links between Superplumes, Supercontinents, and Superchrons with 3-D Spherical Mantle Convection Models

This project aims at understanding of how planets evolve by producing computer simulations of extreme events during the geologic histories of Earth and Mars. Such planetary-scale events defined the course for rest of the planet's evolution and dramatically influenced the global climate. These will be the first fully-resolved models in 3-D spherical geometry which include coupling between fundamental processes traditionally studied in isolation: volcanic activity, magnetic-field generation, and true polar wander (re-orientation of Earth about its rotation axis). The significant innovation is linking paleogeographic reconstructions with deep Earth simulations, leading to improved reconstructions for the period of history studied.