The Early Stages of Granite Evolution: Extraction and Transport Through Ductile Crust

Granite genesis is the single most important process controlling the physico-chemical nature of continents. The key unresolved question in granite genesis is the nature of the physical link between lower-crustal granitic melt sources and upper-crustal granitic bodies. Melt extraction and transport are the crucial steps in this link. This project brings together an international team that will reformulate our views of the early stages of granite evolution by applying advanced numerical experiments capable of simulating complex feedback relations between energy, rheology and momentum, to study the non-linear interaction between ductile fractures and melt, and by testing and expanding these results through field-based research.