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This research is aimed toward understanding processes that promote granite production in continental collisional orogens. The research applies metamorphic, structural and igneous petrology data from collisional terranes as the basis for numerical computer modeling of heat flow during various tectonic conditions.
Left diagram shows measurements of thermal diffusivity on a granulite and a mafic gneiss (data produced by Anne Hofmeister at Washington University).Right diagram shows model steady-state geotherms for the Bohemian Massif, one calculated with constant diffusivity of 1 mm2/sec, and one calculated with temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity.
Calculated temperature and strength profiles in the Himalaya orogen (from Nábělek & Nábělek, 2014) based on teleseismic data. In the bottom part, the stippled area is an observed region of partial melting while the cross-hatched areas are the predicted regions of partial melting.
Related Publications
Nabelek, P.I. and Liu, M. (1999) Leucogranites in the Black Hills of South Dakota: The consequence of shear heating during continental collision. Geology, 27, 523-526.
Nabelek, P.I., Liu, M., and Sirbescu, M. (2001) Thermo-rheological, shear-heating model for leucogranite generation, metamorphism, and deformation during the Proterozoic Trans-Hudson orogeny, Black Hills, South Dakota. Tectonophysics, 342, 371-388.
Nabelek, P.I. and Liu, M. (2004) Petrologic and thermal constraints on the origin of leucogranites in collisional orogens. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences. 95,73-85.
Whittington, A.G., Hofmeister, A.M., and Nabelek, P.I. (2009) Temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity of Earth’s crust and implications for magmatism. Nature, 458, 319-321.
Nabelek, P.I., Whittington, A.G., and Hofmeister, A. (2010) Strain-heating as a mechanism for partial melting and UHT metamorphism in convergent orogens: Implications of temperature-dependent diffusivity and rheology. J. Geophys. Res., 115, B12417, doi:10.1029/2010JB007727.
Nabelek, P.I., Hofmeister, A., Whittington, A.G. (2012) The influence of temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity on the conductive cooling rates of plutons and temperature-time paths in contact aureoles. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 317-318, 157–164.
Merriman, J.D., Whittington, A.G., Hofmeister, A.M., Nabelek, P.I., and Benn, K. (2013) Thermal transport properties of major Archean rock types to high temperature and implications for cratonic geotherms. Precambrian Research, 233, 358-372.
Nábělek, P.I., and Nábělek, J.L. (2014) Thermal characteristics of the Main Himalaya Thrust and the Indian lower crust with implications for crustal rheology and partial melting in the Himalaya orogen: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 395, 116–123.
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