Project Grant 2218695

This five-year, $252,329 National Science Foundation project grant funds research towards developing a new framework for interpreting mantle deformation. The grantee, the University of California Santa Barbara under the NSF's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), will integrate theory, experiments, and observations spanning seismic to convective timescales. Researchers will characterize frequency-dependent upper-mantle dissipation in three locations using seismic and geodetic observations. Experiments will investigate how dislocations affect transient creep under varying conditions. Modeling will develop new constitutive laws for transient creep. The project aims to illuminate microphysical processes controlling viscoelasticity and implications for inferences from geodetic and seismic observations. It includes training twelve students and a workshop convening 120 researchers to outline advances in understanding transient rheology and shape future inquiries.