Team Awarded 2.5 Million CPU Hours on NSF-Funded Supercomputer to Conduct Research
Over 621 miles below the western United States lies what geologists believe are the remains of a lost ocean, sinking toward the center of the Earth. These fragments of the Earth鈥檚 crust formed the westernmost portion of North America during the Mesozoic Era, but researchers don鈥檛 have a clear explanation of their origin.
A team of geoscientists at the 葫芦影业 led by Lorenzo Colli, assistant professor in the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has been awarded 2.5 million Central Processing Unit (CPU) hours by the National Science Foundation for use of its high-end computing system, Stampede2, to investigate this 鈥済eologic conundrum.鈥�
, the flagship supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas at Austin, is considered one of the most powerful in the world. It provides scientists computing resources vital to achieving research goals. The monetary value of these awarded resources is more than $2 million. That amounts to one year of continuous research 鈥� priceless for Colli and collaborators Jonny Wu, assistant professor, and doctoral student Spencer Fuston in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.
The UH researchers will 颅use Stampede2 to simulate mantle convection, or the churning of hot ductile rocks in the Earth鈥檚 deep interior, through geologic time, which will take them back 230 million years ago to the Triassic period.
鈥淲e can build a plate reconstruction that we think fits where this 鈥榣ost ocean鈥� is positioned, and how long the remains have been there,鈥� Fuston explained. 鈥淭hen the supercomputer will simulate our plate reconstruction all the way to the present day and will allow us to compare against what the Earth鈥檚 mantle looks like in present day.鈥�
This information could help address heated debates related to the configuration of lost ocean basins that were present offshore in western North America during the time of dinosaurs. These topics are key to mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.
鈥淭he research will also allow us to improve our models and better understand how the Earth鈥檚 interior behaves,鈥� said Colli. 鈥淚n the long term, the data will help us in dealing with earthquake forecasts and assessing the risk of earthquakes.鈥�
- Sara Tubbs, University Media Relations