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High performance computing and the development of algorithms for modeling convection and other processes in the earth's mantle

GGAM Colloquium

Speaker: Gerry Puckett, UC Davis, Dept. of Mathematics
Location: 1147 MSB
Start time: Thu, Feb 28 2019, 1:55PM

Convection in the Earth’s mantle drives the motion of tectonic plates, which accommodate differential plate motions through highly localized boundary deformation. Classic examples of plate boundaries include subduction zones, strike-slip faults and mid-ocean ridges, which are responsible for earthquakes, volcanism, and many of the other features we observe on the surface of the Earth. I will briefly describe the work that my research group and our collaborators are engaged in to improve computational models of tectonics in the solid Earth, which extends from from the core mantle boundary to the surface of the Earth. Time permitting, I will also describe the implementation of these models in a (very large) open source computer program with adaptive mesh refinement that is full parallelized and designed to run on some of the most advanced “super computers” currently available.