Title: Innovations in Thermochronology applied to the Andean natural laboratory (ITAL)

Scientific Person In Charge: Massimiliano Zattin | Programme: PRIN 2022 - DM 104/22 per scorrimento graduatorie

Total Contribution € 100.800,00 | Project Duration: 24 months

Many Earth processes result in a change in Earth's thermal structure, which can be revealed by changes of distinct geochemical and isotopic fingerprints from minerals and rocks. A transformative advance in Earth science is the development of thermochronology, which utilizes such fingerprints to quantify the thermal evolution of rocks through time as they move through the Earth's shallow crust. Low-temperature thermochronology has become a key element of tectonics, geomorphology, and sedimentary system research as it helps our understanding of how Earth materials deform, fault zones evolve, sedimentary basins and continental margins develop, Earth's surface responds to mantle flow, and orogens are built and decay through the interplay of tectonic and erosional processes. This project aims to develop a methodological approach, based mainly on the analysis of sediments, that could provide primary constraints to study the dynamic Earth response to tectonic and climatic forcing. We selected the Andes as our laboratory because, within a single geodynamic setting, they show varying subducting slab geometry, different topography, relief evolution and climate conditions. The research will be carried out along transects between southern Peru and central Chile, where the present geodynamic framework is constrained by geophysical information on the lithospheric and upper-mantle structure, while geological data provide a record of the position of the subducting slab through time. Four Work Packages (WP) are conceived: WP1 – Innovation in thermochronology: new detrital dating tools (U-Pb on apatite; single-grain multiple dating) and integration with other techniques (single-grain geochemistry, zircon U-Pb dating coupled with Raman spectroscopy); new statistical modelling for detrital thermochronology and thermal modelling. WP2 – Topography, drainage evolution and climate: quantification of surface uplift through dating and quantitative analysis of marine terraces, river networks and topography; spatio-temporal reconstruction of pattern of erosion to evaluate tectonic, surface processes, bedrock erodibility contribution to topography evolution. WP3 – Tectonic and thermokinematic evolution: quantification of the rate and amount of deformation; integration of deformation history, topographic evolution and thermal history of the crust into a thermo-kinematic model. WP4 – Dissemination, outreach and synergic activities: teaching projects for schools; short course for PhD and postdoc researchers. Activities will be performed in collaboration with geologists from Peru and Chile.