Ravi Kanda's Home Page

Research Interests

I want to model lithospheric deformation at convergent plate margins to infer the rheology of the crust and upper mantle over timescales of thousands to millions of years. My hope is to constrain the rheology of the fault-zone as well as the bulk rheology of the accretionary prism, continental and/or oceanic crust, and upper mantle, consistent with the evolution of surface topography over this wide range of timescales. Towards this end, I want to use geodetic, seismic, and geologic data to constrain rheology in the context of semi-analytical and/or numerical models of mechanical deformation. Other process that can significantly affect crustal strength (and hence, crustal rheology) include fluid and heat transport. I want to model hydrothermal processes within the context of crustal deformation near both convergent and divergent plate margins. I also want to understand the energy efficiency of subduction, and its implications for the rheology of the upper and lower mantle. This is linked to the bigger problem of long-term cooling of the Earth's interior. I am therefore interested in the physical mechanisms that control the structure and composition of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) region, as well as the shape, structure, and rheology of the D'' layer.