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Main positions:Assistant Professor
Degree:Doctoral degree
Status:Employed
School/Department:School of Earth and Space Sciences

Nan ZHANG

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Gender: Male

Education Level: With Certificate of Graduation for Doctorate Study

Administrative Position: Assistant Professor

Alma Mater: University of Colorado

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Geodynamics, Supercontinent Dynamics
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Supercontinents are the most important geological events after plate tectonics initialization. Supercontinents signify self-organization in plate tectonics. Over the past ~2 billion years, three major supercontinents have been identified, with increasing age: Pangaea, Rodinia and Columbia. In a prototypal form, a cyclic pattern of continental assembly and breakup likely extends back to ~3 billion years ago, albeit on the smaller scale of Archaean supercratons, which, unlike global supercontinents, were tectonically segregated. The assembly and breakup of Pangaea attests that the supercontinent cycle is intimately linked with whole-mantle convection. The supercontinent cycle is, consequently, interpreted as both an effect and a cause of mantle convection, emphasizing the importance of both top-down and bottom-up geodynamics, and the coupling between them.


Our interest of geodynamics also includes: Dynamics of lithosphere and mantle; Interaction between mantle and core;Two-phase flows of silicate media; Dynamics of sedimentary basin;Evolution and structure of terrestrial planets and ice satellites; and Meterorite impact dynamics. Research foci below show details.