NSF Career Award

CAREER grants provide investigators with funding to conduct research and to develop educational programming in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for K-12 students, university students and members of the public.

Jadamec will construct high-resolution 3D models to simulate the forces governing plate tectonics in the Pacific Rim of Fire. The Rim of Fire consists of a series of subduction zone faults that form a rough horseshoe-shaped zone along the edges of the Pacific Ocean, affecting the volcanic and seismic hazards of major population centers in numerous countries.

Plate tectonic theory predicts that in subduction zones, where the Earth’s tectonic plates collide and denser plates descend into the Earth’s mantle, arc volcanoes should occur on the Earth’s surface directly above the downgoing plate. However, along the Rim of Fire, arc volcanoes also occur on the sides of subduction zones, a phenomenon that cannot be explained by a 2D application of plate tectonic theory.

Jadamec’s project will use data-driven model design to produce high-fidelity models of the Rim of Fire, enabling her team to test a new hypothesis for the physical mechanism generating subduction-edge volcanoes. The models will also examine outstanding questions in plate tectonics in terms of how coupled the Earth’s plates are to the underlying upper mantle. The numerical simulations will be run on tens of thousands of computing cores and use 3D virtual reality to interactively explore the data.  

Jadamec will develop a suite of teaching modules at UB to facilitate experiential learning through the incorporation of numerical simulations and 3D virtual reality. Jadamec will also partner with the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois, to produce 3D visualizations of Rim of Fire subduction zones, enabling people to explore plate boundaries through virtual voyages in planetariums.