Tectonic mode switches and the nature of orogenesis

This project will integrate a range of methods to solve a significant problem, working across a vast range in scales to provide knowledge-based outcomes as to the nature of mountain building processes, and to answer a fundamental riddle in exploration geoscience. Why do switches from extension to shortening mode take place as orogens evolve? What are the shuffle zones that accommodate major reversals of movement? How does what we see at the surface reflect the 4D geometric evolution of subducting slabs at much greater depth? And why are gold and diamond deposits emplaced when mode switches take place?