POLARIS – evolution of the Arctic in deep time

POLARIS will investigate how the circum-Arctic region has changed over deep geological time. The main aim is to build a digital Earth model back to the Devonian (420 Million years) with a focus on plate tectonics and whole mantle convection (geodynamic processes).

The Arctic is part of a 4-dimensional whole-Earth; it will integrate geological and geophysical datasets from the surface and interior, across a range scales (10s to 1000s km), in order to capture the strongly non-linear nature of mantle dynamics. Computational methods include using the fluid dynamics finite element code, ASPECT, which allows for adaptive mesh refinement. Large emphasis also on visualization.