Conferences Archive


Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) Annual Meeting

Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011 — Friday, January 7, 2011

Location: Queens’ College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK

Web: http://www.vmsg2011.org/index

Includes the following sessions:

Volcanic margins

Convenor: David Pyle (david.pyle@earth.ox.ac.uk)

How is melt generated at volcanic margins? Where does it pond in the mantle and crust and how is it transported towards the surface? We invite contributions from geophysicists, geologists, petrologists and numerical modellers who are addressing these questions at ancient volcanic margins such as the north Atlantic, and also at embryonic margins such as Afar.

Keynote speaker: Bob White (University of Cambridge)

Crustal storage of magma

Convenor: Dan Morgan (d.j.morgan@leeds.ac.uk)

What happens when magma batches stall in the crust and accumulate in large magma chambers? How do replenishment and emptying of such bodies relate to the fluid dynamics of the magma body and surrounding crystal mush? How are these processes preserved in the intrusive and volcanic record? We welcome contributions aimed at addressing problems associated with the fluid dynamics of these open systems, including the effects of partial solidification and fractionation driven by cooling.

Keynote speaker: Jon Davidson (University of Durham)

Mantle processes

Convenor: Rob Ellam (r.ellam@suerc.ac.uk)

How are compositional heterogeneities in the convecting and/or lithospheric mantle reflected in the compositions and volumes of erupted melts? How do these compositional heterogeneities originate in the Earth’s interior? What are the controls on melt generation in the mantle? We welcome contributions from geochemists, petrologists and geophysicists who are addressing these questions and other aspects of mantle processes.

 Keynote speaker: Nick Rogers (Open University)

 



Geological Society of America (GSA) South-Central Section 45th Annual Meeting

Date: Monday, March 28, 2011 — Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Location: Chateau Bourbon Hotel, New Orleans, USA

Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/sc/2011mtg/index.htm

Includes the following sessions:

T1: Lithospheric evolution of southern Laurentia and the Gulf of Mexico

Convenors: Elizabeth Anthony (eanthony@geo.utep.edu), Jay Pulliam (jay_pulliam@baylor.edu)

The lithospheric amalgamation of southern Laurentia during the Proterozoic and its evolution through consequent cycles of continent collision and rifting provides fertile ground for scientists from the Gulf region and beyond. Session themes include supercontinent assembly and dismemberment, the enigmatic Mesoproterozoic magmatic event, and the development of the current Gulf of Mexico, site of one of the largest deltaic sediment accumulations on Earth. This session will synthesise recent findings and overview papers from both geology and geophysics to provide an integration of our understanding of this fascinating area. 



European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly

Date: Sunday, April 3, 2011 — Friday, April 8, 2011

Location: Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Web: http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2011/home.html

Includes the following sessions:

SSP1.7/GMPV56: LIPs: teleconnections between geological processes and mass extinctions

Convenors: Darren Grocke (d.r.grocke@durham.ac.uk), Henrik Svensen (hensven@fys.uio.no), Paul Wignall (p.b.wignall@leeds.ac.uk), Benjamin Black (bablack@mit.edu)

Increasing evidence links large igneous provinces, climate change, and extinction events throughout the Phanerozoic. This session addresses the possible links between these events, focusing on the geological mechanism and processes leading to environmental changes, like release of gases from magmas and from the sedimentary basins into which they intrude and through which they erupt. A main aim of the session is to merge proxy data and isotope studies with geological processes and extinction data and mechanisms. Papers are invited across the possible spectrum of investigations, which include petrology, isotope geochemistry, field measurements, biostratigraphy, geochronology, climate modelling, and geodynamics. The session encourages submissions particularly on the Siberian Traps and the end-Permian extinction, the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (CAMP) and Mesozoic oceanic anoxic events (Ontong Java and Caribbean), the KPg boundary (Deccan Traps) and the Cenozoic (North Atlantic).



Geological Society of America Joint Section Meeting: Rocky Mountain-Cordilleran

Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 — Friday, May 20, 2011

Location: Riverwoods Conference Center, Logan, USA

Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/rm/2011mtg/index.htm

Includes the following sessions:

7: Petrologic and geodynamic perspectives on non-arc volcanism in the western United States

Convenors: John Shervais (john.shervais@usu.edu), Tony Lowry (tony.lowry@usu.edu)



25th International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) General Assembly – Earth on the Edge: Science for a Sustainable Planet

Date: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 — Thursday, July 7, 2011

Location: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Web: http://www.iugg2011.com/

Includes the following sessions:

Symposium J-S05/J-V04: The Davies mantle: reconciling geophysical and geochemical perspectives

Convenors: Ian Jackson (ian.jackson@anu.edu.au), Ian Campbell (ian.campbell@anu.edu.au), Louis Moresi (louis.moresi@sci.monash.edu.au), Hans-Peter Bunge (bunge@lmu.de), Albrecht Hofmann (albrecht.hofmann@mpic.de)

This symposium, reflecting on the career-long contribution of Geoff Davies, is intended to provide an interdisciplinary forum for discussion of geophysical and geochemical constraints on mantle structure, chemical composition and dynamical processes. The separation of basaltic melt from refractory harzburgitic residue generates heterogeneity that is resistant to re-homogenization during subsequent mantle convection. Seismic tomography suggests that wavespeed heterogeneity is concentrated in the upper and lowermost parts of the mantle. Geochemical studies provide evidence of long-lived heterogeneity at various spatial scales. Numerical modelling of mantle convection favours at least episodic whole-mantle convection over the strictly layered alternative. Other topical issues include chemically equilibrated compositional models versus mechanical mixtures of components of contrasting chemical composition; melting of eclogite-pyroxenite lenses in a harzburgite mantle; the seismological observability of mantle plumes; the influence of pressure-induced electronic spin-pairing on wavespeed-depth gradients in the lower mantle; and the survival of heterogeneity in a vigorously convecting mantle.

Keynote speakers:

Rick Carlson (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
Cinzia Farnetani (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris)

Invited speakers (confirmed so far - more to come):

Bill McDonough (University of Maryland)
Eiichi Takahashi (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Shijie Zhong (University of Colorado)



21st Annual V.M. Goldschmidt Conference

Date: Sunday, August 14, 2011 — Friday, August 19, 2011

Location: Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic

Web: http://www.goldschmidt2011.org/

Includes the following sessions:

04a: Chemical geodynamics: 25 years of mantle components

Convenors: Albrecht Hofmann (albrecht.hofmann@mpic.de), Francis Albarede (francis.albarede@ens-lyon.fr), Matthew Jackson (jacksonm@bu.edu), Thorsten Becker (thorstinski@gmail.com)

In the 25 years since the publication of the landmark paper on chemical geodynamics by Zindler and Hart, more species have been proposed for the mantle zoo, but the relationship of this geochemical zoo to the geodynamics and petrology of the mantle remains a subject of lively debate. We invite contributions that investigate the creation, existence and sampling of mantle components and their geodynamic interpretation throughout the thermo-chemical history of the Earth's mantle.

Keynote: Stan Hart (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)

04c: Plumes, mid-ocean ridges, and plates: examining their role and interaction with observations and models

Convenors: Kaj Hoernle (khoernle@ifm-geomar.de), Anthony Koppers (akoppers@coas.oregonstate.edu), William Sager (sager@ocean.tamu.edu), Christoph Beier (christoph.beier@gzn.uni-erlangen.de)

Establishing the relative roles of plate-driven and plume-driven processes in the generation of mantle melting anomalies requires integration of geochemical, geophysical and geological observations to test models. We seek contributions that try to disentangle the effects of plate tectonics, mantle temperature, compositional heterogeneity and flow field in controlling mantle melting at mid-ocean ridges and within plates (seamounts, hotspot tracks and Large Igneous Provinces) on oceanic and continental crust/lithopshere. We encourage submissions from both the observational and modelling perspectives of these types of concepts.

04g: Merging experiments, models, and geochemical observations of mantle melting

Convenors: Paul Asimow (asimow@gps.caltech.edu), Claude Herzberg (herzberg@rci.rutgers.edu), Sebastien Pilet (sebastien.pilet@unil.ch)

Recent experimental, analytical and modelling studies have enhanced our understanding of the complexities of mantle melting beneath plate boundary and/or intraplate settings. We seek contributions that focus on mantle melting processes from the perspective(s) of new experimental, modelling and observational data.

Keynote speaker: Peter Kelemen (Columbia University)

04i: Origin of Large Igneous Provinces: linking geochemistry, geochronology, geophysics, geodynamics and climate modeling

Convenors: Alex Sobolev (alexander.sobolev@mpic.de), Andrea Marzoli (andrea.marzoli@unipd.it), Stephan Sobolev (stephan@gfz-potsdam.de), Fred Jourdan (f.jourdan@curtin.edu.au)

The Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are known for their enormous productivity of magma at areas of up to several million km2 in less than a few million years. They are likely associated with catastrophic thinning of lithosphere; they may initiate continental break-up and are often related to the global environmental catastrophes and mass extinction events. Despite the obvious importance of understanding the origin of LIPs, controversy surrounds even the basic idea that LIPs form through melting in the heads of thermal mantle plumes, and their timing relative to geodynamic and biological events remains disputed. This session aims at bringing together experts in petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, geophysics, geodynamics and palaeoclimatology to address key problems of LIP origin. Particularly welcome are geodynamic models of LIP origin and models of their climatic impact, as well as new observations on their composition, timing, lithospheric structure and environmental influence.

05c: Continent formation through time

Convenor: Stephen Parman (stephen_parman@brown.edu)

Although processes associated with plate tectonics (subduction, arc volcanism, and island arc accretion) are generally accepted as controlling crust-generation during post-Archaean times, it is still not clear how early in Earth’s history plate tectonics operated or whether continent formation occurred by fundamentally different processes. What role did slab melting, melting during crustal thickening, and large plumes play in making continents in the past, and what insights can be gained from modern examples of such processes? How has the composition of continental crust and its building blocks changed with time? We invite contributions using a variety of approaches (field observation; petrologic, geochronologic and isotopic study; numerical and experimental modeling; etc.) to address these problems.

05h: Kimberlite, carbonatite, and strongly alkaline magmatism: source forming processes and relations to basaltic magmatism

Convenors: Sebastian Tappe (tappe@ualberta.ca), Dejan Prelevic (prelevic@uni-mainz.de), Graham Pearson (gdpearson@ualberta.ca)

This session welcomes studies that investigate the formation of the mantle source regions of kimberlites, carbonatites, and strongly alkaline magmas such as lamproites through geochemical, petrological (including experiments), and modelling techniques. A particular focus is on the potential links between strongly alkaline magma generation and large-scale tectonic events such as continental rifting and lithosphere delamination. Submissions that advance our understanding of the timing and style of kimberlite, carbonatite, and alkaline magma source enrichment, and those discussing whether alkaline magmatism is a cause or a consequence of mantle metasomatism are especially encouraged. We also encourage contributions that compare and contrast the mantle source components identified in strongly alkaline magmas with those considered important in shallow and deep basaltic magma sources.

Keynote speaker: Richard Carlson (Carnegie Institute of Washington)