Date: Thursday, March 19, 2015 — Friday, March 20, 2015
Location: Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA
Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/sc/2015mtg/
Includes the following sessions:
T1. East African Rift, Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, Rio Grande Rift, and other continental rifts: a tribute to the career of G. Randy Keller
Convenors: Mohamed Abdelsalam (mohamed.abdelsalam@okstate.edu), Estella Atekwana (estella.atekwana@okstate.edu), Asish Basu (abasu@uta.edu), Kevin L. Mickus (kevinmickus@missouristate.edu), Robert Stern (rjstern@utdallas.edu)
Date: Monday, March 23, 2015 — Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Location: Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA
Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/ne/2015mtg/index.htm
Includes the following sessions:
T4. Ages and origins of intrusive rocks in the New England Appalachians
Convenors: Dyk Eusden (deusden@bates.edu), Dwight Bradley (dbradley@usgs.gov)
The New England Appalachians are host to intrusive rocks that range in age from Mesoproterozoic to Cretaceous. Recent advances in geochronology, geochemistry, and petrogenesis have shed new light on the origins of these igneous suites, which number at least a dozen. In addition, the list of possible triggers for magma genesis has grown to include not only subduction, crustal thickening, lithospheric extension, and mantle plume activity, but also orogenic collapse, lower-lithosphere foundering or detachment, ridge subduction, and slab breakoff.
Date: Sunday, April 12, 2015 — Friday, April 17, 2015
Location: Vienna, Austria
Includes the following sessions:
GMPV3.1 Magmas from the mantle
Convenor: Sally Gibson (sally@esc.cam.ac.uk)
This session focuses on the physio-chemical controls involved in generation of melt from the mantle, including mid-ocean ridges, intraplate and subduction settings. Questions to be discussed include: whether primary melts form in the convecting and/or lithospheric mantle; the temperature and composition of melt source regions; volatile contents; the role of upwelling mantle plumes and/or lithospheric mantle and the overlying crust as a source or control on the nature of surface magmatism. Contributions from the fields of geochemistry, petrology, volcanology, geophysics and geodynamics will be welcome.
GMPV5.5/TS2.9 Volcanic Plumbing Systems: Dynamics of magma transport and emplacement in the Earth’s crust
Convenor: Olivier Galland (olivier.galland@fys.uio.no)
Volcanic plumbing systems evolve through the interaction of numerous processes governing the ascent, emplacement and eruption of magma. These highly-dynamic processes operate and interlink on scales of millimetres to kilometres, from the Mantle to the Earth’s surface, and involve complex physics at the interface between fluid and solid mechanics that are challenging to tackle. Understanding the physics of volcanic plumbing systems is nonetheless crucial for forecasting the location, style and violence of volcanic eruptions, and for providing accurate hazard and risk assessments.
This session aims to bring together those who address the physical and temporal development of volcanic plumbing systems by using field or geophysical observations, theoretical or analytical models, and experimental or numerical models. This session includes, but is not restricted to, the following topics:
- Physics of melt segregation in magmatic sources;
- Fluid mechanics of crystal-bearing melts;
- Fracture mechanics related to dyke, sill and cone sheet emplacement;
- Mechanics of magma and host rock deformation related to pluton and laccolith emplacement;
- Comparative dynamics of igneous and sedimentary intrusions;
- Magma-host rock dynamics during formation of volcanic vents, diatremes and pipes;
- Prediction of volcanic vent location and distribution.
This session is process-oriented, and it aims to trigger cross-disciplinary interactions. We therefore strongly encourage comparisons and validation of modelling results with field and/or geophysical observations, as this is a crucial step toward fully unravelling the complex processes beneath, within and upon volcanoes.
SSP1.4/GMPV6.6 Mass Extinctions,Volcanism, Impacts, and Catastrophic Environmental Changes : where do we stand ?
Convenor: Thierry Adatte (thierry.adatte@unil.ch)
Over the last 30 years considerable research efforts have been directed toward understanding the context and nature of environmental changes that occurred immediately prior to, at, and after the five major Phanerozoic mass extinctions. Actually, earth volcanic activity linked to LIPS is one of the two leading scenarios proposed to explain the pattern of mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic, the other involving asteroid impacts However, the actual mechanisms by which either impacts or LIP eruptions can induce mass extinction remain controversial. This session will provide a platform to evaluate the current records of volcanism and impacts and associated environmental changes across Earth’s major mass extinction events.
PS9.1/GM10.2/GMPV7.11/TS9.6 Volcanism, tectonics, impacts and other geological processes across the Solar System
Convenor: Stephanie Werner (stephanie.werner@fys.uio.no)
Geological processes such as volcanism, tectonics, and impacts are fundamental to the formation and evolution of the planets, moons, asteroids and comets of our Solar System.
This session invites contributions to all facets of geological processes observed in our Solar System. Comparative studies on Earth and other planetary bodies using multi-instrumental, remotely sensed, experimental, computational, or field data are particularly welcome.
Date: Sunday, May 3, 2015 — Thursday, May 7, 2015
Includes the following sessions:
Canadian Cratons Through Time: 4.0 Ga of Chemical Evolution and Tectonism
Convenor: Aleksandar Miskovic (amiskovic@eos.ubc.ca)
Mafic-Ultramafic Magmatic Ore Deposits
Convenor: Bernard Charlier (b.charlier@ulg.ac.be)
Basaltic Magmatism in the Solar System: From Mantle to Magma in Space and Time
Convenor: Dejan Milidragovic (dejan.milidragovic604@gmail.com)
Chemical Scene Investigations of Large Igneous Provinces (CSI-LIPs)
Convenor: Richard Ernst (Richard.Ernst@ErnstGeosciences.com)
Surface Expressions of Volcanism and Associated Tectonism on Venus and Implications for Interior Dynamics
Convenor: Richard Ernst (Richard.Ernst@ErnstGeosciences.com)
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 — Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Location: Torshavn, Faroe Islands
Web: http://jrasmussen.jf.fo/index.html
Jarðfeingi is delighted to announce that the 2nd JRC conference we will be held in May 2015. The conference will be held in Tórshavn, surrounded by some of the youngest lava flows of the Faroe Islands Basalt Group, new observations and ideas shall be presented covering aspects of how basaltic provinces evolve during their lifetimes. During two days, oral presentations shall be given in a relaxed and informal atmosphere with ample opportunity for discussion. In addition, technical posters shall be on display throughout the conference. The two days will be separated into four sessions, each with an invited keynote speaker. The following topics have been suggested for presentations, but this is not a definitive list and we welcome other suggestions:
Geochemical evolution
Emplacement Processes
Timing of events
Origin of Large Igneous Provinces
Pre-conference fieldtrip: Geology of the Faroe Islands Basalt Group
Contact: Uni Arting (ua@jf.fo)
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2015 — Thursday, May 7, 2015
Location: Torshavn, Faroe Islands
Web: http://jrasmussen.jf.fo/index.html
During the last two decades we have seen an increasing number of wells being drilled through volcanic units. The aim of this conference is to create a forum for oil and service companies as well as others that have experience with drilling in basalt to present and discuss the challenges that occur when drilling a heterogenic volcanic basalt package. We are planning to invite speakers from oil- and service companies with experience in drilling volcanics basalts to tell us what they have learned.
Post-conference fieldtrip: Large scale geological variations in the Faroe Islands Basalt Group
Contact: Uni Arting (ua@jf.fo)
Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2015 — Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/nc/2015mtg/index.htm
Includes the following sessions:
T1. Precambrian Geology of the Great Lakes Region
Convenors: Samuel R. Castonguay (castonsr@uwec.edu), Esther K. Stewart (esther.stewart@uwex.edu)
From Archean greenstone belts to the Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift, the Great Lakes Region hosts an exceptional record of Precambrian earth history. This session seeks contributions that address the region’s Precambrian geology through approaches including stratigraphic, structural, paleontologic, geochronologic, geochemical, petrologic, isotopic, and field studies.
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2015 — Saturday, May 23, 2015
Location: Casper, Wyoming, USA
Web: http://www.geosociety.org/Sections/rm/2015mtg/index.htm
Includes the following symposia:
S1. Yellowstone/Teton/Snake River Plain Volcano-Tectonic System: Honoring 55 Years of Distinguished Research and the Legacy of Bob Smith
Convenor: Jamie Farrell (jamie.farrell@utah.edu)
Bob Smith’s career spanned an unprecedented change in our understanding of the Yellowstone Volcano-Tectonic System. Bob led and trained many students at University of Utah in a tenacious pursuit of ever changing technology to geophysically monitor and observe the Yellowstone system from surface features (fractures, faults, and fumaroles) to tomography of the mantle.
Includes the following fieldtrips:
4. Yellowstone and Northwest Wyoming Volcano-Tectonic Field Trip
24–26 May
Leaders: Kent Sundell (ksundell@caspercollege.edu), Jamie Farrell (jamie.farrell@utah.edu) Bob Smith (robert.b.smith@utah.edu)
US$500; includes transportation in coach bus with restroom, two nights lodging at double occupancy rate, all lunches and four beverages per day, road log of trip, and all National Park entrance fees. All breakfasts and dinners will be on your own. Min: 30; max: 50. DEPARTURE: Check in at 6:30 a.m., 24 May, at the Ramkota Hotel in the lobby, GSA field trip check-in desk. Trip departs promptly at 7 a.m. A spectacular trip, reviewing classic Laramide structures, stratigraphy, volcanology, geomorphology, and tectonics while passing through the Casper Arch, Wind River Basin, Owl Creek Uplift, Wind River Canyon, Bighorn Basin, Cody Arch, Absaroka Mountains/Basin, Absaroka Volcanics, Sunlight Basin, Heart Mountain Detachment, Yellowstone Volcanics, northern Teton Range, Fish Creek Basin, Washakie Range, Wind River Arch, Dubois Arch, and back across the Wind River Basin. While in Yellowstone we will visit thermal features (Mammoth, Norris, West Thumb), Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone Lake, and Old Faithful while learning about the underlying magma, earthquakes, faults, and folds actively changing the entire Volcano-Tectonic System and its relationship to the Teton Range and Snake River Plain.
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2015 — Saturday, May 23, 2015
Location: Dryden, Ontario, Canada
Web: http://lakesuperiorgeology.org/Dryden2015/index.html
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2015 — Friday, June 5, 2015
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Web: http://www.ngu.no/en-gb/Aktuelt/I-fokus2/7th-International-Conference-on...
Includes the following general session topics:
Arctic Large Igneous Provinces and their geodynamic significance
Contacts: Questions or suggestions regarding ICAM VII can be addressed to secretary Tove Aune (Tove.Aune@ngu.no) or chairs Morten Smelror (Morten.Smelror@ngu.no) and Oleg V. Petrov (vsgdir@vsegei.ru)
Date: Monday, June 22, 2015 — Thursday, July 2, 2015
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Web: http://www.iugg2015prague.com/
Includes the following symposia:
VS03 LIPs: vents and volatiles
Convenor: Ingrid Ukstins Peate (ingrid-peate@uiowa.edu)
This symposium will focus on recent advances made in our understanding of delivery mechanisms and volatile impact of flood volcanic eruptions from Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) – mafic, silicic and bimodal. Increases in our understanding of eruption product records, volatile load and dispersal, and identification of vent sites sourcing individual eruptions provides the opportunity to re-evaluate these parameters with the goal of quantifying the current state of knowledge and guiding future targets of study. We invite papers that address the following themes: 1. Studies of LIP eruptions and vent sites as a mechanism for quantifying eruption processes. 2. Quantification of volatile fluxes on the scale of individual eruptions to LIPs. 3. Climate impact of volatiles from individual eruptions to cumulative province emplacement – especially novel volatiles such as F, Cl, Br. 4.Integrated impact of eruption mechanisms on volatile dispersal and consequences.
VS28 Understanding VIPS (Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems) through Multidisciplinary Research
Convenor: Steffi Burchardt (steffi.burchardt@geo.uu.se)
Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems (VIPS), which are made up of e.g. magma chambers, sheet intrusions, and conduits, are characterized by complex physical and chemical interactions of magma(s) with the surrounding rocks that occur from atom- to crustal-scale, and span times from seconds to millions of years. Hence, multidisciplinary research is essential to grasp the complexity of VIPS. Diverse scientific approaches have been used to study VIPS that include: (1) volcano geodesy, seismology, and volcanic gases chemistry for studying active VIPS, (2) structural geology, igneous petrology, and geochemistry for studying fossil, eroded VIPS, and (3) laboratory, numerical, and petrological modelling studies to constrain the dynamics and evolution of VIPS. Although all these approaches focus on the same topics, they traditionally operate as independent entities, which frequently leads to contradictory views. This realisation implies that method-based approaches alone are insufficient to fully unravel the complex chemo-physical processes governing the dynamics of VIPS. Instead, a process-based approach, integrating the input from various disciplines is recommended in order to derive a comprehensive understanding of VIPS. The proposed symposium aims to provide a platform for investigations on all components of VIPS e.g. sills, dykes, laccoliths, magma chambers, volcanic conduits, and the interface between magma bodies and their host rocks. Integrating a variety of approaches, e.g. geodetic and geophysical monitoring, field studies, and modelling, the symposium will be an ideal start for a new VIPS commission of IAVCEI, which we will propose to IAVCEI shortly.
Date: Sunday, August 16, 2015 — Friday, August 21, 2015
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Web: http://goldschmidt.info/2015/index
Includes the following sessions:
16e: Silicic Magmas: Connecting Plutonic and Volcanic Systems
Convenors: Carol Frost (frost@uwyo.edu), Peter Bowden (pbowden74@gmail.com)
This session will investigate the processes by which silicic magma systems produce felsic intrusions and volcanic rocks. Contributions are welcomed on silicic rocks of varying geochemical composition emplaced in a variety of tectonic settings. Questions include whether eruptive products have intrusive equivalents, and the relationship of petrogenesis to tectonic setting of magmatism.
16h: Mantle-Derived Intraplate Magmas and their Xenoliths: Source-Forming Processes, Impact on Lithosphere Stability, and Other Geodynamic Implications
Convenors: Sebastian Tappe (Sebastian.Tappe@debeersgroup.com), Tyrone Rooney (rooneyt@msu.edu), Andrea Giuliani (andrea.giuliani@unimelb.edu.au)
Mantle melting processes that occur away from subduction zones and mid-oceanic ridges are an important though often overlooked process by which both oceanic and continental lithosphere can grow and stabilize, or even weaken. In contrast to other tectonic settings, the intraplate environment produces an enormous range of primitive magma types with diverse isotopic compositions. The compositional diversity is commonly explained by variable thickness and enrichment style/history of the affected lithospheric plates. However, whether the lithospheric mantle is actively involved in melt generation, and to what extent, remains a controversial subject. It also remains poorly understood whether some intraplate magmatic provinces are sourced from deep-rooted thermochemical plumes or simply derived from convecting upper mantle materials by decompression melting. Equally, differences in COH-volatile speciation, as a function of mantle oxidation state, may have profound effects on melting and phase relations in both peridotitic and eclogitic sources. We welcome contributions - based on observation, experimentation, and modeling - that investigate the generation and evolution of primitive magmas in intraplate settings. This can include studies on the processes and products associated with melt/fluid-facilitated overprinting of mantle lithosphere, such as metasomatism including megacryst- and diamond-formation. We also encourage discussion of plume-lithosphere interaction, as well as of the potential links between volatile mobility in Earth’s mantle and processes that lead to lithosphere destruction and continental break-up. We particularly invite research that exploits modern analytical tools at the micro-scale or smaller to address large-scale phenomena observed within intraplate magmatic provinces and their plumbing systems.
18c: Making Intermediate Magmas: From the Archean to the Present
Convenors: Kristoffer Szilas (szilas@stanford.edu), Peter Kelemen (peterk@ldeo.columbia.edu)
Intermediate magmatic rocks, particularly “calc-alkaline” andesites, dacites and plutonic rocks, closely resemble the composition of continental crust. They are complex and can form by many different processes including: fractional crystallization, magma mixing, mantle assimilation, crustal assimilation, and – for the crust - mechanical juxtaposition of mafic and felsic rocks. Although intermediate magmas can potentially form in any tectonic setting, they are usually found in subduction-related volcanic arcs. Indeed, calc-alkaline andesites and dacites are found almost exclusively in arcs, leading to the hypothesis that the formation of continental crust occurs in the subduction zone environment. In any case, the petrogenesis of intermediate magmatic rocks may help shed light on the details of the processes that led to the formation of the continents. We invite contributions to this session that concern intermediate magmas in the broadest sense, including presentation of field-based studies, geochemical analyses, thermodynamic modeling, or experimental work, that can lead to new insights on formation of intermediate magmas throughout Earth history.
22a: The Record and Influence of Impacts and Volcanism on the Early Earth
Convenors: Alexandra Davatzes (alix@temple.ed), Gary Byerly (gary@geol.lsu.edu), Fabrice Gaillard (fabrice.gaillard@cnrs-orleans.fr), Steven Goderis (Steven.goderis@vub.ac.be)
Surface conditions on the early Earth were influenced by external delivery of material through meteor impacts as well as emissions from the interior via volcanic activity. Both of these processes cause significant and sudden environmental disturbances to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and to life. Recent work has begun to re-evaluate the impact flux to the early Earth: was there a Late Heavy Bombardment, a continual and rapid decline of impact rate in the Hadean, or a continual delivery of large bolides to the surface throughout the Precambrian? How have impacts throughout the Archean and Proterozoic created transient or permanent shifts in climate or biology? Was the Archean Earth continuously producing large igneous provinces or was subduction and the associated volcanic activities already operating? What is seen in the geological record that would allow us to better understand the evolution of the nature, style and impact of volcanism on early Earth? And finally how does the hydrothermal or surficial alteration of volcanic rocks produce biologically favorable or adverse conditions? We invite contributions using observations from the geological record, experimental data, and models that explore the rate(s) and effects of these events to the earliest history of our planet. This session also includes observations and models from the Moon, Mars, and asteroids/meteorites that inform our models for early Earth’s evolution.
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2015 — Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Includes the following theme:
3. Magmatic deposits: new examples; characteristics and mechanisms
Co-ordinator: Stephen Barnes (steve.barnes@csiro.au)
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2015 — Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Web: http://community.geosociety.org/gsa2015/home
Includes the following sessions:
T153. Mass Extinction Causality: Records of Anoxia, Acidification, and Global Warming during Earth's Greatest Crises
Convenors: David Bond (d.bond@hull.ac.uk), Paul Wignall (p.b.wignall@leeds.ac.uk), Mike Widdowson (mike.widdowson@open.ac.uk)
This session explores the paleontology, stratigraphy, and geochemistry of mass extinctions, high-resolution records of anoxia, ocean acidification, and global warming, and their mechanistic links to the ultimate drivers of change (e.g., large igneous province eruptions).
T213. Integrating Perspectives on the Formation, Evolution, and Destruction of Continental Crust: From 0 to 4600 Ma
Convenors: Paul Mueller (pamueller@ufl.edu), Robert Stern (rjstern@utdallas.edu), David Snyder (david.snyder@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca), Maria Magnani (mmagnani@memphis.edu), Marion Bickford (mebickfo@syr.edu)
Constraining the extent to which the geochemical, geophysical, and tectonic characteristics of modern arc systems (oceanic and continental) and LIPS (large igneous provinces) can be applied to the Precambrian record (Archean and Proterozoic) of crustal evolution.
Date: Monday, December 14, 2015 — Friday, December 18, 2015
Web: http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2015/
Includes the following sessions:
T050: The Parana-Etendeka Igneous Province and Related Magmatism: What Have we Learned so far?
Convenors: Edgardo Canon-Tapia (ecanon@cicese.mx), Irene Raposo (irene@usp.br), Xixi Zhao (xzhao@tongji.edu.cn)
The Paraná-Etendeka Igneous Province (PEIP) of Brazil and Namibia is the second largest outcrop of the Cretaceous continental flood basalt; it is closely related to the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, and was followed by many intrusions, some of which might lie outside the present day Paraná Basin. Numerous studies describing the geochemical, geochronological, geophysical, paleomagnetic, stratigraphical, tectonic and volcanic characteristics of the PEIP proper, and the associated magmatism on both sides of the Atlantic, have been published in the past decade. However, it is difficult to assess how much has been learned about this province, partly because those works are outpaced in the literature. This session therefore invites recent studies in all subjects that contribute for a better knowledge of the origin and evolution of the PEIP and related magmatism. We also encourage multidisciplinary studies allowing comparison of the PEIP with other continental flood basalt provinces.
V037: The Tempo of Continental Flood Basalt Eruptions
Convenors: Loyc Vanderkluysen (loyc@drexel.edu), Stephen Self (steve@stephenself.com), Paul Renne (prenne@bgc.org), Andrea Marzoli (andrea.marzoli@unipd.it)
Continental Flood Basalt (CFB) eruptions play an important role in mass and energy fluxes between the mantle, crust, and atmosphere, and at least the last four mass extinctions are associated closely in time with CFB "main-phase" eruptions. However, a better understanding of the timing and rate of CFB eruptions relative to paleontological and geochemical markers of major biospheric disturbances is necessary to further progress in understanding possible causal relations, as well as achieving a more fundamental geodynamical and petrological understanding of the genesis of these extraordinary volcanic events. This session provides a forum for presentation of new results or reviews from diverse fields including geochronology, volcanology, petrology, geochemistry, paleontology, and geophysical and atmospheric modeling that bear on this theme.
P031: The Physical Conditions controlling Life's Origin, Evolution, and End
Convenors: Daniel Knoll (dkoll@uchicago.edu), Jun Yang (junyang28@uchicago.edu), Nathaniel Baskin (nbaskin@uchicago.edu)
New insights into Mars’ wet past, the confirmation of a liquid ocean on Ganymede, and the ongoing stream of exoplanet discoveries raise the prospect of an ever-wider range of environments that could sustain life. This session explores how such environments emerge, are sustained, and eventually decline. Questions of particular interest include: What is Earth’s long-term climatic stability and how will it end? How long did habitable conditions persist on Mars and did they ever exist on Venus? What habitable environments exist in the outer Solar System and how do they continue to evolve? How do the Faint Young Sun Problem, the Runaway Greenhouse, and long-term climate feedbacks play out across different planets and outside the Solar System? We invite case studies and comparisons that use observations, experiments and/or modeling to expand our understanding of the habitability of diverse environments in our Solar System and beyond.
DI001: Across the Scales: Earth's Mantle Dynamics Through Space and Time
Convenors: Keely O'Farrell (k.ofarrell@ucl.ac.uk), Tobias Rolf (tobias.rolf@geo.uio.no), Shijie Zhong (shijie.zhong@colorado.edu), Anne Davaille (davaille@fast.u-psud.fr)
From small-scale convection underneath tectonic plates to huge thermochemical features such as the LLSVPs in the lower mantle, mantle dynamics is a multi-scale process! It includes everything from the cooling of the early magma ocean, to the formation of plumes, the assembly of supercontinents and the long-term secular cooling. Revealing how processes on these different temporal and spatial scales operate, interact, and produce surface observations in volcanism, tectonics, gravity anomalies and sea-level changes is thus of great importance for understanding Earth’s evolution and dynamics. This session aims to shed light on these processes, including (but not limited to) formation and dynamics of mantle structures, dynamics of plate tectonics and continental drift, and magma ocean dynamics. We welcome theoretical, numerical, laboratory and observational studies from a wide range of disciplines that contribute to understanding these multi-scale processes.
PP015: Evolution of the Earth System
Convenors: Colin Goldblatt (czg@uvic.ca), Benjamin Johnson (ben.w.johnson3@gmail.com)
Earth has evolved as a coupled system, with rich interactions between biology, geology, chemistry and climate. A wide array of geochemical and climatic states have existed through a continuously habitable period of at least 4 billion years. Understanding this evolution is necessarily an interdisciplinary problem. We welcome contributions which chart or explain this evolution, with either observational or theoretical approaches, for any period in Earth history. Topics will include evolution of major geochemical cycles (C, O, N), major climatic events and the co-evolution of life and the environment.
V046: Yellowstone volcanism from its current expression to early vestiges of hotspot activity via geophysical and petrologic studies
Convenors: Matthew Loewen (loewenm@uoregon.edu), Ilya Bindeman (bindeman@uoregon.edu), Eugene Humphreys (gene@newberry.uoregon.edu)
The Yellowstone-Snake River Plain magmatic province represents one of the largest worldwide centers of bimodal rhyolitic-basaltic volcanism. Although not universally accepted, recent geophysical imaging and geochemical tracers provide strong evidence that the volcanism is driven at depth by a mantle plume from ~17 Ma volcanism in SE Oregon- SW Idaho to present volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park. Recently studies have also recognized potential earlier traces of the Yellowstone plume in 17+ Ma volcanic centers across Oregon to a 55+ Ma Pacific origin. Advances in geochemical microanalysis, geochronology, numerical modeling, and geophysical imaging are providing new clues to understanding the mantle origin of the hotspot, crustal structures and magma reservoirs, and mechanisms for rhyolite generation and eruption triggering. We seek interdisciplinary contributions from petrologic and geophysical studies or modeling that are working to progress our understanding of current or past state of the Yellowstone hotspot and its volcanoes.
T038: Rifts and Passive Margins: Tectonics, Dynamics, Processes
Convenors: Sascha Brune (sascha.brune@sydney.edu.au), Peter Clift (pclift@lsu.edu), Gwenn Peron-Pinvidic (gwenn@ngu.no), Giacomo Corti (giacomo.corti@igg.cnr.it)
This session presents recent advances on rifts and passive margins from geological and geophysical studies that are based on seismic interpretation, field geological data, plate reconstructions, sedimentology, and modeling. We aim to assemble presentations on basin, regional and global scale that provide new insight on rift evolution in terms of inheritance and strain localization, fault interaction and stratigraphy, partial melting and volcanism, surface stress evolution, tectonics-climate interaction, small-scale convection, driving forces, and rift-to-drift transition. Most rifts feature significant along-strike structural variations. We therefore particularly encourage abstract submission on 2D investigations with regional perspective, 3D seismic arrays, as well as 3D analogue and numerical experiments. Special emphasis will be put on contributions that develop an integrated picture by bridging multiple spatial or temporal scales or by combining results from active rifts, failed rift arms, passive margins or obducted rifted margins.
DI009: Mantle Plumes From Head to Toe
Convenors: Eric Mittelstaedt (emittelstaedt@uidaho.edu), Dominique Weis (dweis@eos.ubc.ca), Peter Van Keken (keken@umich.edu)
Rising mantle plumes carry mass, heat, and chemical anomalies from their ‘toes’ at the base of the mantle to their ‘heads’ near the surface, where plumes spread beneath the lithosphere. Recent investigations reveal growing evidence for complex plume dynamics near the Core-Mantle Boundary (CMB) and interactions with tectonic plates. Near the CMB, slow shear velocities suggest the existence of large piles of chemically anomalous material that change plume structure and control plume initiation. This material may be incorporated into plume stems, altering the composition of hotspot lavas. Near the surface, spreading plume heads are the source of chemically anomalous hotspot lavas, dynamic topography, and changes to lithospheric deformation and rifting. This session aims to take a broad view of mantle plumes, looking at advances in understanding of their formation, rise, lithosphere interaction, and eventual effect on surface processes. We welcome recent work on plumes at all scales and depths.
T022: Geologic and geodynamic evolution of the Arctic region
Convenor: Eric Gottlieb (esgeo@standford.edu), Richard Lease (rlease@usgs.gov), Richard Saltus (saltus@usgs.gov), Tim O'Brien (timothy3@stanford.edu)
Over the last quarter century, scientific and entrepreneurial agendas for the Arctic have expanded greatly as climate change, international politics and technological innovations have diminished logistical barriers and opened a modern frontier for scientific and resource exploration. Despite years of study, much of the framework geologic history of the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding landmasses is insufficiently constrained by existing data and is thus controversial. Elucidating the multiphase plate tectonic history of the oceanic and surrounding continental realms through robust plate reconstructions and regional tectonic syntheses is a fundamental challenge. We seek research that addresses the challenging geology of the Arctic, especially submissions that integrate understanding of (1) age, lithology, structure, and/or paleo-(bio)geography of circum-Arctic lithosphere, (2) tectonic and geodynamic processes of lithosphere generation and modification, and (3) geologic and geophysical correlations across the oceanic realm and into better-studied regions of Eurasia, Laurentia and elsewhere.
V020: Interdisciplinary perspectives on continental crust evolution
Convenors: Bruno Dhuime (b.dhuime@bristol.ac.uk), Esteban Gazel (egazel@vt.edu), Claire Bucholz (cbucholz@mit.edu), Jeroen Van Hunen (jeroen.van-hunen@durham.ac.uk)
There are still many outstanding questions regarding the modus operandi of continental crust formation and destruction, its volume, composition, thickness, and its interaction with the mantle and the atmosphere through time; especially during the early stages of Earth's evolution. New perspectives are rising from the increased understanding of the geochemical record preserved in igneous and sedimentary rocks, minerals and their inclusions, the improvement of analytical techniques, and the development of both analogue and numerical modeling of crust-mantle interaction through time. This session welcomes contributions that address the origin and evolution of the crust and/or the lithosphere, using one or a combination of these different approaches. Contributions that present new approaches and/or new (interdisciplinary) analytical techniques will be particularly welcome.
T020: Formation and evolution of the North American continental lithosphere
Convenors: Amy Gilligan (a.gilligan@imperial.ac.uk), Fiona Darbyshire (darbyshire.fiona_ann@uqam.ca), Ian Bastow (i.bastow@imperial.ac.uk)
The North American continent records more than 3 billion years of the Earth’s tectonic history in its present day lithospheric structure. Geophysical data coverage of North America has vastly improved in recent years, thanks to ongoing large-scale projects such as EarthScope and POLARIS. This wealth of new geophysical data is permitting detailed studies of Earth structure in previously under-represented parts of the continent. New results emerging from studies using these data suggest that the “stable” continental core in the central and eastern regions is as structurally and dynamically complex as the tectonically-active west. We welcome submissions related to structural, tectonic and geodynamic studies of the formation and evolution of North America, with particular emphasis on geophysical investigations of the upper mantle.