[iris-bulk] AGU SEDI Session DI 11: Interdisciplinary Implications of Recent Deep Earth Discoveries

[Thorne Lay]

Dear Colleagues:

We would like to draw your attention to SEDI special session DI 11 at 
the Fall AGU. We encourage you to
submit an abstract focusing on observations, interpretations, 
theoretical contributions and technical issues associated
with recent deep Earth discoveries and their interdisciplinary 
implications. The deadline for abstract submission is
September 10th, 2008. Please feel free to forward to your colleagues 
that would be interested in this topic. Thank you very much.

DI 11:      Interdisciplinary Implications of Recent Deep Earth 
Discoveries: From Mineral Physics to Seismology and Geodynamics

The last few years have witnessed great progress in experimental and 
theoretical mineral physics methods, advances in high resolution seismic 
imaging of the mantle and core, and 3-D thermo-chemical geodynamics 
calculations that are revolutionizing our understanding of physics and 
chemistry of the Earth's deep interior. Mineral physics discoveries 
include the post-perovskite phases of MgSiO3, Fe2O3, Al2O3 and other 
compounds; high-spin to low-spin transitions for Fe3+ and Fe2+ in 
ferropericlase and perovskite; bcc and fcc phases of iron that may exist 
in the inner core, and many others. Seismological discoveries include 
detection of multiple reflectors in the deep mantle, anti-correlation of 
P-wave and S-wave velocity structure, mapping of deep shear-wave 
splitting, and analysis of scattering and large-scale structure in the 
inner core. Geodynamical models are revealing behavior of chemical 
heterogeneities in the deep mantle, multiple styles of plume 
instabilities, and thermal budget constraints on mantle evolution 
models. Topics impacted by these discoveries include (i) the nature of 
deep mantle and core seismic boundaries, (ii) evolution and dynamics of 
the Earth's interior, (iii) style of mantle convection, (iv) heat flux 
and cooling rate of the Earth, (v) nature of seismic anisotropy of the 
D" layer and inner core, (vi) transport properties of the mantle, (vii) 
geochemical behavior of the elements. In this interdisciplinary session 
we plan to cover exciting recent advances in mineral physics, 
seismology, and geodynamics, emphasizing geophysical and geochemical 
implications of these discoveries.

Sponsor:    Study of Earth's Deep Interior

CoSponsors:    Mineral and Rock Physics
Seismology
Tectonophysics
Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology

Conveners:   
Artem R. Oganov
/ETH Zurich and Moscow State University/
Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 10
Zurich, CHE  8093
a.oganov at mat.ethz.ch

Thorne Lay
/UC Santa Cruz/
USA
tlay at es.ucsc.edu

Kei Hirose
/Tokyo Inst. of Technology/
JPN
kei at geo.titech.ac.jp

Bruce Buffett
/University of California, Berkeley/
USA
bbuffett at berkeley.edu