This session aims to explore broadly aspects of the tectonics of the Earth’s lithosphere and mantle dynamics in the interior—looking at the structure and evolution of these regions and the links between them. As the outermost solid layer of the planet, the lithosphere is a structurally and compositionally complex region that experiences a range of tectonic behaviours from large-scale plate motions to intraplate deformation, to local plate boundary tectonics. The mantle is the thermal engine of the planet, transporting heat from the deep interior to the surface through processes of convection and conduction in high-pressure mineral/rock environments. The dynamics and the nature of these regions are studied with a variety of observational, experimental, and numerical tools, in a host of tectonic settings and on a variety of length and time-scales. In this cross-disciplinary session, we welcome contributions from fields of research that investigate these mantle and lithosphere dynamics, and the tectonic evolution of the planetary surface.

Oral sessions:

10:00 - 10:15: Subduction erosion and crustal relamination: insights from 2D numerical models
Presenter(s): Zhihong Pan, , Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Claire A. Currie (Department of Physics, University of Alberta

10:15 - 10:30: Receiver function imaging of the 660 discontinuities beneath Yellowstone: New constraints on the origin of thermal upwelling
Presenter(s): Wenhan Sun, , University of Alberta, Yu Jeffrey Gu, Department of Physics, University of Alberta

10:30 - 10:45: The formation of a continental fragment due to structural inheritance: geodynamic model for the Lewisian Terrane, NW Scotland
Presenter(s): A.J. Yu (UTSC), E. Gün (UTSC), Ken McCaffrey (Durham University), P.J. Heron (UTSC).

10:45 - 11:00: Symptomatic vs. Asymptomatic drips with applications to the Central Andes and Central Anatolia
Presenter(s): Julia Andersen, , University of Toronto, Ebru Sengul Uluocak - Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Oguz Gogus - Istanbul Technical University, Russell Pysklywec - University of Toronto, Tasca Santimano - University of Toronto

11:00 - 11:15: Thermochemical state of the lithosphere beneath the Superior Craton region from multi-observable probabilistic inversion
Presenter(s): Riddhi Dave, , Natural Resources Canada, Fiona Darbyshire, UQAM, Canada, Juan Carlos Afonso, University of Twente, Netherlands

11:15 - 11:30: Application of Machine Learning Techniques in Coal Mining Using Well-Log Data
Presenter(s): Merve GONUL, Master's student, University of Toronto, M. H. Shahnas, R. N. Pysklywec, University of Toronto, Department of Earth Sciences