The North American continent – and Canada in particular – represents an excellent natural laboratory to study lithospheric structure in a variety of tectonic environments, ranging from some of the planet’s oldest cratons through several Wilson cycles to the active tectonics of the Cordillera. As such, the Canadian crust and upper mantle preserve an almost 4-billion-year record of continental formation and evolution.

Techniques such as active- and natural-source seismology, magnetotelluric surveys and potential field studies offer a chance to study the details of crust and upper mantle structure, both via local-scale installations and large-scale projects covering large tracts of the Canadian landmass. The results of such studies provide valuable insights into continental evolution, and information vital to our understanding of mineral systems.

We invite contributions related to the study of continental crust and upper mantle – North American and worldwide – using seismic, magnetotelluric or other geophysical techniques.