S4. Surface Tectonics and Mantle Dynamics
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.