Solid Earth Sciences(S)
Session Sub CategoryScience of the Earth's Interior & Tectonophysics
Session IDS-IT25
TitleNew constraints on the asthenosphere and its role in plate tectonics
Short titleThe asthenosphere and plate tectonics
Main ConvenerNameWilliam Bythewood Hawley
AffiliationUniversity of California Berkeley
Co-Convener 1NameHitoshi Kawakatsu
AffiliationEarthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo
Co-Convener 2NameKosuke Heki
AffiliationDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University
Co-Convener 3NameThorsten W Becker
AffiliationJackson School of Goesciences, The University of Texas at Austin
LanguageEE
ScopeThe Earth's asthenosphere represents a critical region that can control the influence tectonic plates and other surficial processes have on the Earth's deeper mantle, and vice versa. The composition of the Earth's tectonic plates is largely a result of magmatism at mid-ocean ridges and arc systems, and accumulation from below (underplating), which is in turn modulated by the physics and chemistry present in the asthenosphere. Uncertainties in the forces that drive tectonic plates largely arise from incomplete descriptions of the asthenosphere's mechanical properties. Visco-elastic processes ranging from post-seismic deformation to glacial isostatic adjustment are also influenced by the asthenosphere. Recent modeling techniques and new datasets, particularly from the seafloor and subduction zones, have allowed for a better characterization of the asthenosphere. We seek contributions from any discipline from observation to theory, including seismology, geodesy, chemistry, geology, magnetotellurics, and geodynamics, that shed light on the chemistry and physics of continental or oceanic asthenosphere.
Type of presentationOral and Poster presentation
Invited authors TAKEI Yasuko(Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo)
Catherine Rychert(University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre)
Samer Naif(Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University)
Yan Hu(University of Science and Technology of China)
Satish Singh (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris)
Kazunori Yoshizawa (Hokkaido University)