J

The dynamic behaviors of mobile belts are expressed across a wide range of time scales, from the seismic and volcanic events that impact society during our lifetimes, to orogeny and the formation of large-scale fault systems which can take place over millions of years. Deformation occurs on length scales from microscopic fracture and flow to macroscopic deformation to plate-scale tectonics. To gain a physical understanding of the dynamics of mobile belts, we must determine the relationships between deformation and the driving stresses associated with plate motion and other causes, which are connected through the rheological properties of the materials. To understand the full physical system, an integration of geophysics, geomorphology, geology, petrology, and geochemistry is necessary, as is the integration of observational, theoretical and experimental approaches. In particular, rheological properties, which are physically affected by fluids in the crust and chemical reactions assisted by fluids, can be resolved only through such an interdisciplinary approach. After the 2011 great Tohoku-oki earthquake, large-scale changes in seismic activity and regional scale crustal deformation were observed, making present-day Japan a unique natural laboratory for the study of the dynamics of mobile belts. This session welcomes presentations from different disciplines, such as seismology, geodesy, tectonic geomorphology, structural geology, petrology, geochemistry and hydrology, as well as interdisciplinary studies, that relate to the dynamic behaviors of mobile belts.