| Session Details | |
| Section | SE - Solid Earth Sciences |
| Session Title | Metamorphism and Orogenesis from the Archean to the Present, with Particular Reference to the Evolution of Asia and Its Gondwanan Heritage |
| Main Convener | Prof. Michael Brown (University of Maryland, United States) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Samarendra Bhattacharya (Indian Statistical Institute, India) Dr. Chris Clark (Curtin University of Technology, Australia) Dr. Saibal Gupta (IIT Kharagpur, India) Prof. Wenjiao Xiao (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) Dr. Guochun Zhao (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) |
| Session Description | Northeast of the Himalayas, Asia comprises a collage of Archean–Proterozoic cratons, and intra-oceanic arcs and Gondwana-derived ribbon-continents sutured by Phanerozoic orogens. The Tethysides extend along the southern margin, including the Himalayan suture which marks the late addition of the Indian subcontinent to Asia, and the circum-Pacific orogens are located along the eastern margin. India has a rich heritage of craton formation and amalgamation from the Archean through the Proterozoic, and the Indian subcontinent and the North China craton preserve some of the best examples of ultrahigh temperature metamorphism in the geological record. High and ultrahigh pressure metamorphism is a characteristic feature of the Phanerozoic accretionary orogens of Asia, the Tethysides and the circum-Pacific orogens, which include the most intensively-studies examples in the world at Kokchetav, along the Central Orogenic Belt of China, which stretches from Altun to Sulu, and in the Sanbagawa belt of Japan, and one of the coldest in the Tianshan; paired metamorphic belts are common, pointing to the importance of convergent margin process and interactions with ridges during orogenesis. Active orogenesis and concurrent metamorphism occur along the Banda Arcs and through the island arc systems of the south-west Pacific. With its Gondwana heritage, its important position in understanding the evolution of the Tethysides and the opportunities it provides for the study of active orogenic systems of both collision and island arc type, Asia is a fertile region within which to advance our understanding of metamorphism and orogenesis. However, we will not understand the evolution of Asia fully in isolation from the supercontinent cycle. Thus, the tectonic evolution of the African, Antarctican and Australian continents are linked with those of India and China, and the evolution of the Tethysides, which stretch from China and India through Persia and Turkey westward into Europe, must be studied in Eurasian context. We welcome contributions to the session that will address the issues identified above in relation to the evolution of Asia and that will also advance our understanding of metamorphic and orogenic processes, particularly metamorphism under conditions of extreme pressure and temperature and the exhumation of deeply subducted crust. We anticipate that these contributions will range from field studies to modeling, from petrology to structural geology and from tectonics to geophysics. |