| Session Details | |
| Section | SE - Solid Earth Sciences |
| Session Title | Long-term Rheological Behavior of the Crust and Mantle Inferred from Observations and Models at Laboratory and Geological Time and Spatial Scales |
| Main Convener | Dr. James Daniel Paul Moore (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Tony Watts (University of Oxford, United Kingdom) |
| Session Description | The goal of this session is to explore rheological behaviour from laboratory, modelling, and geological perspectives and work towards the reconciliation of short-time/small-scale and long-time/large-scale observations, from the laboratory to the lithosphere. Despite the remarkable advances in experimental rock-mechanics, the implications of rock-mechanics data for large temporal and spatial scale tectonic processes are still not straightforward, since the latter are strongly controlled by local and regional conditions such as lithology and rheological stratification of the lithosphere, its thermal structure, fluid content, tectonic heritage, metamorphic reactions and deformation rates. This is clearly demonstrated by the abundance of the proposed rheological yield stress envelopes and their sometimes questioned match to the inferences from geological-scale observations such as estimates of equivalent or effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere. Many laboratory experiments, geological evidence and numerical/analytical models exist that allow us to assess the rheological properties of the lithosphere, defining its behaviour and mechanical contribution to geodynamic processes such as subduction, collision, rifting or mantle-lithosphere interactions. We therefore invite researchers from different domains (rock mechanics, geodynamic and small-scale thermo-mechanical modelling, flexural studies, structural geology, tectonics, geodesy and geophysics) to share their views on the way forward for improving our knowledge of the long-term rheology and mechanical behaviour of the lithosphere. |