Dear list members,
Sorry for the multiple cross-postings
First of all, we wish you a Happy New Year!
As you have probably already noticed, the deadline for abstract submission to vEGU2021 is approaching fast (13th January 2021, 13:00 CET), and we would like with this email to remind you of our session about the interactions between plumes and plates :
Multi-disciplinary perspectives on plume-plate interactions
(https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/39783)
Over fifty years since the acceptance of plate tectonic theory the driving forces behind plate motion and plate boundary formation and evolution remain incompletely understood. In addition to plate boundary forces, mantle plumes are often invoked as a trigger for processes such as continental rifting and break-up, subduction initiation, microcontinent formation and readjustments of the world-encircling mid-ocean ridge system. Moreover, the arrival of mantle plume heads at the base of the lithosphere has been invoked as the mechanism behind abrupt, short-lived changes in plate speeds and azimuths, by means of the introduction of “plume-push” forces. However, the validity of this hypothesis has recently been put into question.
In this session, we aim to bring together researchers interested in the forces driving plate tectonics, with particular emphasis on plate-plume interactions. We welcome studies that cover a range of techniques from data-driven approaches to numerical modelling or laboratory experiments, and addressing the role of mantle plumes on both modern-style plate tectonics and lithosphere behaviour in the Archean.
We expect this session to include a diverse range of multi-disciplinary studies united by a common goal of understanding the dynamics of plate motions, mantle plumes and the plate-mantle system.
Sincerely,
Lucia Perez-Diaz
Maria Seton
Maëlis Arnould