Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America

T2: Regional Geological Processes
A� Subduction and Collision Processes Through Time in the Mediterranean Area — From the Deep Mantle to the
Surface (Session 27)
The Mediterranean area is a classical natural laboratory for studying tectonic processes, from mantle exhumation and
sea-floor spreading to subduction and collision. Its arcuate subduction zones and orogens delimit highly mobile microplates
whose motions since the Early Mesozoic breakup of Gondwana have been intermittently independent of the overall
relative motion of the Africa and Europe. Ophiolite belts within these orogens mark the remnants of Tethyan ocean basins
which can be imaged today as slabs in the mantle. Yet, the kinematics and dynamics that drive this anomalous microplate
motion remain enigmatic. Understanding how the Mediterranean mountain belts are tied to microplate motion and mantle
anomolies is key to assessing the role of deep-seated processes and their interaction with surface processes.
We invite contributions on a wide variety of topics related to the evolution of Alpine-type mountain belts and subduction
zones in the Mediterranean area. These will be treated in a single session lasting 2-3 days in order to encourage interaction
between specialists with different approaches and viewpoints. Invited speakers are foreseen for subtopics relevant to this
theme. Field trips in the nearby Alps will be offered both before and after the meeting.
Conveners: Mark Handy, mhandy@zedat.fu-berlin.de
B. Clark Burchfiel, bcburch@mit.edu
Invited Speakers: Robert Reilinger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
Claudio Faccenna (Roma Tre University, Italy)
Eduard Kissling (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
Leigh Royden (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
Anne Paul (University Grenoble, France)
B� Multi-scale Sedimentary Basin Dynamics (Session 9)
Sedimentary basins are important repositories which allow geoscientists to reconstruct past climates, vertical surface
motions, fluid flow, as well as lithosphere and mantle dynamics over geologically long timescales. With increasing availability
of large scale data sets, computational power, and improved data infrastructure, large resources for new approaches
in integrated and dynamic basin modelling exist, allowing to cross traditional discipline boundaries and providing better
opportunities to understand the complex spatio-temporal evolution of sedimentary basins. This session aims to bring
together colleagues both from academia and industry who are involved in reconstructing basin evolution at mega-regional
to local scale. We invite contributions from:
• Advances in linking deep-Earth dynamics and sedimentary basin architecture
• Integrating plate kinematic models and lithospheric deformation in basin formation and evolution models
• Linking regional- to basin-scale tectonics, including basin inversion
• Coupled lithosphere deformation - petroleum systems models
Conveners: Christian Heine, christian.heine@sydney.edu.au
Ralf Littke, littke@lek.rwth-aachen.de
Invited Speakers: Ritske Huismans (University of Bergen, Norway)
Leni Scheck Wenderoth (GFZ Potsdam, Germany)
Judith Sippel (GFZ Potsdam, Germany)
C� Significance of Large Strike-slip Fault Systems — Active and Ancient� (Session 14)
Large strike-slip faults may accumulate large displacements, show high deformation rates and have been the loci of several
of the largest (M 8) earthquakes in continental lithosphere on record. They may create both sedimentary basins and fold
& thrust zones. Often, big cities are located near them, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco or Istanbul, implying high
seismic hazards. A number of widely debated questions include their seismic potential, their total displacement, and their
geological significance in ancient plate boundary settings. Recent developments in active tectonics, tectonic geomorphology
and satellite geodesy have produced a significantly improved data base of deformation-related parameters, but not all
questions can be answered by studying active faults at the earth’s surface. For example, it is difficult to quantify the surface
strain budget attributed to individual fault strands, because strike-slip faults are often closely spaced, so that space-geodetic
surveys can only capture the bulk deformation across a fault zone.
For this reason, and many others, we need to understand the behavior of large strike-slip faults through study of both,
active and ancient fault systems. This session solicits contributions from a wide range of aspects such as neotectonics and
tectonic geomorphology, geodesy, deformation mechanisms, syntectonic metamorphism, thermochronology, as well as
regional tectonics and palaeogeography. In particular, we solicit contributions from well studied strike-slip fault systems
around the world, such as the San Andreas, the North Anatolian, the Altyn Tagh, the Kun Lun fault systems as well as
large strike-slip faults of the Variscides and the Caledonides. We welcome field studies, experimental work and numerical
modeling as well as review papers.
Conveners: Wolfgang Franke, w.franke@em.uni-frankfurt.de
A. M. Celâl Şengör, sengor@itu.edu.tr
Invited Speaker: Boris Natalin (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey)
John Dewey (University College Oxford, Great Britain)
geoMunich2011: September 4-7, 2011, Munich, germany 61