Conference Program
 
Interior Of The Earth
June 14-19, 2009
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA

The 2009 Gordon Conference on the Earth's Deep Interior will push the leading edge of research on the structure, dynamics and evolution of the Earth and planetary interiors. The Conference will address a wide range of topics from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Invited speakers from the fields of geochemistry, geodynamics, mineral physics and seismology will define the forefront of knowledge and set the stage for a freewheeling discussion and debate of the most pressing scientific questions. Specific session topics include the interpretation of seismic tomography, geochemical heterogeneity, plate tectonics and the radial structure of convection, the core-mantle boundary region, the structure and dynamics of the core, the early Earth, planetary interiors and magnetic fields, as well as future trends in scientific computing and numerical simulations. The conference will also provide the opportunity for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leading researchers. The collegial atmosphere, with programmed discussion sessions and opportunities for informal gatherings, is intended to generate lively exchange and promote cross-disciplinary collaborations.


SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 9:00 pmArrival and Check-in (Office Closed 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm)
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY: INTERPRETING THE IMAGES
Discussion Leader: Guy Masters (UC San Diego/Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
7:40 pm - 8:10 pmLars Stixrude (University College London)
"Origins of mantle heterogeneity"
8:10 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:40 pmBarbara Romanowicz (UC Berkeley)
"Seismic waveform tomography in the age of high-speed computing"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:10 pmThorsten Becker (University of Southern California)
"Global geodynamic models in the light of seismic tomography"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:45 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm GEOCHEMICAL HETEROGENEITY: SOURCES, SINKS, STORAGE
Discussion Leader: Jeroen Ritsema (University of Michigan)
9:00 am - 9:40 amSujoy Mukhopadhyay (Harvard University)
"Mantle mixing and the preservation of geochemical heterogeneities"
9:40 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 amPeter van Keken (University of Michigan)
"Mixing the mantle - the role of mantle plumes and subduction zones"
11:10 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pm Louise Kellogg (UC Davis)
"Destruction and preservation of geochemical heterogeneity on large and small scales"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PLATE TECTONICS AND THE STRUCTURE OF CONVECTION
Discussion Leader: Magali Billen (UC Davis)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pmJeannot Trampert (University of Utrecht)
"Probabilistic tomography: constraints on geodynamics"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pmAllen McNamara (Arizona State University)
"Geophysical and geodynamical constraints on large-scale mantle convection"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm TRENDS IN SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION
Discussion Leader: Mike Gurnis (Caltech)
9:00 am - 9:40 amRonald Cohen (Geophysical Laboratory, CIW)
"New directions in accurate predictions of high pressure mineral properties"
9:40 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 amHeiner Igel (Ludwig-Maximilians University)
"Advances in 3D modeling and inversion of seismic wave propagation on multi-core systems"
11:10 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pmGeorg Stadler (University of Texas at Austin)
"Adaptive mesh geophysical simulations on supercomputers"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY REGION
Discussion Leader: Ed Garnero (Arizona State University)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmChristine Thomas (University of Munster)
"Seismic structures in the D" region: what do they tell us about the mantle?"
7:55 pm - 8:10 pm Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:35 pmDan Shim (MIT)
"Mineralogical changes in the lowermost mantle"
8:35 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmPaul Asimow (Caltech)
"Partial melting at the core-mantle boundary: petrology in extreme environments"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm EARLY EARTH
Discussion Leader: Stephane Labrosse (ENS Lyon)
9:00 am - 9:40 amRichard Carlson (Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, CIW)
"Isotopic evidence for early Earth differentiation"
9:40 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 amStein Jacobsen (Harvard University)
"Isotopic constraints on the evolution of the early Earth"
11:10 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pm Marc Parmentier (Brown University)
"The initial value problem of longterm planetary evolution"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE CORE
Discussion Leader: Andrew Jackson (ETH Zurich)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmJulien Aubert (IPG Paris)
"Models of core dynamics: investigating the geomagnetic signal"
7:55 pm - 8:10 pm Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:35 pmArwen Deuss (University of Cambridge)
"Seismic constraints on the structure of the Earth’s core"
8:35 pm - 9:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmKei Hirose (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
"High-pressure studies of core materials"
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm PLANETARY INTERIORS AND MAGNETIC FIELDS
Discussion Leader: Sabine Stanley (University of Toronto)
9:00 am - 9:40 amSean Solomon (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
"Mercury as a laboratory for terrestrial planetary interior processes: Recent lessons from the MESSENGER flybys"
9:40 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:10 amJie Li (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
"An experimental perspective on thermal and chemical convection in iron-rich planetary cores"
11:10 am - 11:30 am Discussion
11:30 am - 12:10 pmUlrich Christensen (Max-Planck Institute)
"Planetary Dynamos"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm UNSOLVED PROBLEMS
Discussion Leader: Peter Olson (Johns Hopkins University)
7:30 pm - 8:10 pmRob van der Hilst (MIT)
"Mulit-scale imaging and characterization of mantle heterogeneity: beyond current capabilities"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:10 pmDavid Stevenson (Caltech)
"Processes we don’t understand"
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture