2011 Interior of the Earth Gordon Research Conference

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This award will partially support the 2011 Gordon Research Conference (GRC, June 5-10) and the first ever Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar (GRS, June 4-5) on the Interior of the Earth, which will be held at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. The GRC is the eighth in a series of highly successful Gordon Research Conferences that focus on the structure, dynamics and evolution of the Earth's interior. For the first time, the 2011 Interior of the Earth Gordon Conference will be preceded by a Gordon-Kenan Research Seminar (http://www.grc.org/ programs.aspx?year=2011&program=grs_inter), a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas. NSF funds will be used to attract young scientists from a diverse range of institutions, backgrounds and scientific disciplines.This year's Gordon conference will focus on the shallow Earth with a particular emphasis on the link between the interior and surface processes. A wide range of topics will be addressed 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 link between mantle dynamics and sea level, great earthquakes, dynamics of subduction zones, volatile recycling in the upper mantle, the nature and dynamical role of the asthenosphere, and the origin and evolution of continents. 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 latter will be greatly facilitated by the preceding GRS, which will focus on the nature of the asthenosphere providing particular synergy with the GRC to follow.