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Vol. 11, No. 4 A Publication of the Geological Society of America April 2001 INSIDE L Are Lithospheres Forever? Tracking Changes in Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle Through Time, p. 4 L GSA Executive Director Sought, p. 11 L GSA Annual Meeting 2001 Call for Papers, p. B-1 L Rock Stars Eugene M. Shoemaker and the Integration of Earth and Sky, p. 20 A global meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland June 24–28, 2001 Edinburgh International Conference Centre Final Preregistration Deadline: April 30, 2001 n innovative gathering of geoscientists, anthropologists, Aastrobiologists, botanists, climate modelers, hydrologists, ecologists, oceanographers, chemists, physicists, and other scientists will explore: L Relationships among the solid Earth and its hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. L Earth system evolution and how processes controlling the nature of our planet have changed since the birth of the solar system. Field trips, workshops, and other activities are planned before, during, and after the meeting. For information and registration, see www.geosociety.org or www.geolsoc.org.uk. Partial funding provided by the NASA Astrobiology Institute. Edinburgh Castle Contents GSA TODAY (ISSN 1052-5173) is published monthly by The Geological Vol. 11, No. 4 April 2001 Society of America, Inc., with offices at 3300 Penrose Place, Boulder, Colorado. Mailing address: P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at Boulder, Colorado, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to GSA Today, Member Services, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140. science article Copyright © 2001, The Geological Society of America, Inc. (GSA). All rights reserved. Copyright not claimed on content prepared wholly by U.S. government employees within scope of their employment. Individual Are Lithospheres Forever? scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further requests Tracking Changes in Subcontinental to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text Lithospheric Mantle Through Time . 4 in other subsequent works. For any other use, contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA, phone (978) 750- Suzanne Y. O’Reilly, William L. Griffin, Yvette H. Poudjom Djomani, 8400, www.copyright.com; when paying, reference GSA Today, ISSN and Paul Morgan 1052-5173. Written permission is required from GSA for all other forms of capture, reproduction, and/or distribution of any item in this journal by any means, including posting part or all of an article on the authors’ or organizational Web sites, except that permission is granted to authors to post the abstracts only of their articles on their own or their organization’s Dialogue . 10 Web site providing the posting includes this reference: “The full paper was published in the Geological Society of America’s journal GSA Today, Heard a Good Talk Lately? [include year, month, and page numbers if known, where the article will appear].”GSA provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse 11 opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regardless of their race, Book Review . citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in Impacts and the Early Earth this publication do not reflect official positions of the Society. SUBSCRIPTIONS for 2001 calendar year: Society Members: GSA Geoscience Matters . 12 Today is provided as part of membership dues. Contact Member Services at 1-888-443-4472, (303) 447-2020 or [email protected] for National Cave and Karst Research Institute membership information. Nonmembers & Institutions: Free with paid subscription to both GSA Bulletin and Geology, otherwise $65 for U.S., Canada, and Mexico; $75 elsewhere. Contact Subscription Services at Geoscientists: Invite Congress into Your World . 14 (800) 627-0629 or [email protected]. Also available on an annual Report from Congressional Science Fellow Rachel Sours-Page CD-ROM, (together with GSA Bulletin, Geology, GSA Data Repository, and an Electronic Retrospective Index to journal articles from 1972); $94 to GSA Members, others call GSA Subscription Services for prices and 15 details. Claims: For nonreceipt or for damaged copies, members contact 2001 Section Meetings . 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Good GSA Today lead science articles should present the results of exciting new research or summarize and synthesize important problems or issues, 18 and they must be understandable to all in the earth science community. GSA Foundation Update . Contact science editor Karl Karlstrom, [email protected], to submit a manuscript. Rock Stars . 20 ADVERTISING: Classifieds and display: Contact Ann Crawford, Eugene M. Shoemaker and the Integration of Earth and Sky (303) 447-2020, ext. 153, fax 303-447-1133; [email protected]. GSA ONLINE: www.geosociety.org 22 This publication is included on GSA’s annual Announcements . CD-ROM, GSA Journals on Compact Disc. In Memoriam, About People, Grant Available, Call for Comments Call GSA Publication Sales for details. Printed in U.S.A. using pure soy inks. 2001 GeoVentures . 26 GeoTrip—New Year’s at the End of the World: The Geology of Southern Patagonia GSA Bulletin and Geology Highlights . 27 Classified Advertising . 29 50% Total Recovered Fiber 10% Postconsumer GSA TODAY, APRIL 2001 3 controversy over the physical nature of the lithosphere and asthenosphere and the boundary zone between them. The subcontinental lithospheric mantle is isolated from the convecting mantle and thus tends to resist homogenization over time. At the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, the temperatures of the lithosphere and the uppermost asthenosphere coincide, and the greater buoyancy and viscosity of the lithosphere are important in maintaining its mechanical integrity. Suzanne Y. O’Reilly, GEMOC National mantle roots are highly buoyant; they This emphasizes a thermal and Key Centre, Department of Earth cannot be delaminated but require rheological distinction between and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie mechanical disaggregation (lithospheric lithosphere and asthenosphere that also University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia thinning and/or rifting) and infiltration coincides well with seismic observations of upwelling fertile material to be and with the geochemical signatures William L. Griffin, GEMOC National Key destroyed or transformed. In contrast, that are used in this paper to help define Centre, Department of Earth and Phanerozoic subcontinental lithospheric the location and character of the Planetary Sciences, Macquarie mantle is denser than the asthenosphere lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia, for observed thicknesses (~100 km) and Four-dimensional lithosphere and CSIRO Exploration and Mining, can “delaminate” under stress. The mapping is a methodology that P.O. Box 136, North Ryde, NSW 1670, contrasting properties of different integrates petrological, geochemical, Australia mantle domains require lateral contrasts geophysical, and tectonic information to in composition, density, thickness, and map the composition of the sub- Yvette H. Poudjom Djomani, GEMOC seismic response in the present-day continental lithospheric mantle (Fig. 1) National Key Centre, Department of subcontinental lithospheric mantle. They and the location of its important Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie also suggest a secular evolution in boundaries through time (O’Reilly and Earth’s geodynamics from Archean to Griffin, 1996). Volcanic rocks (basalts, University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia Proterozoic time, and an increased lamproites, kimberlites) carry fragments importance for lithosphere-delamination of the subcontinental lithospheric Paul Morgan, GEMOC National Key processes in Phanerozoic orogens. mantle to the surface as xenoliths and Centre, Department of Earth and xenocrysts (e.g., garnet, chromite, and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie LITHOSPHERE DOMAINS IN TIME diamond). Xenoliths can be used to University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia, AND SPACE recognize mantle rock types and and Department of Geology, Northern Knowledge of the architecture and processes, and to measure physical Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011- evolution of the mantle portion of the properties (e.g., elastic, electric, 4099, USA continental plates—the subcontinental magnetic properties, density, and heat lithospheric mantle—is critical to production). Volcanic episodes of ABSTRACT understanding the large-scale processes different ages in one region can provide The lithospheric mantle beneath responsible for the development of this information