Themes and Sessions

02a: Building Habitable Planets
Convenors: Charles Lineweaver, Dimitar Sasalov, Stephen Mojzsis, Cin-Ty Lee, Nader Haghighipour, Lisa Kaltenegger
Keynotes: Geoff Blake (California Institute of Technology) , Diana Valencia (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur)
Orals: Wed AM
Posters: Mon AM
This session is planned to address such questions as: How does varying mass and composition of ‘terrestrial’ planets affect their habitability? How much planetary resurfacing is required to maintain the chemical disequilibrium that life needs? What is the mode of resurfacing of super Earths? Are stagnant lids incompatible with life?
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02e: Peering into the Cradle of Life: Processes and Habitats on the Archean Earth
Convenors: Paul Mason, Crisogono Vasconcelos, Euan Nisbet, Sylvie Derenne
Keynote: Mark van Zuilen (University of Bergen)
Orals: Thu AM, Thu PM
Posters: Mon AM
The key physical and chemical conditions at the surface of the Archean Earth when life and associate ecosystems emerged remain poorly constrained and the timing and mechanisms of formation and development of the earliest continents, oceans and atmosphere are unclear. This session invites contributions that use experimental or theoretical data to build models that describe the Archaean environment that formed the habitat of early life. Research areas to be covered will include tectonic, sedimentary and biogeochemical processes. Particular attention will be given to the style and nature of early volcanism, hydrothermal circulation through the Archaean oceanic crust, the temperature and composition of the Archaean oceans, evolution of the Archean atmosphere, microbial habitats and metabolic activity of microorganisms in volcanic and sedimentary settings and the development of more robust chemical and isotopic biomarkers. The session will be (co) sponsored by the Archean Environment research networking program of the European Science Foundation.
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01b: From Dust to Planetesimals – Solar System Processes and their Timescales
Convenors: Qin-Zhu Yin, Brigitte Zanda
Keynote: Fred Ciesla (University of Chicago)
Orals: Thu AM, Thu PM
Posters: Tue PM
The earliest stage of planet formation, from dust to planetesimals (known as Stage I in the standard model) remains poorly understood. Planetesimal formation is difficult to constrain. The physics of grain growth in the solar nebula from micron-sized particles to kilometer-sized bodies is not well understood. Condensation, evaporation, and melting processes that generated refractory inclusions and chondrules may all be associated with physical changes that marked the initiation of grain growth. Chondrites, as the host of these components and the most pristine meteorites of our solar system, must have witnessed the initiation of planet formation and contain clues to their volatile element depletion and metal/silicate fractionation. These samples allow us to view inside our own protoplanetary disk from 4567 up to ~4562 Ma ago and study these processes in the laboratory in detail. However, this wealth of information must be placed in a broader context. The session invites contributions from a theoretical perspective, as well as observations from protoplanetary disks (e.g. Spitzer) and meteoritics. We encourage interdisciplinary dialog between isotope cosmochemistry, meteoritics, astrophysics, and observational astronomy of star and planet formation.
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01c: From Planetesimals to Planets: Impacts, Growth and Differentiation
Convenors: Maria Schönbächler, Mark Rehkamper
Keynote: David O'Brien (Planetary Science Insitute, Tucson)
Orals: Wed AM, Thu AM
Posters: Tue PM
For this session, we seek contributions that provide new insights into the formation and early differentiation of planets and asteroids as well as their modification by impact processes. Contributions from diverse fields are welcome, as we wish to foster a discussion between scientists that use stable or radiogenic isotope systems, trace element data or partitioning experiments to study the formation and evolution of planets with those that employ dynamical simulations, thermal modeling or astronomical observations.
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03e: Physics and Chemistry of the Core
Convenors: James Badro, Stephane Labrosse
Keynote: Michael Walter (University of Bristol)
Orals: Fri AM
Posters: Thu PM
The core, that represents a third of Earth’s mass, is site to many important processes, like the geodynamo, which is fueled by the thermal and chemical evolution of the core in interaction with the mantle. Studying this evolution provides a link between the present state of the Earth and the processes of its formation and differentiation. The last decade has seen many exciting discoveries and lively debates about the chemical and physical properties of Earth's core. The time is ripe for mineral physicists, experimental petrologists, geochemists, seismologists and geodynamicists to re-examine the fundamental issues concerning the core under the new light of recent observational, experimental, and computational results. The aim of this multidisciplinary session is to present our current understanding of the formation, evolution, composition and structure of Earth's core. The session will accept contributions from a broad range of disciplines, focusing especially on experimental and theoretical mineral physics, experimental petrology, and geochemistry. The following themes are especially welcome: (i) how and when did the core form, at what depth, and what were the various equilibrium processes it went through, (ii) what does the mantle tell us about the core, and what does the core tell us about the formation of the Earth and its early history, (iii) how has the core subsequently evolved and started to crystallize, (iv) how can mineral physics and petrology address the composition of the core, and what is the influence of light elements on the physical properties of iron, (v) what is the structure of the inner core, and what is the origin of its seismic anisotropy.
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05f: Two Billion Seconds of Life Applied to Four Billion Years of Earth History: A Session to Celebrate the Achievements of Jan D. Kramers
Convenors: Thomas Nägler, Balz Kamber, Igor M Villa
Keynote: Chris Hawkesworth (University of Bristol)
Orals: Tue PM
Posters: Thu AM
From the earliest Earth to the Quaternary, using analytical innovations and theoretical modelling, Jan D. Kramers has pushed forward the limits of isotope geochemical knowledge. His contributions to understanding terrestrial geology have emphasized the role of cycling of elements through reservoirs and have recognized the importance of isolation / storage vs. erosion / recycling of continental crust. This session aims to celebrate Jan Kramers's achievements and approach to geochemistry with contributions to the themes that relate to his work. The session will be organized to reflect the evolution of Earth from its accretion all the way to the Anthropocene. Themes include, but not exclusively: early crustal growth, hidden and not-so-hidden reservoirs, geochemical models of the Earth including plumbotectonics, crust-mantle evolution (especially southern Africa), Late Archean rise of oxygen, Quaternary climatology, and hominin dating. A thread common to all these topics is the use of problem-oriented mass spectrometric innovation.
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