The Earth's Crazy Paving: A 21st Century Perspective on Plate Tectonics
Event details
When
from 09:30 AM to 05:00 PM
Where
Contact Name
Contact Phone
The modern conception of Plate Tectonics has been in existence for about 50 years, with the ‘plate tectonic revolution’ taking place in the 1960s when a new generation of researchers, some of whom will be speaking at the Seminar, advanced and developed the theories of Alfred Wegener 45 years earlier. These pioneers unveiled to a mostly sceptical scientific community the amazing fact that the Earth’s lithosphere is made up of moving plates, whose unpredictable wanderings around the planet over time continually modify the morphology of the Earth’s surface.
Our seminar takes a reflective view of those early days, the controversy and disbelief, then focuses on the advancement of plate tectonics in the 21st Century. The story begins with the tectonic setting of the early Earth, moves on to the discoveries and nature of processes impinging on the continents, mountains and oceans, and concludes with the interaction between the processes of plate tectonics and life on the planet.
The full day of talks will be presented by Professors Joe Cann, James Jackson, Andreas Rietbrock and Hugh Rollinson, and Drs Dickson Cunningham, Steve Jones and Alan Owen, all highly regarded leaders in the field.
Tickets for the Seminar and Reception are £20.00 with a buffet lunch or £14.00 without lunch.
Organised by the Geology Section (C) of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society.
Programme
| 9.00am | Assemble | |
| 9.30am | Opening | |
| Session 1 | Chair: Dr Joanne E Norris (Chairman, Geology Section (C), Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society) | |
|---|---|---|
| 9.35am | Living through the plate tectonic revolution; how the Earth suddenly started to move | Professor Joe Cann (Leeds University) |
| 10.20am | When did Plate Tectonics begin? |
Professor Hugh Rollinson (Derby University) |
| 11.05am | Coffee | |
| Session 2 | Chair: Andrew Swift (Editor, Geology Section (C), Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society) | |
| 11.25am | Dehydration processes in the subducting slab: Seismological observations from the Andean subduction zone | Professor Andreas Rietbrock (Liverpool University) |
| 12.10pm | Mountain building in continental interiors: Lessons from central Asia | Dr Dickson Cunningham (Leicester University) |
| 12.55pm | Lunch | |
| Session 3 | Chair: Mark Evans (Vice-Chairman, Geology Section (C), Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society) | |
| 2.00pm | Mountains and shields on the continents | Professor James Jackson (Cambridge University) |
| 2.45pm | Theme: The linkeage between deep earth (mantle) processes and climate | Dr Steve Jones (Birmingham University) |
| 3.30pm | Tea | |
| Session 4 | Chair: Professor Andy Saunders, Dept of Geology, University of Leicester | |
| 3.50pm | Plate tectonics and the changing patterns of life in the marine realm | Dr Alan Owen (Glasgow University) |
| 4.35pm | Discussion | |
| 5.00pm | Concluding remarks and close | |
| 5.15pm | Reception |
