Dear All,
This is the first announcement for a 3-day conference to be held
September 28-30th, 2005 in London:
TECTONICS OF RESTRAINING AND RELEASING BENDS IN CONTINENTAL AND OCEANIC
SETTINGS
Convenors: Dickson Cunningham, University of Leicester, UK
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and Paul Mann, University of Texas, Institute of Geophysics, USA
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Restraining bends and releasing bends are common but enigmatic features
of both continental strike-slip and oceanic transform faults.
Restraining bends are sites of topographic uplift and shortening while
releasing bends are sites of topographic depression, extensional
structures, volcanism, and mineralisation. The origin of bends has been
related to: 1) pre-existing basement structures (particularly for those
in continental crust); 2) the degree of transpression or transtension
across the strike-slip fault plane that is related to large-scale
tectonics; and 3) complex changes in stress state near the fault plane.
The societal significance of bends includes: 1) pull-apart basins form
zones of high heat flow and crustal dilation that can be exploited as
sources of geothermal energy, hydrocarbons, and economic mineralisation;
2) restraining bends form major topographic uplifts that are expressed
geomorphologically in the modern record and stratigraphically in the
ancient record; 3) both types of bends are known to act as barriers or
nucleation sites for major earthquake ruptures along both continental
and oceanic strike-slip faults. To understand the enigmatic origin of
bends and their tectonic and geologic evolution, we propose to assemble
a multidisciplinary group of earth scientists that include both
numerical and analogue modelers, field-based structural geodesists,
geologists, stratigraphers, geomorphologists, volcanologists, marine
geologists and geophysicists, seismologists, and mineral and petroleum
geologists.
This will be the first ever meeting dedicated to advancing our
understanding of restraining and releasing bends and is timely because
of recent developments in the application of geodetic methods, analogue
and numerical modelling, seismology, deep crustal and mantle imaging,
quantitative tectonic geomorphology, and marine geophysics to
restraining and releasing bend research. In addition, several recent
large magnitude earthquakes associated with restraining and releasing
bends have had significant societal impacts (2003, Bam, Iran event, 2002
Denali Alaska event, 1999 Izmit Turkey event), and this has underscored
the immediate importance of bringing together leading researchers who
are investigating restraining and releasing bends in order to share
information and ideas and to stimulate new research activities.
This meeting is sponsored by the Tectonic Studies Group of the
Geological Society of London and will take place at the Geological
Society of London's Burlington House venue. Further details including
names of keynote speakers will be published shortly. A special volume
dedicated to the conference theme and published by the Geological
Society of London is planned and potential authors will be asked to
submit manuscripts at the time of the conference or within one month
thereafter. The abstract deadline will be June 1st, 2005.
Thank you for your consideration,
Dickson Cunningham and Paul Mann
Dickson Cunningham
Senior Lecturer in Tectonics
Department of Geology
University of Leicester
Leicester LE1 7RH
United Kingdom
Tel: (0)116-252-3649
Fax: (0)116-252-3918
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://www.le.ac.uk/geology/wdc2/wdchome.html
Paul Mann
Senior Research Scientist
Institute for Geophysics
Jackson School of Geosciences
University of Texas at Austin
4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Bldg. 600
Austin, TX 78759-8500 USA
phone: 512-471-0452
fax: 512-471-8844
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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