Dear Colleagues 

We would like to draw your attention to the following  
symposium “The Coupling of Fluid Reservoirs in the Earth”  
(T11) to be held at the forthcoming conference on Earth  
System Processes in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 24-28,  
2001. The conference is being presented jointly by the  
Geological Society of America and the Geological Society of  
London, and is also being sponsored by the British and US  
Geological Surveys, the University of Edinburgh and the  
Edinburgh Geological Society. 

Earth System Processes will focus on two major themes critical  
to advancing understanding of how our planet works. 

Earth System Linkages will explore the relationships between  
the solid Earth, the hydrosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, and  
biosphere. 
Earth System Evolution will examine the way in which  
processes controlling the nature of the planet have changed since 
 the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. 

Both themes will involve comparison with other planetary  
systems in the solar system and beyond. Both will take into  
account critical extraterrestrial influences. 

Further details of the conference, registration and abstract  
submission procedures, and deadlines may be found at: 

http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/edinburgh 

----------------------------------------------------
Symposium Title: The coupling of fluid reservoirs in the  
Earth (T11) 

Convenors: 
Craig Manning (UCLA) ([log in to unmask])
 
Colin Graham (Edinburgh)  ([log in to unmask])
 

Keynote speakers: 

	Steve Ingebritsen (USGS, Menlo Park) 
	Jamie Connolly (ETH – Zurich) 

Summary: 

The storage, movement and reaction of fluids in the Earth, and  
the exchange of fluids with the hydrosphere and atmosphere,  
play a central role in a wide range of Earth processes such as  
ore genesis, the formation and migration of hydrocarbons, the  
buffering of ocean chemistry, the evolution of the atmosphere,  
global climate change, water resources and supply, and crustal  
deformation and seismicity. 

Fluids are stored within different reservoirs within the Earth, but  
the communication between these reservoirs remains poorly  
understood. Terrestrial fluid reservoirs are separated by major  
crustal transitions, such as the Mohorivicic discontinuity, the  
brittle-ductile transition and basement-basin interfaces.  The  
petrologic, rheologic, and/or lithologic contrasts across these  
boundaries should control the transfer of fluids, yet the gradients  
in permeabilities, structure/lithology, mechanical/rheological  
properties, and fluid pressure and flux remain controversial.  The 
 fluid content and behaviour within these regimes is also widely  
debated – is the lower crust wet or dry?  can fluid move up and  
down temperature? what are the fluxes? does fluid release in the  
deep crust influence global climate change? how do the  
geophysical properties of the crust (seismic, electrical, acoustic)  
vary with fluid content and movement?  The movement of fluid  
within and between regimes is controlled by permeability  
variation in the crust in space and time, but this variation is only  
beginning to be understood and is difficult to constrain in situ.  
Can geophysical techniques be reliably used to identify fluids in  
situ in the mid-deep crust? 

The measurement, characterisation and modelling of fluid  
storage, movement and behaviour within and between these  
various regimes is thus one of the most active and topical areas  
of geological research, involving an array of chemical, physical  
and theoretical approaches. This symposium is aimed at  
providing a lively inter-disciplinary forum for the presentation  
and exchange of ideas and results across traditional discipline  
boundaries and to bring together geophysicists, geochemists,  
and modellers. 


Colin Graham						
Department of Geology and Geophysics		
University of Edinburgh				
Edinburgh		
EH9 3JW						
UK							
Phone: 0131-650-4849				
Fax: 0131-668-3184					
Email: [log in to unmask] 			

Craig Manning
Department of Earth and Space Sciences
University of California
Los Angeles
California 90095-1567
USA
Phone: 310-206-3290
Fax: 310-825-2779
Email: [log in to unmask] HYPERLINK 
mailto:[log in to unmask] }





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