[Geoqus] Numerical and Analogue models at EGU 2007

[Susanne Buiter]

Dear all,

We would like to bring the following session at EGU 2007 to your
attention and encourage you to submit an abstract:

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TS 1.1 THE STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES OF ANALOGUE AND NUMERICAL MODELS
(co-listed in GD)

EGU General Assembly in Vienna (Austria), 15-20 April 2007.

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: 15 JANUARY 2007 
Also note the deadline for pre-registration: 31 March 2007
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Analogue and numerical modelling techniques are being utilised more
extensively in recent years to study processes in Earth's crust and
mantle. The modelling methods are partly overlapping and partly of a
complementary nature whereby both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Analogue, or physical, models have traditionally been strong in
visualising the mechanical behaviour of processes in 3D, but remain
limited in their ability to quantify observables or use more complicated
material rheologies. These can be better achieved by numerical models,
but their 3D resolution is only improving slowly. The aim of this
session is to focus on analogue and numerical models and provide room
for the discussion of their limitations, challenges and roles in the
near future.

We welcome contributions that discuss modelling and visualisation
techniques, use models to quantify Earth behaviour, compare analogue and
numerical model results to each other and/or to examples from nature, on
the scale of the crust to the mantle, for both 2D and 3D.

Keynote speakers:
Stephan Sobolev (GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany)
Bruno Vendeville (Lille University, France)

Convenors: 
Susanne Buiter (NGU, Norway) and Guido Schreurs (University of Bern)

Information and guidelines regarding abstract format and submission are
available on the EGU General Assembly Web Site:
http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2007

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We would also like to draw your attention to 

SPLINTER MEETING SPM02 "ANALOGUE-NUMERICAL BENCHMARK MEETING"

that will be held during the EGU General Assembly on Wednesday 18 April.

Numerical and analogue modelling methods are widely used, but rarely
compared directly to one another. Direct comparisons for well-defined
setups can help in testing and understanding model behaviour and
increase confidence in modelling results. In such comparisons it is a
challenge to have boundary conditions and material behaviour as similar
as possible. Recently published comparison experiments (see Geol.
Soc.Spec. Publ. 253, Analogue and Numerical Modelling of Crustal-Scale
Processes, edited by Buiter and Schreurs) have shown that there is a
need for further experiments to better constrain and understand the
variability among analogue and numerical models. 

The aim of this splinter meeting is
(1) to discuss the first analogue and numerical results of new model
setups (seehttp://www.geodynamics.no/benchmarks/benchmark-annum.html for
model setup suggestions),
(2) to select rigorous parameters for quantification of experiments, and
(3) to select extensional and shortening model setups for further
analogue and numerical benchmarks that will then be discussed in detail
at a GeoMod2008 pre-conference modelling workshop.


We look forward to seeing you in Vienna!

Susanne Buiter: susanne.buiter at ngu.no
Guido Schreurs: schreurs at geo.unibe.ch