Mantle convection plays a central role in shaping the Earth and other rocky planets throughout their history. Following the magma ocean stage, long-term solid-state mantle convection initiates and is coupled to the dynamics of the mantle-lithosphere system, compositional differentiation or mixing, possible core-mantle reactions, melting and crustal production, surface tectonics, etc. All these processes are interconnected and can be studied through observations of the rock record, geochemistry, seismology, gravity, magnetism and planetary remote sensing, all linked through geodynamical modelling constrained by physical properties of relevant materials.

This session aims at understanding mantle convection and how it relates to the dynamics, tectonics, structure, composition and evolution of Earth and other rocky planetary bodies on temporal scales ranging from the present day to billions of years, and on spatial scales ranging from microscopic to global, by bringing together constraints from geodynamics, seismology, mineral physics, geochemistry, petrology, volcanology, planetary science and astronomy.

• P - Planetary Sciences