Program Sessions
Session 1
30 Years of WEGENER - The Evolution of
our Knowledge about the Africa-Eurasia Plate Boundaries
The concept for the organization of
WEGENER was first proposed by Peter Wilson at a meeting of
the Journées Luxembourgeoises de Geodynamique held in
Walferdange in December 1980 to respond with a coordinated
European proposal to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity
inviting participation in the Crustal Dynamics and
Earthquake Research Program. The project was then
established in Frankfurt in March 1981 at a meeting called
by the Institut fuer Angewandte Geodaesie. WEGENER was
constituted as a voluntary coordinating body with membership
open to any organization and individual scientists actively
engaged in research directed towards achieving a better
understanding of crustal dynamics, kinematics and the
processes leading to earthquakes. Since the very beginning,
WEGENER had been conceived as an interdisciplinary forum.
WEGENER has evolved through the past 30 years both as
regards science and technology. This session, besides
celebrating three decades of WEGENER activities and
participants, welcomes in particular contributions
addressing how and through which means the evolution of our
knowledge of the Africa-Eurasia plate boundaries has been
accomplished.
Session 2
Current Plate Motions, Inter- and
Intraplate Deformation with a Focus on Europe, the
Mediterranean, Northern Africa and the Middle East
General Session
Unravelling the geodynamic complexity of
this tectonically active region calls for an integrated
Earth science approach combining processes of the Earth’s
interior with observations of crustal and surface
deformation. For this session we invite a wide range of
contributions ranging from pure (generic or applied) forward
modeling studies that allow for predictions of crustal
deformation associated with geodynamic processes, inverse
modeling of surface deformation observations, to pure
observational studies with temporary and permanent geodetic
networks. Special focus will be given to active deformation
and large continental faults of the eastern Mediterranean.
2.1. The Mediterranean: A Geohazards
Focus Area
The Mediterranean Region is prone to the
major geo-risks that threaten our societies. Earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and flooding are some of the
events that are likely to occur in this area. This session
is dedicated to the study of natural hazard mitigation based
on new strategies for Earth observation and the application
of geodetic techniques in this natural laboratory. In this
session contributions on all topics relevant for observing,
monitoring and modeling the Earth and the sea with respect
to hazard mitigation are invited.
2.2. The Seismotectonics and the
Earthquake Cycle of the Marmara Region
The North Anatolian Fault has been the
site of numerous major earthquakes with Mw > 7.0, the
1939-1999 seismic sequence with westward migration along the
fault being the most recently recorded. The GPS measurements
since 1988 provide a unique opportunity to study and
understand preseismic, coseismic and postseismic deformation
of the tectonic blocks limited by the fault. The study of
historical earthquakes coupled with Active tectonics and
paleoseismological investigations indicate that the same
pattern of earthquake sequence occurred along the fault
during the 9th-10th, 13th-14th centuries and 17th centuries.
However, the fault section in the Marmara Sea that did not
experience a large earthquake since 1766 is related to a
seismic gap. The 250-300 years recurrence of large
earthquakes along the same fault segment constrains the
seismic cycle and determines the central Marmara Sea seismic
gap and long term slip rate along the fault rupture zone.
Multidisciplinary studies of the sea morphology and fault
scarps, the related shallow and deep geophysical prospecting
(in 2D and 3D) and the fault-controlled Holocene sedimentary
deposits have improved our understanding of the fault
structure in the Marmara Sea. The session seeks for
contributions in geodesy, geophysics, tectonics and
seismology that include data acquisition, analysis and
modeling of past and recent earthquake deformation.
Presentations that address the earthquake forecast and its
implications on the seismic hazard assessment are also
invited in this session.
Session 3
From Kinematics to Dynamics:
Implications of Global Geodetic Monitoring for Plate
Dynamics and Continental Rheology
Global geodetic measurements of crustal
motion, in combination with plate tectonic reconstructions
and new seismic imaging that allows mapping of deep Earth
structure, are providing new constraints on the dynamics of
plate motions and continental rheology. The temporal and
spatial character of deformation along plate boundaries, and
changes in the rates and directions of relative plate
motions are being investigated in light of processes along
plate boundaries, including the influence of
continent-continent collision, various styles of subduction,
and processes within the descending lithosphere and
over-riding plate (e.g., slab break-off, lithosphere
delamination, etc.). For this session, we seek contributions
that, 1) present observations to constrain the relationship
between present-day, geodetic and long-term plate tectonic
estimates of plate motions, 2) examine the relationship
between changes in plate motions and changes in processes
occurring along plate boundaries (including sub-lithospheric
processes), and 3) modeling studies that examine the
importance of various forces for driving/resisting plate
motions and interactions.
Session 4
Earth Observation Systems and
Reference Frames, Observation Techniques, Methods and Data
Analysis
With the increased sophistication of
modeling techniques, the growth of permanent GNSS tracking
stations and the future availability of new satellites
signals (GPS L5, GLONASS, GALILEO) our knowledge of the
system Earth has improved considerably. This session invites
presentations that propose methods to improve the
measurement of deformations focusing on new observation
techniques, the added-value of new satellite signals,
advances in data modeling (e.g. ionosphere, troposphere and
loading), minimization of reference frame errors, and
methods to handle and better understand the positions time
series of the observing stations.
Session 5
Open Session with Proposed Focus on
International Organization of Geodetic Initiatives
Contributing to Earth Sciences
This session welcomes all those
contributions in the frame of interest of WEGENER that do
not specifically address the topics of the other sessions of
the program. However, in particular, we solicit
presentations describing European programs/initiatives in
the field of geodesy, existing or planned for the near
future, aiming at providing data, services and products that
can facilitate integrated approaches to support forefront
research in the domain of Earth Sciences and related to the
European/African plate boundary system. Unravelling the
dynamics of planet Earth at different spatial and temporal
scales, depends on our ability to link different types of
geodetic, geophysical, geological observations and physical
models. Measuring the motion of the Earth’s surface provides
new constraints on the processes driving the slow
deformation of continents, the occurrence of earthquakes and
the interaction between the solid Earth, the oceans, the
atmosphere and continental waters. In the last decade,
researchers have made significant advances towards this
integration, as well as towards data availability and
improvements in data quality. However, a strong effort is
still needed to overcome the problems of wide and easy data
access and optimal and efficient data integration.
