Recent progress in our understanding of Earth's core dynamics has come from both observations of increasing quality and numerical and experimental models. Observation of the Earth's magnetic field and of its variations at various timescales provides key constraints on core dynamics. It also offers the opportunity to test our physical understanding of convection and dynamo action in the core, and combining data and modeling has already proved to be a fruitful approach. Seismology gives independent constraints on core structure, and has often yielded unexpected observations which challenge our current understanding of core dynamics. The increasing complexity of the seismological picture of the inner core, and the possible presence of anomalously stratified layers at the base and top of the outer core, have yet to be explained in a satisfactory way.

This session is intended to bring together the various disciplines relevant to outer core and inner core dynamics; we welcome contributions from geodynamicists, geomagnetists, seismologists and mineral physicists.


Invited presentations :
Bruce Buffett (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
Daniel Zimmerman (University of Maryland, USA)