Many regions of the Earth, from crust to core, exhibit anisotropic fabrics which can reveal much about geodynamic and structural processes in the subsurface. These fabrics can exist at a variety of scales, from crystallographic orientations to regional structure alignments. Together with scattering of seismic waves, anisotropy may be used to image heterogeneities and deformation in the Earth.

In the past few decades, a tremendous body of multidisciplinary research has been dedicated to characterizing anisotropy and scattering in the solid Earth and understanding their geodynamical and structural implications. This has included work in fields such as: (1) geophysics, to make in situ observations and construct models of anisotropic properties at a range of depths, or to characterize the medium through its scattering properties; (2) mineral physics, to explain the cause of some of these observations; and (3) numerical modelling, to relate the inferred fabrics to regional stress and flow regimes, or to model scattering propagation into the Earth. The study of anisotropy and scattering in the Solid Earth encompasses topics so diverse that it often appears fragmented according to regions of interest, e.g., the upper or lower crust, oceanic lithosphere, continental lithosphere, cratons, subduction zones, D'', or the inner core.

The aim of this session is to bring together scientists working on different aspects of anisotropy and scattering to provide a comprehensive overview of the field. We encourage contributions from all disciplines of the earth sciences (including mineral physics, seismology, magnetotellurics, geodynamic modelling) focused on anisotropy and scattering at all scales and depths within the Earth.