Many regions of the Earth, from crust to core, exhibit anisotropic
fabrics which can reveal much about geodynamic processes in the
subsurface. These fabrics can exist at a variety of scales, from
crystallographic orientations to regional structure alignments. In the
past few decades, a tremendous body of multidisciplinary research has
been dedicated to characterizing anisotropy in the solid Earth and
understanding its geodynamical 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; (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 and, thus, geodynamic processes in the Earth.
The study of anisotropy 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 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 at all scales and depths within the
Earth.