The Earth's mantle is a chemically heterogeneous system whose compositional variability both records and drives the planet's evolution. From depleted and enriched domains produced by melt extraction to recycled crustal materials introduced by subduction, mantle heterogeneities serve simultaneously as tracers of deep processes and as active agents controlling melting, buoyancy, and rheology. A central question remains: how do these heterogeneities evolve from their generation in the deep mantle to the geochemical, physical, and tectonic signatures observed in volcanic rocks and at the surface?
Addressing this question requires integrating petrological and geochemical observations of mantle rocks and melts with geophysical imaging, experimental constraints, and geodynamic modelling. We welcome studies that connect deep and shallow observations across spatial and temporal scales, from metasomatic overprints in lithospheric peridotites to the volatile and isotopic signatures of volcanic products. Contributions combining petrological and geochemical constraints with geophysical observations and geodynamic models, as well as those addressing feedbacks between mantle composition, mantle flow, melting, and lithospheric deformation, are particularly encouraged.
The session focuses on innovative research, observational and field studies, experimental and theoretical advances aimed at understanding the generation, preservation, modification and transport of chemical heterogeneities in the mantle and their consequences for mantle dynamics, magmatism and lithospheric evolution. We welcome contributions from a broad range of disciplines, including mantle petrology and geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, experimental petrology, mineral physics, seismology and tomography, volcanology, geodynamics, thermodynamic modelling and numerical simulations. The session also specifically welcomes contributions from Early Career Scientists.