Workshop: Planetary Geomorphology -- the 45th Annual Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to support the 45th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium on planetary geomorphology. The systematic exploration of our Solar System provides for substantive and insightful comparison among its various geologic bodies, including Earth. This symposium will lead to significant integration of the closely related fields of terrestrial and planetary geomorphology. Inclusion of the terrestrial geomorphology community in analyzing and understanding extraterrestrial data leverages NASA investment in planetary exploration for the benefit of terrestrial geomorphology. Terrestrial geomorphologists will be exposed to both an historical overview of and cutting-edge research within the planetary community and will form contacts with their planetary colleagues, who will benefit from terrestrial geomorphologists expertise in 'ground-truth.' The invited scholars represent the full range of academic ranks, from graduate students to senior professors. Live streaming of the oral presentations and public access to the digital archive will greatly enhance participation and accessibility for foreign professionals and students, including undergraduates. Spacecraft missions to other planetary bodies are now providing surface data at resolutions equal to or better than those of terrestrial data, presenting an opportunity for new discoveries in geomorphology. This symposium will convene geomorphologists from both the terrestrial and extraterrestrial communities across a range of subdisciplines (impact, tectonics, volcanic, aeolian, fluvial, glacial and periglacial, lacustrine, flood) relevant to the discipline of planetary geomorphology. The goals and scope of the work to be accomplished are the communication and synthesis of ideas between terrestrial and planetary geomorphologists from the relevant academic subdisciplines. The methods and approaches to be used are the presentation and discussion of analyses of these terrestrial and extraterrestrial data and their geomorphologic implications. Publication of invited papers in Geomorphology will also provide broad access to ideas presented at the symposium.