Abstract
The scoping study will bring together experts in geophysical observations of topography, geological proxies of subsidence, uplift and paleoaltimetry, lithospheric mechanics, computational fluid dynamics, seismology and mineral physics, to produce an action plan for a directed expenditure that will allow us to determine Earth s topography and bathymetry for the last 60 My - and set the boundary conditions for understanding the long-term carbon cycle, changes in sea-level and large past climatic extremes. A strategic program is necessary in order to weave these threads together in the form of a comprehensive model of long-wavelength topography and its driving forces over the Cenozoic. Ties between communities that do not normally interact strongly must be forged: between those with expertise in the shallowest crust and the deepest mantle, and between those with expertise in observational data and dynamical modeling. In order to make progress sustained effort must be devoted to bringing together observational constraints on paleotopography from the geologic record and models of whole mantle structure and circulation. Among the fundamental challenges to be overcome are the large range of length scales involved, from that of sedimentary basins to that of tectonic plates, and the large range of time scales, from that of river incision to plate rearrangements.
United Kingdom