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PPEM
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Physical Properties of Earth
Materials
The physical properties of minerals, rocks, and fluids that interact
and react with materials of the solid Earth govern the mechanical and
geophysical behavior of our planet's lithosphere and asthenosphere.
Expressed as constitutive laws, they link driving forces and
reactions at geodynamic scales. The nature of macroscopic properties
and the forms of constitutive laws that operate at the plate scale
depend upon physical and chemical processes that operate at scales
down to atomic dimensions. These finer scale processes may be elastic
and recoverable, while others are inelastic and path-dependent.
Physical properties provide critical interpretive links between
geophysical measurements and evaluations of subsurface geology and
state conditions.
Goals and
Aspirations
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The PPEM Community of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) is made
up of geophysicists, geologists, and materials scientists who use
experiments, theory and observation to study the properties of
Earth's materials, including but not restricted to mechanical and
transport properties. The PPEM Steering Committee serves this
community by organizing and promoting Special Sessions at AGU
Meetings that develop and explore applications of rock mechanics and
materials science approaches to geophysical problems, promoting the
Gordon Conference on Rock Deformation, and encouraging the
organization of symposia and workshops within AGU and outside of AGU.
The PPEM Committee seeks to strengthen professional and personal
bonds within the Community by sponsoring an annual PPEM Dinner and
issuing an annual Newsletter, while it promotes participation in the
greater Mineral and Rock Physics (MRP) Community and outreach to the
rock mechanics and materials science communities outside of AGU.
The PPEM Steering Committee reports to the Mineral and Rock
Physics Committee of AGU, and furthers the goals of MRP of scientific
advancement and innovation in fundamental studies of Earth materials,
exchange of ideas across disciplines, and applications of Earth
materials studies to plate dynamics, fault mechanics, development of
geologic structures, and the physics of the deep Earth's
interior.
