The main scientific objective of the proposed ILP Task Force is to collect and assess quantitative data on the first two-billion years of well-preserved geological records from the North China, and Pilbara Cratons, the ancient section of the Kaapvaal (Barberton and Ancient Gneiss Complex), and the few scattered Eoarchean crustal fragments, to place quantitative constraints on the timing and mechanism of the initiation of plate tectonics. This study will provide new insights into how the planet responded to a decrease in heat production, loss of heat from accretion, and decreasing energy from orbital dynamics.
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The objective of this Task Force is to better understand the mechanisms of the carbon effect on climate change by connecting the tectonic carbon cycle with surface processes and climate changes. We choose the Tethys belt as the study area. This Task Force will integrate multidisciplinary investigations to study dynamics at subduction and collision zones and convecting mantle, to better constrain the carbon influx and outflux, and to develop cutting-edge approaches to distinguish the carbon sources. Knowledge of past climate changes, especially the time since the Cenozoic, will help us to cope with the challenge of the deteriorative climate in the present day.
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2026-TF2 - Volcanotectonic process and new technologies: Lithosphere interactions from depth to the surface (Chairs: Alessandro Tibaldi, Italy; Agust Gudmundsson, UK; Federica Lanza, Switzerland; Athanas S. Macheyeki, Tanzania; Thomas Walter, Germany; 2026-2030)
This project focuses on the study of the processes that bring magma from the lithosphere to the surface.Shedding light on this topic requires an in-depth knowledge of the geometric development of the magma chamber and plumbing system, the material properties of magma and the surrounding lithospheric rocks, the associated stress fields, and their evolution.With the purpose of putting together all the possible factors that guide magma migration through the lithosphere, it is necessary to promote the collaboration among scientists with different skills, from different schools and countries, capable of pursuing this goal with new forces and technologies. We wish to facilitate the blending between classical Earth Science approaches and emerging methodologies.
2026-TF3 - Global pore pressure data - A new addition to the World Stress Map Project (Chairs: Mojtaba Rajabi, Australia; Michael Drews, Germany; Oliver Heidbach, Germany; Indira Shatyrbayeva, Germany; 2026-2030)
2026-TF6 - Sedimentary Basins (Chairs: Piotr Krzywiec, Poland; Xiumian Hu, China; 2026-2030)
The ILP Task Force VI Sedimentary Basins have reached its objectives successfully during the last 5 years (2021-2025). The continuation of the Task Force under new leadership intends to benefit and continue this successful activity with the same main objectives and some additional tasks. The focus of the Task Force 6 activities is to foster collaborations between academia, research institutes and industry in all domains relevant for the understanding of sedimentary basins, from regional to nano-scale, from the deep earth to near surface processes.
2026-TF7 -Biogeodynamics of the Lithosphere (Chairs: Attila Balazs, Switzerland; Benjamin Mills, United Kingdom; 2026-2030)
Biogeodynamics is an emerging transdisciplinary field formed through the collaboration of geophysicists, geologists, biologists, and climatologists. It is driven by growing evidence that the geodynamic evolution of Earth’s mantle and lithosphere is intrinsically linked to the evolution of its atmosphere, oceans, landscape, and life. This proposal represents a continuation and further development of the activities carried out in recent years by the ILP Biogeodynamics Task Force 7, aimed at better understanding the coupled evolution of the lithosphere, climate, and biosphere.
2026-TF8 -Data Standardization and Compilation Project (Chairs: Sven Fuchs, Germany; Graeme Beardsmore, Australia;Ilmo T. Kukkonen, Finland)
The proposed Task Force builds directly upon the achievements of ILP 2021-TF8, Lithospheric Heat Flow – Global Data Assessment. The proposed Task Force will coordinate a global, community-driven effort to develop international standards for the structure, metadata, and quality assessment of a thermal rock property measurement database. Building on these standards, the Task Force will facilitate an initial compilation of available data and develop a lithology-based, model-oriented geological reference framework. This work will provide a robust physical basis for reproducible lithospheric thermal models and improved temperature predictions, particularly for geothermal resource assessment.
