Milan- Western Alpes, Italy

DEPThS: Field-based Summer School on Subduction Forearc Dynamics

Subduction zones are of primary importance for understanding the interactions between the Earth’s surface and the deep levels of the planet and assessing the potential implications for the climate. The international Summer School "DEPThS" aims to analyze the dynamics of subduction forearcs through a highly multidisciplinary approach, with particular emphasis on exhumation processes and the deep carbon cycle. The course is aimed primarily at PhD students in the various fields of Earth Sciences. It includes one day of classroom lectures in Milan and four days of field lessons based on geological observations along key transects across the Western Alps, one of the best-studied fossil subduction zones on Earth. Lectures will integrate petrological, tectonic, and stratigraphic evidence along the analyzed transects with the results of recent geophysical experiments on the deep tectonic structure of the Alps. Lectures will be held by geologists, petrologists, and seismologists from University of Milano-Bicocca, ISTerre Grenoble, and University of Torino, who will interact all together with the students both in the classroom and in the field while hiking and discussing in front of intellectually stimulating outcrops in the breathtaking alpine landscape. The Summer School is funded by DISAT within the framework of the Departments of Excellence Project. The registration fee for non-UniMiB students is 100 euros, and includes travel, board, and lodging expenses for the entire duration of the course, from the morning of 6 September to the afternoon of 10 September. The registration fee does not include transport costs to reach Milan, health insurance for non-EU participants, any addendum in the hotel.

Course leader

Scientific committee
Marco G. Malusà (UniMiB)
Simona Ferrando (UniTo)
Stéphane Guillot (ISTerre Grenoble)
Chiara Groppo (UniTo)
Anne Paul (ISTerre Grenoble)

Target group

Priority will be given to PhD students. Twenty places are available, five of which are reserved for PhD students from the University of Milano-Bicocca. In case of availability, participation will also be open to early career scientists.

Course aim

Lectures will integrate petrological, tectonic, and stratigraphic evidence along the analyzed transects with the results of recent geophysical experiments on the deep tectonic structure of the Alps. Lectures will be held by geologists, petrologists, and seismologists from University of Milano-Bicocca, ISTerre Grenoble, and University of Torino, who will interact all together with the students both in the classroom and in the field while hiking and discussing in front of intellectually stimulating outcrops in the breathtaking alpine landscape.

Fee info

EUR 100: covers all lectures, field activities and accommodation, course materials