Report of the panel on lithospheric structure and evolution, section 3

Abstract

The panel concluded that NASA can contribute to developing a refined understanding of the compositional, structural, and thermal differences between continental and oceanic lithosphere through a vigorous program in solid Earth science with the following objectives: determine the most fundamental geophysical property of the planet; determine the global gravity field to an accuracy of a few milliGals at wavelengths of 100 km or less; determine the global lithospheric magnetic field to a few nanoTeslas at a wavelength of 100 km; determine how the lithosphere has evolved to its present state via acquiring geologic remote sensing data over all the continents.