Ma(th)ssX IdeaLab: Statistical Mechanics of Continental Fragmentation 

Ma(th)ssX IdeaLab: Statistical Mechanics of Continental Fragmentation

International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS), Edinburgh, UK

June 9–11, 2025 

Overview

Recent ideas suggest a deep connection between continental break-ups and large-scale biotic crises, including mass extinctions. These tectonic reorganizations may exert strong influence on the global carbon cycle, ocean circulation, and long-term climate feedbacks. Exploring these links presents new and stimulating challenges at the intersection of geoscience and statistical mechanics.

This Ma(th)ssX IdeaLab brings together a small, interdisciplinary team of mathematicians, physicists, and geoscientists to develop new conceptual and quantitative models of continental fragmentation and its potential role in driving extinction events. A central focus will be understanding how finite-size partitioning in two-dimensional systems — a statistical mechanics problem analogous to fragmentation and aggregation processes — can inform models of supercontinent cycles and their planetary consequences.

We would like to  explore:

• The role of continental break-up and assembly in climate transitions.

• New mathematical approaches to modeling fragmentation/aggregation in systems with a small number of interacting bodies.

• Conceptual links between tectonic dynamics, ecological thresholds, and critical transitions in Earth history.

This IdeaLab is under the umbrella of the Ma(th)ssX Research Network  and aims to foster new collaborations and outline concrete research directions.

Schedule

Monday, June 9

10:30–11:00 am | Arrival and Introduction

11:00 am–12:00 pm | Continental Break-up and Mass Extinction - Andrej Spiridonov

12:00–1:00 pm | Introduction to Aggregation and Fragmentation Theory - Paul Krapivsky

12:00 pm | Lunch

2:00–5:00 pm | Group Discussion

Tuesday, June 10

10:00 am–1:00 pm | The Role of Continental Break-up in the Deep Carbon Cycle and Climatic Change - Thomas Gernon

1:00–2:00 pm | Lunch

2:00–5:00 pm | Group Discussion

Wednesday, June 11

10:00 am–1:00 pm | Developing Collaborative Ideas

1:00–2:00 pm | Lunch

2:00–5:00 pm | Toward a Joint Research Plan

Venue

The event will be based at 14 India Street, Edinburgh EH3 6EZ. This is the birthplace of James Clerk Maxwell. The building is an elegant Georgian building in Edinburgh’s New Town and provides a delightful, quiet, inspiring backdrop for researchers to work in. 

 Zoom Meeting Information

TBD

Participants: 

Ivan Sudakow (The Open University)

Thomas Gernon (University of Southampton)

Paul Krapivsky (Boston University) 

Andrej Spiridonov (Vilnius University)

Valerie Livina (National Physics Lab)

Yi-Ping Ma (Northumbria University)

Ziyang Ding  (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)