The Earth's surface is continuously reshaped by the interaction of tectonic and surface processes. Where the tectonic forces acting on the lithosphere lead to downward vertical motions or subsidence, the resulting depressions are usually filled with sediments that contain a record of these vertical motions. In actively uplifting regions, however, as well as in passive but formerly uplifted regions of relatively high topography, the surface process response will be mostly erosional and no direct record of past vertical motions exists. In such systems, thermochronology – the study of the thermal history of rocks – provides practically the only record that can be obtained in terms of vertical motions on geological timescales. However, this record is highly non-linear and depends on many parameters that need to be understood in order to interpret thermochronological data meaningfully. In particular, one needs to understand: (1) the relationship between the thermal history of a rock and the accumulation of thermochronological ‘age’, as well as the influences of various physical and chemical parameters on this relationship; and (2) the relationship between advection of rocks towards the surface by the combined effects of tectonics and surface processes, and the thermal structure of the rocks (i.e., the links between the thermal and structural reference frames).

Several outstanding and fundamental problems in the Earth Sciences will rely partly or entirely on the meaningful interpretation of thermochronological datasets for their resolution.