Distortion and topology

For a self mapping f: D→D of the unit disk in C which has finite distortion, we give a separation condition on the components of the set where the distortion is very large - say greater than a given constant - which implies that f still extends homeomorphically and quasisymmetrically to the boundary S = ?D. Thus f shares its boundary values with a quasiconformal mapping whose distortion we explicitly estimate in terms of the data. This condition, uniformly separated in modulus, allows the set where the distortion is large to accumulate on the entire boundary S, but it does not allow a component to run out to the boundary - a necessary restriction. The lift of a Jordan domain in a Riemann surface to its universal cover D is always uniformly separated in modulus, and this allows us to apply these results in the theory of Riemann surfaces to identify an interesting link between the support of the high distortion of a map between surfaces and their geometry - again with explicit estimates. As part of our investigations, we study mappings ?: S → S which are the germs of a conformal mapping and give good bounds on the distortion of a quasiconformal extension of ? to the disk D. We then extend these results to the germs of quasisymmetric mappings. These appear of independent interest and identify new geometric invariants.