Conference Reports

Conference Reports 45 45 Final Report of The IGCP - 499 – Devonian Land-Sea Interactions: Evolution of Ecosystems and Climate (DEVEC) Introduction The Devonian period is one of the most interesting systems in Earth history. It is widely considered as a time of global greenhouse climates, lacking any significant ice shields, even when recently a discussion on icehouse-related sea-level fluctuations – not only near the Devonian/Carboniferous boundary – has evolved (Elrick et al., 2009, Joachimski et al., 2009). In any case it was characterized by extensive shallow marine and continental lowland areas yielding a wide range of different habitats. Following the work of numerous individuals and regional groups which have been established within IGCP 421, led by John Talent and Raimund Feist, a group of scientists proposed a new successor project (IGCP 499) in order to develop a better understanding of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and the influence on sedimentation in both the terrestrial and marine realms. Within the marine realm this included the neritic-pelagic correlation. An important focus of the project concerned the interrelated evolution of terrestrial and marine palaeoecosystems with respect to biotic and abiotic factors requiring high-resolution stratigraphic control and detailed analysis of different facies settings. The work on the rapid evolution of early ecosystems on land and their interaction with sedimentary processes, climate, and palaeogeography, both on land and in marine settings, was scheduled for the duration of the project (2004 – 2009). For that reason studies included individual palaeoecosystems and their components as well as their palaeo-biogeographic distribution which should provide a better understanding of the Devonian system with respect to the evolution of palaeoecosystems and to palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatical changes. The project was developed in close collaboration with the Sub-commission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) and many workshops were organized worldwide (Fig. 1), some of them as joint IGCP 499/ SDS meetings. IGCP 499 meetings and workshops The inaugural meeting took place in Rabat, Morocco, in conjunction with the Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS). The meeting was connected with a field workshop in the Dra Valley of the Anti Atlas Mountains. Both were perfectly organized by Ahmed El Hassani, Rabat (El Hassani, 2004). As a result of this meeting a Special Volume was published on “Devonian events and correlations” edited by Becker and Kirchgasser (2007). In October 2004 the first business meeting of the project was held at the University of Göttingen, Germany, during the annual meeting of the Paläontologische Gesellschaft, and was attended by about 40 colleagues from 9 countries. Presentations and discussions focused on the activities during the initial phase of the project and how forthcoming activities can be coordinated. In order to channel the work within IGCP 499 which covered a wide range of scientific disciplines, guidelines were established providing different working groups/regional coordinators which provided a better coordination of forthcoming field meetings and workshops. Furthermore, in the first year we presented the new project in conjunction with several conferences, such as the 11th International Palynological Congress in Granada, Spain; the 32 nd International Geological Congress, Firenze, Italy; the Geological Society of America in Denver, Figure 1. IGCP 499 field meetings and workshops (2004 – 2009). Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 46 September, 26th - October, 03rd, 2005. The workshop was attended by about 50 colleagues, mainly from Turkey, but also from Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Morocco, and the USA. There have been about 20 oral contributions and several posters covering major aspects of the subject with a special focus on the Devonian of Turkey and adjacent areas. The official part of the workshop and field trip was followed by an extended field Figure 3. Field excursion in the northwestern Turkey workshop (Fig. 3) in the (Photograph courtesy of P. Königshof) framework of a bilateral Turkishwith numerous new data and stimulating German cooperation project (DEVEC-TR/ scientific ideas, e.g. on carbon isotope 2005 – 2008) coordinated by V. Wilde and stratigraphy, climate fluctuations, sedimentoM.N. Yalçin. In the following years several logy and microfacies, palaeoecology and mass field campaigns and some workshops took extinction events were presented. The place in the course with this satellite project. abstracts of the contributions to the T7 Some other meetings have been organized session are published in the IPC abstract in conjunction with International Congresses. volume (Qun Yang et al., 2006). Other The first North American meeting of the workshop activities have been incorporated project was integrated in a symposium entitled in smaller congress events. Embedded in the “Correlation of Devonian Marine and meeting of the “Commission International de Terrestrial Strata” chaired by D.J. Over in Microflore du Paleozoique” (CIMP) that took June 2005 at the North American Paleontoplace in Praha 2006, a symposium was held logical Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia. on “Palaeozoic Palynology” (Bek et al., 2006) The next meeting of IGCP 499 was included as some of the palynological topics of the in the 6th Baltic Stratigraphic Conference, held in St Petersburg, Russia, that was meeting appeared to be very important for recognition of marine – non marine sequences coordinated by Z. Zigaite in the framework and for correlation between different shallow of IGCP 491. It was focused on midwater areas. Palaeozoic vertebrates (coordinated by M. Zhu and G. Young). IGCP 499 was represenSeveral other field meetings and workshops followed and in 2007 two ted by J. Lazauskiene who organised a meetings were organized. A workshop was business meeting. held from May 14th to 22 nd in San Juan, In order to intensify cooperation between Argentina. The Devonian of the San Juan and China and Germany a session on “Devonian Mendoza Precordillera and the San Rafeal land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems Block was also a focus of the project and climate” (session T7) was held on June regarding the palaeogeographic and 17, 2006 in conjunction with the 2 nd International Palaeontological Congress biostratigraphic importance in the Devonian (IPC) in Beijing, China. The Malvinokaffric realm, but also in terms of the successful and enjoyable session (21 tectonic-sedimentary evolution of the oral and poster presentations) took Precordillera terrane. A two-day symposium place in the Yingjie Conference in San Juan was followed by excursions to Centre. There was a large positive Western Argentina covering stratigraphic response to our call, and the sequences from the Early to Middle convenors of the session (Peter Palaeozoic (Fig. 4). The workshop was Königshof and Xueping Ma) could organized by colleagues of the Facultad de welcome more than 30 colleagues Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales, from Australia, Canada, China, Universitdad Nacional de San Juan, Instituto European countries and the USA. de Geologia “Dr. Emiliano Pedro Aparicio Far more talks were offered than (INGEO), Instituto Superior de Correlacion could be accommodated in the Geologia (INSUGEO) of the Facultad de single-session programme. Finally, Ciencias Naturales e I.M.L. Universidad Figure 2. Field camp in Ust‘-Sema, Gorny Altai, 15 talks on a wide range of topics National de Tucuman, Consejo Nacional de Russia (Photograph courtesy of P. Königshof) USA, and we organised a joint meeting with IGCP 503 at the University of Erlangen in Erlangen, Germany. In the following years numerous workshops and conferences took place in different countries (Fig. 1). In the tradition of successful joint meetings and field trips of Devonian IGCP projects and the SDS a meeting was held at the Institute of Petroleum Geology, United Institute of Geology and Minerology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch in Novosibirsk on “Devonian terrestrial and marine environments: From continent to shelf”. The meeting which included a splendid field trip to the South of Siberia (July 26 – August 6, 2005) and well-organised technical sessions (August 7 – 8, 2005) was organised by a great group from Novosibirsk under the guidance of E.A. Yolkin, A.V. Kanygin, N.K. Bakharev, N.G. Izokh and O.T. Obut (Yolkin et al., 2005a, b). The field trip led the participants to various Devonian outcrops in the Salair, Rudny Altai, and Gorny Altai regions yielding a great variety of rocks in different facies settings (from nearshore/terrestrial to open marine conditions) and from the Lower to the Upper Devonian (Fig. 2). About 75 scientists presented 35 oral lectures and 4 posters during the meeting. Results of the conference are published in a Special Issue of the Bulletin of Geosciences (Königshof et al., 2008). In the same year a workshop was organized in Istanbul (Yalçin et al., 2005). The Devonian of Turkey was of special interest for the project because it is comprising Laurasian and Gondwanan components on different tectonic blocks. Therefore, an active group of Devonian researchers was assembled in Turkey by co-leader M.N. Yalçin to work on the goals of IGCP-499. This was the reason to hold a workshop on “Depositional Environments of the Gondwanan and Laurasian Devonian” in Istanbul from March 2010 47 perfectly arranged by J.R. Morrow and the co-leaders C.A. Sandberg, J.E. Warme, M.A. Murphy, and D.J. Over. The meeting in Eureka was attended by about 45 colleagues from 11 countries who presented 40 oral and 12 poster contributions which covered the whole array of Devonian research topics. Among those papers dealing with sea-level changes and/or cyclic sedimentation, stratigraphy, regional geology, palaeontology as well as land-sea Figure 4. Carboniferous sequneces of the Rio Seco de interactions were strongly los Castanos Formation, San Rafael Block, Mendoza represented. On September 17th Province, Argentina (Photograph courtesy of P. the annual SDS meeting was held, Königshof) followed by a business meeting of Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas IGCP 499. The six days field trip (Morrow, (CONICET). A 120-page abstract volume and 2007), representing an essential part of the a field guide book was published, edited by entire conference, started in Las Vegas on G. Acenolaza et al. (2007). As a result of this September 9th. Various Devonian successions in different areas were demonstrated, meeting, many papers from different highlighting some of the classical as well as palaeogeographic settings have been published in a special volume of the recently studied sections. The field trip route within the Great Basin Geological Society of London (Königshof, region (Basin and Range province) covered 2009). primarily carbonate shelf settings including As in previous years, a joint meeting of IGCP 499 and the Subcommission on reefs, and slope to basinal deposits of different areas such as the Confusion Range and Devonian Stratigraphy (SDS) was held in September 2007 in Nevada. Three days of Burbank Hills in Utah, Lincoln County and technical sessions took place in the historical Antelope Range in Nevada (Fig. 5). Special Opera House of Eureka, Nevada (Over and attention was paid to the impact related Alamo Morrow, 2007). A pre-conference field trip Breccia and to several sections spanning the led to sections spanning most of the Devonian Frasnian/Famennian boundary (besides in northeastern Nevada and western Utah. The others the classical locality at Devil’s Gate meeting in Eureka was well-organized by D.J. near Eureka). Furthermore, Lower to Middle Over, Dept. of Geological Sciences, SUNY Devonian strata including the Silurian/ Geneseo, New York, and J. Morrow, Dept. of Devonian boundary were demonstrated. It Geological Sciences, San Diego State was especially impressive for the participants University, California. The field trip was to visit sections which whee initially Figure 5: Devonian sections , Central Great Basin, Nevada, USA (Photograph courtesy of E. Schindler) Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 introduced by some of the pioneers of western US Devonian research (e.g., C.A. Sandberg). In addition to the field activities in Turkey and the lab work in Turkey and Germany, a joint fieldtrip led four Turkish colleagues to the Devonian of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge and the tidal flats of the German North Sea. These activities in Germany gave important support for a better understanding of the Turkish sections studied within the frame of the DEVEC-TR Project. In 2008 IGCP 499 went again to NorthAfrica. A meeting was organized in Libya (April 23 rd - 30 th, 2008). The workshop (Belgasem, 2008) and the field trip (Ben Rahuma et al., 2008) were devoted to the stratigraphic evolution of Devonian sequences in the Awaynat Wanin area, Southern Ghadamis Basin with a focus on sequence stratigraphy, sedimentology and facies, and palaeoecology (Fig. 6). The Devonian of Libya was of special interest due to the excellent sequences mainly representing very shallow water environments, but also including fluvial sequences (land-sea transitional settings). The workshop was held at the Libyan Petroleum Institute (LPI) in Tripoli with an opening ceremony, which included the welcome adresses by the General manager of LPI, B.A. Belgasem, and the coordinator of the meeting, A.D. El Mehdawi. A 43-page abstract volume and a 67-pages field guide book have been published. Scientists from seven countries attended the meeting. Another joint SDS/IGCP 499 meeting took place in Uzbekistan from August 24th and September 03rd, 2008. The meeting was entitled “Global alignments of Lower Devonian carbonate and clastic sequences” and colleagues from nine countries attended Figure 6: Devonian siliciclastic rocks of the Southern Ghadamis Basin, Libya (Photograph courtesy of P. Königshof) 48 the meeting. The main focus has been on the the revision of the GSSP at the base of the Emsian Stage and on stratigraphy, sedimentology and facies development in the classical area of the Kitab State Geological Reserve. Other subjects emphasized in the conference and the field trip concerned cyclicity and sedimentary markers for intra- and interbasinal correlations, neritic/pelagic associations and their interrelations as well as global sedimentary and biotic events. The scientific session included 30 oral presentations and 18 posters. A 97-pages field guidebook (Yolkin et al., 2008) and a 122-pages abstract volume (Kim et al., 2008) has been published. Finally, a conference at the end of the regular term of IGCP 499 and IGCP 497 (on the Rheic Ocean) was held in Frankfurt, Germany. As orogenic events involved in the history of the Rheic Ocean range from the Avalonian-Cadomian orogenies in the Latest Neoproterozoic up to the formation of Pangaea in the Devonian-Carboniferous time. These incising events within the Devonian played a major role for the evolution of life, climate, palaeogeography, and environmental conditions. This was the main reason to combine the final meetings of IGCP 497 and of IGCP 499 under the heading “From Gondwana and Laurussia to Pangaea: Dynamics of Oceans and Supercontinents”. Scientific session were related to the following topics:  Palaeogeography and Supercontinents          during Late Precambrian and Palaeozoic times Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoecology Past climate and sea-level changes Neritic-pelagic correlation Land-Sea interactions Diversification of early terrestrial ecosystems Palaeozoic orogenic processes at the northern margin of Gondwana Birth of the Rheic Ocean: AvalonianCadomian orogenic processess and Early Palaeozoic rifting at the northern Gondwanan margin Closure of the Rheic Ocean: Palaeozoic drift and the Alleghenian-Variscan orogenic processess during the Pangea configuration Geochronology, Isotope Geology and Provenance Analysis in Late Neoproterozoic and Palaeozoic times The conference took place from September 30th to October 04th, 2008 at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, followed by a 6 day post-conference field trip (Fig.7) displaying a cross section through the RhenoHercynian Zone (Rhenish Massif, Avalonia, Laurussia), the Mid-German Crystalline Zone (suture zone of the Rheic Ocean), the SaxoThuringian Zone (Bohemian Massif, Cadomia, Gondwana). 130 participants from 26 countries attended the meeting. This Figure 7. Members of the joint IGCP 497 / 499 field trip in 2008 (Photograph courtesy of P. Königshof) meeting was of international interest and we are proud that the meeting was co-sponsored by the German Science Foundation. A 241pages abstract volume and a 159-pages field trip guidebook have been published (Königshof and Linnemann, 2008a, b). A special volume of “Gondwanan Research” devoted to that meeting was published recently, edited by Damian Nance (D. Nance, 2010). In January 2009 the project received the status on extended term (OET). Even if we did not receive funding, the leaders and other colleagues organized two meetings in this year. The first one took place in Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 21-26 in conjunction with the 9 th North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC 2009) where two special sessions had been organized. One session was entitled “Rapid evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and their influence on marine realms – land-sea interactions in the Devonian” chaired by R. Brocke, P. Königshof, and J.E.A. Marshall, the other one had the focus on “Biological response to Devonian sea-level and paleoclimate changes, chaired by R.T. Becker, E. Schindler, and C.E. Brett. A special volume on sea level and climate, cyclicity and bioevents in Middle Devonian marine and terrestrial environments will be published in 2010 (edited by Brett et al. in prep). In September 2009 a joint meeting of IGCP 497, 499 and 503 entitled “Paleozoic Seas Symposium” was organized by Th.J. Suttner, B. Hubmann, and W. Piller at Graz, Austria from September 14 th –18 th. The symposium was followed by a field trip to the Devonian of the Graz Palaeozoic and to Carboniferous localities of the Carnic Alps. Additionally, there have been many activities in the regional and local working groups in different countries over the past years. All in all, even if there are many open questions left which especially concern the land-sea transitional settings or sequence stratigraphy vs. global bioevents, it should be stressed that this project has been a highly successful IGCP. Relationships of regional geological features and open questions with respect to biostratigraphy, facies interpretation and depositional environment, especially land-sea transitional settings generated vivid discussions in all of these meetings and workshops mentioned above and helped identify topics requiring future research. They also acted as a catalyst for future collaborative research between March 2010 49 groups all over the world, as well as offering a network for collaboration between researchers involved in the IGCP 499 and forthcomming activities. Furthermore, the last six years have shown that successful research is based on multidisciplinary cooperation. On the other hand, there are many open questions left and there are some disciplines where we should concentrate research in the Devonian. Based on a profound knowledge of organisms sequence stratigraphic correlations should be brought into agreement with available biostratigraphic data. Another focal point could be a better correlation between terrestrial events and the correlation with marine realms, and in the neritic settings we need a better biostratigraphic and sedimentary record. Palynomorphs are a useful tool in this context. Another interesting aspect could be the evolution of the terrestrial vegetation and the interaction with the arthropods as well as the evolution of early terrestrial ecosystems. The meetings and workshops of IGCP 499 clearly have shown that there is a huge potential for special topics requiring future research and perhaps successor project of IGCP 499. Outreach activities Regarding outreach activities we have improved our main websites (English and German version) and we have also linked our website with other “geo-sites”. Additionally, P. Königshof and T. Agricola compiled a touring exhibition (Fig. 8) on German IGCP projects for the general public. In this context, also geological excursions for the general public took place. Several TV reports and numerous reports in newsletters resulted from this initiative. The touring exhibition was a contribution to the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). A short exhibition guide as pdf-file is available. Publications Since 2004 more than 550 peer reviewed papers (Fig. 9) have been published representing the improved knowledge on the following topics: Figure 9. In the framework of the IGCP 499 more than 550  climate change and events peer reviewed papers have been published. during the Devonian  characterization of facies in marineFurthermore, we would like to express terrestrial transitions and their correlaour thanks to the following companies and tion institutions for sponsoring: UNESCO/IUGS,  sea-level changes in the Devonian on German Science Foundation (DFG), German global and regional scale Federal Foreign Office.  rapid evolution on early life on land and its interaction with sedimentary processes Peter Königshof, E. Schindler, E.  case studies of complex palaeoecosystems and V. Wilde in different palaeogeographic settings and Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum their correlation Senckenberg,  biostratigraphic control in different facies Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt realms Email: [email protected] Many more publications are expected Email:[email protected]; in the near future (e.g., edited volumes by Email: [email protected] Brett et al., 2010). The references contain a list of published conference volumes and J. Lazauskiene field trip guide books as well as Special Geological Survey, Lithuania, volumes. Konaskio 35, Vilnius, LT-2009; Email: [email protected] Acknowledgements The leaders of the IGCP 499 would like to express their thanks to the various institutions and numerous colleagues who helped to organize many meetings. For all participants the workshops and accompanying field trips offered an unique opportunity to get an insight into complex Devonian sequences at many places around the world. Cordial thanks are expressed to the local specialists for the organization and guidance of the field trips. We are grateful to these and many other individuals who helped to make the workshops both, successful and highly Figure 8. Touring exhibition “Planet Earth” on IGCP projects with enjoyable. Thank you German leaders or co-leaders (Photograph courtesy of P. Königshof). all again! Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 M. Namik Yalçin, Istanbul University, Engeneering Faculty, Department of Geological Engeneering, TR 34850 Avcilar, Istanbul; Email: [email protected] References Acenolaza, G., del Milagro Vergel, M., Peralta, S. and Herbst, R, 2007, Devonian land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems and climate – Field meeting, Argentina, 2007, Abstract and Field trip Guide Book, 1-119, University San Juan, Argentina. Becker, R.T. and Kirchgasser, W.T. [eds], 2007, Devonian Events and Correlations. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 278, 1-280. Bek, J., Brocke, R., Daskova, J. and Fatka, O. [eds], 2006, Palaeozoic Palynology in Space and Time, CIMP General Meeting, 2006, Spetember 02.-06., 2006 Prague, abstract volume, 1-67, Praha, Czech Republic. 50 Belgasem, B.A., 2008, Devonian land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems and climate (DEVEC). Libyan Petroleum Institute (LPI), April, 23.-30, 2008, Abstract volume, 1-43, Tripoli, Lybia. Ben Rahuma, A.M., Proust, J.N. and Eschard, R., 2008, Devonian land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems and climate (DEVEC). Libyan Petroleum Institute (LPI), April, 23.-30, 2008, Field Workshop The Stratigraphic evolution of the Devonian sequences, Awaynat Wanin area, Southern Gadamis Basin:a Fieldguide Book, 1-67, Tripoli, Libya. Brett, C., Schindler, E. and Königshof, P. [eds], 2010, Sea level and climate cyclicity and bioevents in Middle Devonian marine and terrestrial environments. Special volume of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (accepted, to be published in 2010) El Hassani, A. [ed.], 2004, Devonian neriticpelagic correlation and events in the Dra Valleys (Western Anti Atlas, Morocco). Documents de l‘Instiitut Scientifique, 19:1-100, Rabat, Morocco. Kim, A.I., Salimova, F.A. and Meshchankina, N.A., 2008, Global Alignments of Lower Devonian Carbonate and Clastic Sequences.August 25 – September 03, 2008, Kitab State Geological Reserve, Abstracts volume. Novosibirsk SB RAS Publishing House, 1-123, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Königshof, P. [ed.], 2009, Devonian Change: Case Studies in Palaeogeography and Palaeoecology. The Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 314, 1298. Königshof, P. and Linnemann, U. [eds], 2008a, From Gondwana to Laurussia to Pangaea: Dynamics of Oceans and Supercontinents. 20 th International Senckenberg-Conference and 2nd GeinitzConference. Final Meeting of IGCP 497 and 499. Abstracts and Programme, 1241, Frankfurt am Main, Dresden, Germany. Königshof, P. and Linnemann, U. [eds], 2008b, The Rheno-Hercynian, MidGerman Crystalline – and SaxoThuringian Zones (Central European Variscides), Excursion Guide, 20 th International Senckenberg-Conference and 2 nd Geinitz-Conference: From Gondwana to Laurussia to Pangaea: Dynamics of Oceans and Supercontinents. Final Meeting of IGCP 497 and 499. Excursion Guide, 1-159, Frankfurt am Main, Dresden, Germany. Königshof, P., Obut, O. and Izokh, N. [eds], 2008, Devonian land-sea interaction evolution of ecosystems and climate, IGCP 499. Bulletin of Geosciences, Special Volume 84 (4), 355-506. Nance, D. ed., 2010, The Rheic Ocean: Palaeozoic Evolution from Gondwana and Laurussia to Pangaea. Gondwana Research, v. 17, no 2-3, pp. 189-612. Over, D.J. and Morrow, J.R. [eds], 2007, Subcommission on Devonian Statigraphy and IGCP 499 Devonian Land Sea Interaction, Program and Abstracts, 1-93, Eureka, Nevada. Morrow, J.R. [ed], 2007, Devonian shelf-toslope facies and events, Central Great Basin, Nevada and Utah, U.S.A. Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy, SDS 2007 field trip guidebook: 1-93, Eureka, Nevada. Suttner, T.J., Hubmann, B. and Piller, W.E., 2009, Palaeozoic Seas Symposium. Berichte des Institutes für Erdwissenschaften, Karl-Franzens-Universität, Band 14, 1-94, Graz, Austria. Yalçin, M.N., Nazik, A. and Wilde, V., 2005, Depositional environments of the Gondwanan and Laurusian Devonian. Abstract and Field Trip Guide Book, 26 September – 03 October, 2005, Istanbul University, Faculty of Engineering Department of Geological Engineering. 1-77, Istanbul, Turkey. Yang, Q., Wang, Y. and Weldon, E.A. [eds], 2006, Anchient life and modern approaches – Abstracts of the Second International Palaeontological Congress. University of Science and Technology of China Press, 1-553, Beijing, China. Yolkin, E.A., Bakharev, N.K., Izokh, N.G., Gratsianova, R.T., Kipriyanova, T.P. and Obut, O.T., 2005a, Devonian sequences of Salair, Rudny & Gorny Altai, IGCP499 SDS joint meeting, Excursion guide. Novosibirsk SB RAS Publishing House, 1-79, Novosibirsk, Russia. Yolkin, E.A., Izokh, N.G., Obut, O.T. and Kipriyanova, T.P., 2005b, Devonian terrestrial and marine environments: from continant to shelf. IGCP499 SDS joint meeting, Abstracts volume. Novosibirsk SB RAS Publishing House, 1-154, Novosibirsk, Russia. Yolkin, E.A., Kim, A.I. and Talent, J.A., 2008, Devonian Sequences of the Kitab Reserve Area., Field Excursion Guidebook, August 25 – September 03, 2008, Kitab State Geological Reserve, Uzbekistan; Novosibirsk Publishing House of SB RAS, 1-97, Novosibirsk, Russia. March 2010 51 6th International Dyke Conference 4 to 7, February 2010, Varanasi, India Introduction The 6th International Dyke Conference (IDC) was held on the banks of the Ganges River, in the ancient town of Varanasi, northern India. The sixth instalment, in a highly successful series of conferences, a gathering of close to 200 international and Indian delegates and dyke swarm researchers was hosted by Banaras Hindu University. An able team of local conveners, led by Prof. Rajesh K. Srivastava, put a superb program together of 2½ days of talks and posters (http:/ /idc6.igpetbhu.com), further rounded out by a number of well-attended cultural events and a late afternoon trip to the “ghats” (stairs leading down to the river) along the banks of the Ganges, one of the most revered places in Hindu religion. A number of exciting new results were unveiled, including many new precise U-Pb baddeleyite ages for major dyke swarms from several cratons. New paleomagnetic poles from a number of these cratons (e.g., Slave, Superior, Kaapvaal, etc.) and matching of apparent polar wander (APW) path segments is beginning to reveal, quantitatively, the relative position of a number of cratons during a key interval of the earliest Paleoproterozoic. The meeting also highlighted new plans for a Canadian led study (~2 M$) to “barcode” (Bleeker and Ernst, 2006) all the major cratons in the world: i.e. to establish precisely dated magmatic event histories, with a focus on short-lived mafic magmatism, for all the major pieces of the continental terrane puzzle, thus allowing identification of those pieces that were formerly together. The vision and ultimate goal of this major project is to reconstruct past continental aggregations and supercontinents back to 2.7 Ga (see: www.supercontinent.org), and thus to fulfill the ultimate promise of the plate tectonic revolution. In this context, the various cratons that make up the Indian subcontinent, where they originated, and when and how they came together, are of special interest. The latest chapter in India’s plate tectonic history—the Figure 1. Field trip participants of the Dharwar pre-conference trip, in front of an ~1 m wide, EW-trending, well exposed wall-like mafic dyke in a quarry near Madanpalli. Participants are, from left to right, in the back: Wouter Bleeker, Ross Mitchell, J. Mallikkharjuna Rao, M. Jayananda, Mike Hamilton, Mimmi Nilsson, Larry Heaman, Shiva Kumar Patil, Henry Halls; foreground: Rais Latypov, Sofya Chistyakova, Taylor Kilian, Jouni Vuollo, Satu Mertanen, Kumar Santosh and B.C. Prabhakar. Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 plume-assisted breakout of the Indian plate out of the confines of supercontinent Gondwanaland, starting at ca. 160 Ma (e.g., Storey, 1995) and culminating with the ongoing collision and northward indentation into Eurasia—is of course well understood. But can we reconstruct the earlier cycles of plate tectonics that formed India’s cratons and brought them together into the collage that now forms the Indian subcontinent? It was of great interest to the participants of the 6th IDC that a number of field trips (Pre-conference field trip in the Dharwar craton: 29 Jan. - 3 Feb. 2010) were organized in conjunction with the conference. Pre- and post-conference field trips covered: (1) the dyke swarms of the Deccan Traps large igneous province (LIP), (2) dyke swarms of the Dharwar craton, (3) the ca. 1100 Ma Wajrakarur kimberlite field of the easternmost Dharwar craton, and (4) mafic magmatism in a north Indian segment of the Himalayas. One of these field trips to the Dharwar craton, is discussed later in more detail. This trip highlighted both latest Archean “synplutonic” mafic dykes (Jayananda et al. 2009) of the Dharwar craton as well as younger, mostly Paleoproterozoic, dolerite (diabase) dyke swarms that criss-cross this craton. Mafic dyke swarms and synplutonic dykes emplaced within the Dharwar craton This 5-day field trip started out in Bangalore (Bengaluru). First day explored synplutonic dykes and Proterozoic dykes southwest of Bangalore, and included a visit to the famous quarry locality of Kabbaldurga where late Archean flushing with CO2-rich fluids, transforming upper amphibolite gneisses into granulites, was first demonstrated (e.g., Pichamuthu, 1960). The day concluded with a visit to one of the large, approximately EW-trending dolerite dykes that transect this part of the Dharwar craton and are thought to be part of the “Bangalore” dyke swarm. Two different dykes of this swarm, one south of Bangalore and one well to the north, have been precisely dated at 2367 Ma (French et al., 2004; Halls et al., 2007). To date, this age of mafic magmatism (“event”) is relatively unique in the global LIP record although a possible age match from a dyke in the North Atlantic craton was mentioned at the conference (Nilsson et al., 2010, 6th IDC abstract). Major dolerite dykes from the middle of Geon 23 are also known from the Karelian craton. As both North Atlantic craton and Karelia share a major part of their Paleoproterozoic barcode with the 52 Figure 2. One of the well-exposed EW-trending dykes cutting through late Archean granites at Horsley Hill, eastern Dharwar craton. These sparsely plagioclase-porphyritic dykes form a dense swarm in the area. eastern Superior craton and are thus thought to be fragments of late Archean supercraton Superia (Bleeker, 2003), could it be that Dharwar also originated from that ancestral landmass? Further precise dating of Dharwar’s dyke swarm inventory will test this hypothesis in detail. Following the first day, the field trip proceeded to the northeast of Bangalore, examining numerous dykes along a rough transect from Bangalore to Anantapur. Field trip participants (Fig.1) enjoyed two nights at the hill top resort on Horsley Hill, one of the typical inselbergs of more massive granite sticking out several hundred meters above the rolling terrain of the eastern Dharwar craton. This granite hill and the surrounding area are cut by numerous EW-trending dykes (Fig.2) that appear to increase in number to the east. If all these dykes are part of the 2367 Ma Bangalore swarm, the distinctive pattern of a few very large linear dykes (i.e. distal) west of Bangalore, and more numerous and variable width dykes (more proximal) further east, strongly suggests a magmatic focus for this swarm to the east of the Dhawar craton (Bleeker, 2010, 6th IDC abstract), rather than to the west of the craton (cf. Ernst and Shrivastava, 2008). In addition, a model in which all approximately EW-trending dykes of the Dharwar craton are considered part of only one event (Bangalore swarm) may be too simplistic, as there already is evidence for more than one swarm with this general trend. From Horsley Hill and the Madanapalli area, the trip proceeded north to Anantapur. Along the way, several major NW-trending dykes were observed, some of which are likely to belong to another major swarm transecting much of the craton, the 2180 Ma Mahbubnagar swarm (French et al., 2004). However, as for the EW-trending dykes, subtle dispersion in trends, minor differences in petrographic characteristics and magnetic susceptibilities (reflecting subtle differences in and freshness of oxide mineralogy), and the state of preservation of the chilled margins, suggest that there is more than one swarm, and thus different LIP events, among the dykes with a general northwesterly trend. To complicate matters, dykes of a single swarm can also vary in trend, defining a radiating swarm. Therefore, variations in dyke orientations (trends), indeed a key tool in distinguishing different dyke events at the regional scale, may not always signify different swarms at the scale of the craton. Some of the larger NW-trending dykes showed evidence for dynamic magma flow, in the form of cm-scale layering defining cross-bedding. Others were cut by late-stage dykelets of feldspar porphyry formed by backinjection of melted country rocks (Fig.3). On the final day of the field trip, major dykes along the highway from Anantapur back to Bangalore were examined. A final side trip to major NNE-trending (~355º) dykes on the west side of the ca. 2.52 Ga Closepet Granite belt, some several hundred meters wide (Fig. 4), rounded out the field trip. One of the latter dykes has a preliminary U-Pb baddeleyite age of ca. 2215 Ma (M. Hamilton, pers. comm., 2010), identifying yet another Figure 3. A complex dyke margin of a NW-trending dyke on the way to Anantapur. The magmatic heat content of this large dyke was sufficient to melt the granitic country rocks, leading to late-stage back-injection of felsic feldspar-porphyry dykes (at pen) into the almost fully crystallized mafic dyke. A relatively low magnetic susceptibility (i.e. altered oxides) and the presence of epidote-quartz veins suggest that this particular dyke is relatively old. March 2010 53 in supercraton Superia. Following the “rule of multiple barcode matches” (Bleeker, 2008), this would place the ancestry of Dharwar craton firmly within southeastern Superia, in proximity to both Superior and Karelia cratons. In the late afternoon, and before the long drive back to Bangalore and an early morning flight to Varanasi, field trip participants were treated to great Indian hospitality during a quick visit to the family home of one of the field trip leaders, enjoying refreshing “tender coconut” followed by fried rice and sweet tea. Towards a complete magmatic barcode for the Dharwar craton Figure 4. Major NNE-trending dykes forming major ridges on the western side of the Closepet Granite belt. One of these dykes has a preliminary U-Pb baddeleyite age of 2215 Ma. Field trip participants Mike Hamilton and Rais Latypov standing on tumbled boulders of dyke in foreground. A major parallel dyke of this swarm, at least 200 m wide, is visible in the distance. Low ground underlain by deeply weathered granitoid gneisses. major barcode event for the Dharwar craton. Could this be a match to the 2220-2210 Ungava LIP of the eastern Superior craton (e.g., as exemplified by the Nipissing diabase sills in the Huronian Supergroup overlying the southern Superior craton)? If so, there are now two preliminary barcode matches that would link events in the Dharwar with those 1 10 km 2 Dyke orientations: 1 2 4 3 4 1 2 3 Figure 5. An example snapshot, from Google Earth, of a typical area of the Dharwar craton west of Bangalore. This ~25x20 km image shows numerous mafic dykes exposed as dark bouldery ridges. Even a cursory inspection of this image reveals four distinct trends of dykes (swarms 1 to 4) and a number of interesting intersections (bold arrows) that may yield relative timing relationships Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 The Dharwar craton represents a major fragment of Paleo- to Neoarchean crust. It is generally well exposed and readily accessible. Numerous studies have detailed its Archean history and there can be little doubt, particularly after this field trip, that a detailed analysis of its inventory of Proterozoic mafic dyke swarms will be able to place this major fragment of crust in the context of prePangaea supercontinents, all the way back to the ancestral Archean landmass or supercraton in which this piece of ancient crust must have formed initially. This would allow, for the first time, a full synthesis of Dharwar craton geology with that of original “nearest neighbour” cratons, thus allowing deeper level questions to be asked. In much of the Dharwar craton, mafic dyke swarms are well exposed (Fig.4) and readily visible on Google Earth images (Fig.5). Such images, of generally good if not excellent quality, cover the entire craton and over the next few years will allow a complete assessment of the dyke swarm inventory of the craton. Plans are forged to precisely date all major dyke swarms of this craton, in conjunction with detailed paleomagnetic investigations. Preliminary field observations, during both the pre- and post-conference field trips, suggest that there are at least 10-15 major Proterozoic dyke swarms across the Dharwar, thus potentially harbouring numerous constraints on ancient reconstructions and breakup events. They range from those barely younger than the final tectonomagmatic events in the craton (i.e., LIP events with likely ages in the 2.5-2.4 Ga range), to several major events that have already been dated at 2367 Ma, 2215 Ma, and 2180 Ma, to yet much younger events, some perhaps related to Rodinia breakup. This preliminary tally of 10-15 swarms is similar to the dyke swarm inventory of other well- 54 studied cratons. It is also clear from preliminary field observations that there are dykes with rather different characteristics among those with superficially similar trends. Hence, a careful analysis of dyke trends alone, already indicating at least 5-10 swarms, underestimates the total dyke swarm inventory. One challenge is that many of the dykes are exposed as rubbly ridges (e.g., Fig. 4), with stacks of rounded diabase boulders outlining the trace of the dyke intrusion. Most of these boulders have rotated somewhat or tumbled down the slopes of the ridge. Although this presents little limitation for precise U-Pb dating of the dykes, it does complicate detailed paleomagnetic investigations. Rare in-situ outcrops along the top of the ridge, if present at all, may have suffered lightning strikes. Conclusions The 6th International Dyke Conference in Varanasi, India, was a great success and participants are already looking forward to the next IDC, which is likely to be held in Siberia. Field trips to the Dharwar craton demonstrated the rich inventory of major dyke swarms in this craton, with preliminary observations suggesting at least 10-15 distinct LIP events. Over the next few years, many of these events will be dated precisely and together with on-going paleomagnetic investigations will constrain Dharwar’s location in pre-Pangaean supercontinent or supercratons, all the way back to the late Archean ancestral supercraton of which this craton is a fragment. Tentatively, several precise U-Pb ages presented or discussed at the meeting suggest a link with the Superia clan of cratons. Acknowledgements The first author would like to express his sincere thanks to conference and field trip organizers for putting together an exciting program and flawless organization. DST (New Delhi) is thanked for funding support for the field trip. Both the content of the scientific program and that of the cultural events will be hard to surpass by future IDCs. Well done! References Bleeker, W., 2003. The late Archean record: a puzzle in ca. 35 pieces. Lithos, v.71, pp. 99-134. Bleeker, W., 2008. The pulse of the Earth. Abstract, 33rd International Geological Congress Oslo 2008, August 6-14th (www.33igc.org). Bleeker, W., 2010. The anatomy of large dyke swarms: Geometrical constraints on ancient breakup events. In: Abstracts, 6th International Dyke Conference, February 4-7, 2010, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, p. 16. Bleeker W., and Ernst R.E., 2006. Short-lived mantle generated magmatic events and their dyke swarms: The key unlocking Earth’s paleogeographic record back to 2.6 Ga. In: Dyke Swarms—Time Markers of Crustal Evolution; E. Hanski, S. Mertanen, T. Rämö, and J. Vuollo (editors); Taylor and Francis/Balkema, London, p. 3-26. Ernst, R.E., and Shrivastava, R.K., 2008. India’s place in the Proterozoic world: Constraints from the Large Igneous Province (LIP) record. In: Indian Dykes: Geochemistry, Geophysics and Geochronology; R.K. Srivastava, C. Sivaji, and N.V. Chalapathi Rao (editors); Narosa Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, p. 41-56. Ernst, R.E., et al., 2010. Using the global dolerite dyke swarm record to reconstruct supercontinents back to 2.7 Ga. In: Abstracts, 6 th International Dyke Conference, February 4-7, 2010, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, p. 41. French. J.E., et al., 2004. Global mafic magmatism and continental breakup at 2.2 Ga: Evidence from the Dharwar craton, India. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Program, v. 36, p. 340/ Halls, H.C., et al., 2007. Paleomagnetism and U-Pb geochronology of eastern trending dykes in the Dharwar craton, India: Feldspar clouding, radiating dyke swarms and position of India at 2.37 Ga. Precambrian Research, v. 155, pp. 47-68 Jayananda, M., Miyazaki, T., Gireesh, R.V., Mahesha, N., and Kano, T. 2009, Synplutonic Mafic Dykes from Late Archaean Granitoids in the Eastern Dharwar Craton, Southern India, Jour. Geol. Soc. India, v. 73, pp. 117-130/ Nilsson. M., et al., 2010. Barcoding the North Atlantic craton: U-Pb baddeleyite and zircon dating of MesoarchaeanPaleoproterozoic mafic dykes and intrusions in southern West Greenland. In: Abstracts, 6 th International Dyke Conference, February 4-7, 2010, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, p. 101. Pichamuthu, C.S., 1960. Charnockite in the making. Nature, v. 188, pp. 135-136. Storey, B.C., 1995. The role of mantle plumes in continetal breakup: Case histories from Gondwanaland. Nature, v. 377, pp. 301308. Wouter Bleeker Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0E8 Email: [email protected] Jayananda Mudlappa Department of Geology, Delhi University, Delhi 110 007, India Email: [email protected] March 2010 55 Long-term Scientific and Technological Cooperation of Russia and India: an Example of Collaboration 2006-2009, Apatity, Russia, and Delhi, India A high level of scientific and technological potential in Russia and India, their progress in numerous fields of fundamental and applied research together with stable bilateral relations create favourable prerequisites for development of large-scale scientific and technological cooperation (STC) on a long-term basis. The treaty and legal basis for the RussianIndian cooperation in the scientific and technological sphere is the intergovernmental STC Agreement of 30 June, 1994. In December 2002 the Joint Declaration on the Strengthening and Extension of Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was signed. It stated Russia and India’s resolve to develop cooperation in the high-tech sphere. The intergovernmental Protocol on Protection and Use of the Intellectual Property Right which is a legal basis for activation of the commercialization process and high tech transfer was also signed. In November 2003 during the RussianIndian summit the Agreement on Scientific Cooperation and Exchange of Scientists between Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and Indian National Academy of Sciences, Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between RAS and Department of Science and Technology of the Indian Government on Establishing Russian-Indian Gas-hydrate and Earthquake Investigation Centres and Protocol of Scientific Cooperation between these organizations were signed. In 2008, 94 applications were submitted to the competition announced by the RFBR and Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian Government. By results of the examination conducted independently by Russian and Indian experts, 39 projects got financial support. The RFBR called for applications for holding joint Russian-Indian seminars. The most important mechanism of STC between the two countries is the Complex Long-term Programme for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (CLP STC). The Agreement on its Prolongation to 2010 was signed in October 2000. The main task of the Programme is implementation of fundamental and applied research with the object of Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 creating new technologies, equipment and In 2006 in the context of CLP STC materials on its basis. Currently, in the field between Russia and India, the Geological of medicine important results were obtained Institute of the Kola Science Centre RAS and for immunology, in particular, new generation the University of Delhi signed the project immuno-modulators were developed. A “Geochemical, isotopic ànd geochronological programme for poliomyelitis control deserves characterization of granitoids from the particular attention. Using the technology Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) ànd developed in Russia, the National Centre for Central Indian Shear (CIS) Zones: constraints Vaccine Production was established in on Precambrian crustal evolution”. The aim India. It fully meets the country’s needs for of the project was reconstruction of the vaccines. Specialists from P.N. Lebedev Central Indian Tectonic Zones (CITZ) on the Physical Institute of RAS together with basis of geochemical and geochronological Indian colleagues developed and handed over studies, the main types of lithotectonic sublasers for tuberculosis treatment to India. On divisions (mainly granites and gneisses) the basis of Moscow Institute for Automated comprising CITZ. Design of RAS (IAD RAS) the joint Centre The Central Indian Tectonic Zone is an of Computer Investigations (CCI) was ENE–WSW stretched polyfolded and polyestablished for modelling atmospheric metamorphic belt (Fig.1). Generation of the processes, investigations in microelectronics, Central Indian Tectonic Zone is the key medicine, seismology, ecology etc. The moment of the Precambrian evolution of the Department of the International Institute for Central Indian Shield since it represents a Information Technologies was established at conjunction zone between the northern the above Centre (Pune). Indian Centre of protocontinent represented by the BundelAdvanced Computer Technologies and CCI khand craton and southern protocontinent jointly work on designing a supercomputer represented by the Bastar-Singhbhum“Padma-Ru” is being done. Dharwar craton. The proper understanding of Leading research centres in both countries the CITZ evolution is vital for constructing (over 70 institutes in Russia and over 50 tectonic models. institutes and laboratories in India) have been To date there are two plate-tectonic involved for the work on running the bilateral models of CITZ generation (Yedekar et al. projects. In the context of CLP more than 400 1990; Roy and Prasad, 2003) that differ in projects in the field of mathematics, mechanics, chemistry, physics, material science, laser and beam technology, electronics, oceanology, seismology etc. At the present stage the Programme covers a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines and involves some 120 joint projects. The way of their implementation and prospects were discussed at the meetings of the CLP STC Joint Council meeting held in New Delhi in October 2008). Co-chairmen of the Council were Figure 1. Sketch map of the Central Indian Shield. Archaean Academician V.G. Kadyshev cratons: BKC – Bundelkhand, BC – Bastar, SC – Singhbhum, DC – Dharwar (Roy and Prasad, 2003). and Prof. S.N.R. Rao. 56 the direction (southern or northern) and time (2.4 or 2.2 Ga) of subduction. According to both models the subduction system culmination was a collision that occurred 1.5 Ga ago and was marked by formation of the Ramakona-Katangi collision belt which marked a suture between Bundelkhand and Bastar cratons. The final rock transformations occurred about 1100 Ma ago which enables one to compare the final processes that took place in the CITZ with the Grenville orogeny and to use them for Rodinia reconstruction. India has got good petrological, geological and geochemical data but it lacks in geochronological data. This is related to the scarcity of isotope-geochronological laboratories in the country. Specialists from the Laboratory of Geochronology and Isotopic Geochemistry of the Geological Institute KSC RAS and Geological Department of Delhi University combined their efforts for the purpose of a joint geochemical study and dating Archaean granitoids of the Central Indian craton, establishing distinct age boundaries for the crust evolution in the Precambrian in the Central Indian Tectonic Zone and Central Indian Shear Zone. This should be done for better understanding of the suture structure formation processes between the northern and southern protocontinents represented by the Bundelkhand and Bastar-SinghbhumDharwar cratons. Field work was carried out in 2009 in the areas of Nagpur and Betul (southern and central CITZ) within the framework of the project. In the region under study two big gneiss complexes can be distinguished, Amgon and Tirody, from which geochemical and geochronological samples were taken. Geochemically it can be compared with the gneisses of the Bastar craton dated at 3.52.6 Ma. The field work resulted in selecting representative samples for conducting geochronological investi-gations with simultaneous petrographical and geochemical data. Geochemical and geochronological studies of granitoid samples (gneiss and granite) from the southern Central Indian Tectonic Zone were performed. The granitoids were selected from different complexes. They differ in the degree of metamorphic changes and shearing. Petrochemical investigations (an analysis of the content and distribution of petrogenic, trace elements and REE) show that gneisses from the complexes studied belong to granitoids of I type I. According to the presence of the Eu positive or negative anomaly or its absence, gneisses are divided into three groups. The behaviour of petrogenic elements also allows one to distinguish these three groups with substantial Ba, Nb, Sr, P, Eu and Ti anomalies. Considerable positive anomalies are shown by Th, U and Pb which are likely to imply crustal nature. Geochronological data indicates that the Central Indian Tectonic Zone is mainly composed of Proterozoic rocks that were formed during two stages of granite magmatism - 2.42-2.45 Ga and 2.29-2.31 Ga. The Amgon gneiss complex is older than the Tirody gneiss complex which granitoids generated in the range of 1.5-1.1 Ga. Collision processes related to the generation of the main granulites occurred 1.56 Ga ago. The final metamorphic transformations reflected by Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr rock systems took place 1.37-1.1 Ga ago. This enables one to compare the processes in the Central Indian Shear Zone with the Grenville orogeny and use them for reconstruction of Rodinia. The geochemical and geochronological data obtained correlate well with the subduction-collision formation model of the Central Indian Tectonic Zone. New geochronological data can essentially supplement the regional scale of the endogenic processes sequence and can be used for compiling new geological maps of the Central Indian Shield. Joint investigations resulted in presenting 10 papers at international, Indian and Russian conferences and preparing 4 articles for the journals “Gondwana Research”, “Chemical Geology” and “Journal of the Geological Society of India”. In the framework of the project the Geological Institute of the Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, hosted Prof. Talat Ahmad and Mukesh Kumar Mishra, Ph.D scholar from the University of Delhi to the Geological Institute KSC RAS from June 25 to July 8. The visit aimed at integrating results of geochemical and geochronological analyses of the rocks of the Central Indian Shield and discussing the plan of writing joint articles on the project results. Financial assistance for the visit was provided by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The visit of the Indian colleagues included their participation in two seminars and one international workshop in the Geological institute KSC RAS. On July 2 Prof. T. Ahmad took part in a weekly scientific seminar in the Geological Institute KSC RAS with a report on the U-Pb chronology of basement gneissic complex, trace elements and Sm-Nd characteristics of basement and cover rocks in the Central Indian Shield. On July 7, Mr. M.K. Mishra, Ph.D scholar, reported on the geochemical characterization of the Tirodi basement gneisses in the Central Indian Shield. On July 5 the Geological Institute KSC RAS hosted the Russian-Sino Workshop “Deep Drilling and Metallogeny of the Continental Crust”. Prof. T. Ahmad presented his report on the geochemical and isotopic characteristics of the Nidar Ophiolitic Complex, eastern Ladakh, India. During this visit Mr. M.K Mishra got trained in geochronological methods at the Institute and learnt the methods of chemical and hydrothermal decomposition of rock and mineral samples with Pb, U, Sm and Nd isolation by ion-exchange chromatography. He also became familiar with conducting U-Pb and Sm-Nd analyses in the Finnigan MAT-262 (RPQ) mass-spectrometer. Since the geochronological laboratory at the Geological Institute KSC RAS is one of the best equipped in Russia, it serves as a training centre for foreign students and postgraduates. The Russian and Indian colleagues are satisfied with the results of their scientific collaboration. The parties plan to formulate a new joint project in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on scientific and technical cooperation between the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian Government started in 2009. The Russian Foundation for Basic Research called for application for joint Russian-Indian research projects in 7 fields of knowledge. The University of Delhi and Geological Institute KSC RAS shall continue research works in the framework of the section of the Earth sciences, considerably extending the sphere of scientific interests. Further studies will focus on the Baltic and northern Indian Shields evolution in the Archaean-Proterozoic. Apart from the geochemical and geochronological investigations, the plan of work includes the mineragenetic aspect, i.e. studying major ore deposits. Possibly, the All-Russian Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (VSEGEI) will join the partners. The Indian colleagues established friendly ties with VSEGEI during their visit to St. Petersburg in June 2009, when they got acquainted with the work of the Department of geology of uranium deposits and Centre March 2010 57 for isotopic investigations. This cooperation will give way to including the Karelian region in the area of study and using the technical equipment of the Centre for isotopic investigations in prospective research. Such cooperation would correspond with the current massive cooperation of Russian and Indian scientific institutions. Thus, recently in the framework of the CLP STC such a promising form of cooperation was developed as complex joint investigations on the basis of the Russian-Indian research centres. Seismology (New-Delhi), biotechnology (Allahabad) powder metallurgy and innovation (Hyderabad), polyvalent vaccine production (Bulandshahr) and gas-hydrate study (Chennai) centres operate. With the assistance of Russian scientists from the Siberian Department of RAS (Institute of Nuclear Physics) a centre for production of industrial electron accelerators was established in Mumbai, a centre of radiationchemical investigations is being organized in Indore. implications in Rodinian crustal assembly: Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, no. 22, pp. 115–129. References Talat Ahmad Professor, Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Chatra Marg, Delhi - 11 00 07, India E-mail: [email protected] Yedekar, D.B., Jain, S.C., Nair, K.K.K., and Dutta, K.K., 1990, The Central Indian collision suture. Precambrian of Central India: Geological Survey of India Special Publication, 28, pp. 1–37. Roy, Abhinaba, and Prasad, M. Hanuma, 2003, Tectonothermal events in Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ) and its Yury L. Voytekhovsky Professor, Director of Geological Institute of Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences 14 Fersman Street, 184209 Apatity, Murmansk region, Russia E-mail: [email protected] First YES Congress, Beijing 25-28 October, 2009 Probably, there is no bigger challenge to mankind than understanding and exploring the changing Earth. In 2008, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the “International Year of Planet Earth” (IYPE) in order to bring international focus to the earth sciences. One of the legacies of IYPE is the establishment of the Young Earth Scientists (YES Network), an international association of young and early-career geoscientists who are primarily under the age of 35 years (www.networkyes.org). The event included poster and oral presentations that focused on the ten major themes of the IYPE (e.g. health, climate, groundwater, ocean, soils, deep earth, megacities, hazards, resources, and life) as well as additional areas of regional interest (e.g. Geoparks, Tibetan plateau changes, and digital earth engineering), and roundtable symposia that addressed scientific, academic, and career challenges faced by young geoscientists. The roundtable symposia included sessions on climate change, natural hazards, natural resources and energy sustainability, issues facing global geoscience Participants of 1st YES Congress, 2009 In 2009, in collaboration with the IYPE and under the patronage of UNESCO, the YES Network organized its first international Congress at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, China from 25-28 October 2009 (www.yescongress2009.org). The focus of the meeting was on present and future scientific challenges facing society, as well as academic and career challenges facing young and early-career geoscientists. Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 education and research, industry-academic linkages, international degree accreditation and international licensure, and gender parity in the geoscience workforce. The YES Congress 2009 event concluded with five field trips to various points of interest including one field excursion to the Gushankou recumbent fold region and Shifa cave. Over 300 young and early-career geoscientists representing more than 35 countries attended the event. Additionally, since the roundtable symposia were broadcast over the web as ‘live’ webinars, there were an additional 191 virtual registrants from 28 different countries for the roundtable symposia. Of these registrants, 41 participated, representing 10 different countries. Furthermore, because of the virtualization of the roundtables, 16 speakers from 5 different countries were able to present their talks virtually and participate in the panel discussions. The Indian national IYPE committee and Geological Society of India, Bangalore have played an important role to make maximum participations through partial financial support of Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, LOC, China and UNESCO. The second international YES Congress will be held as part of the 34 th International Geological Congress (IUGS) in Brisbane, Australia in August 2012. For more information, visit the YES Network website at www.networkyes.org. V. M. Tiwari NGRI, Hyderabad, India Leila M. Gonzales AGI, Virginia, USA 58 Tectonic Evolution and Crustal Structure of the Tien Shan Belt and Related Terrains in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Fourth and Final Workshop of the IGCP-480 Project The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), also known as Altaid Tectonic Collage, is the largest accretionary orogen on Earth stretching from the Uralides in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and is squeezed between the Siberian craton in the north and the North China craton in the south. Considerable attention to its tectonic structure and mode of evolution is given in numerous papers published in international journals. The amount of scientific works published in Chinese, Kazakh, Russian, and other languages is difficult to account for. These studies often present different interpretations of the tectonic evolution of the orogen as a whole or its large regions. These differences are rooted not in the scientific ambitions of various authors but in the complexity of the accretion-dominated tectonic processes, which imposes constraints on traditional methods of research (stratigraphy, petrology, etc.). In addition there is a general lack of modern data and insufficient level of bilateral and international scientific cooperation. To overcome the latter is one of the main aims of the IGCP-480 Project “Structural and Tectonic Correlation across the Central Asia Orogenic Collage: Implications for Continental Growth and Intracontinental Deformation”. Previous workshops and field excursions of this project have been organized along a transect starting at the boundary between the Altaid/Baykalide structures with the Siberian craton, passing through Central Mongolia and ending within Paleozoic structures of Inner Mongolia and their junction with the North China craton. The workshop in Tien Shan was organized pursuing a task to examine structural styles and timing of events within the Altaid orogenic collage located rather far away from above mentioned transect. Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, as a place of the workshop provided a good opportunity from the logistic point of view because Kyrgyzstan occupies a large territory stretching from the Tarim northern margin in the south to the Balkhash fold-belt in the north (Fig. 1). Thus it covers all tectonic units traditionally assigned to the Tien Shan orogenic collage. The workshop has been jointly organized by the Central Asian Institute of Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Institute of Geology of National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyz Republic, ILP Projects Topo-Central Asia and ERAS (Earth Accretionary Systems), in cooperation with the IGCP-480 Project. 42 scientists representing Australia, China, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey, and United Kingdom, attended the workshop. Personal responsibility for the organization of the workshop was taken by a team led by Prof. Helmut Peter Echtler from CAIAG. Dr. Farid Apayarov, Prof. Apas Bakirov, Prof. Georgiy Biske, Dr. Kadyrbek Sakiev, Dr. Vladimir Kiselev, Dr. Andrew Korzhenkov, Dr. Rena Maksumova, and Dr. Alexander Mikolaichuk were guides during the 8 days field excursion that predated the workshop. Before the opening of the workshop, CAIAG and the Institute of Geology of National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyz Republic published an Abstract volume (66 pages, 34 abstracts, most of which are of extended format with figures) and a Field Excursion Guidebook (120 pages). The abstracts and the guidebook are posted at the IGCP-480 Project website: http://www.igcp. itu.edu.tr/index.html. Figure 1. Tectonic provinces of Tien Shan. Heavy lines indicate major faults some of which are interpreted as sutures. The Ili and Terskey suture are of Middle Ordovician age, the Turkestan suture was formed in the late Carboniferous. Thin dash lines show state boundaries. March 2010 59 Scientific program The scientific sessions covered a variety of topics on tectonics of Central Asia but with the focus on the Tien Shan geology. Bakirov gave an overview of the geologic history and tectonic structure of the Tien Shan fold-belt as it is known from its segments exposed in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Traditionally this region is divided into subunits, namely: Northern, Middle, and South Tien-Shan (Fig. 1). He defined five large mega-sequences (Archean, Mesoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic, and Mesozoic) thereby pointing out their cyclic development. Charvet and his coauthors presented data on the Tien Shan tectonic evolution based mainly on data accumulated in the Chinese segment of the Tien Shan belt. Their model interprets the Southern Tien Shan belt (Fig.1) as the succession of ensialic arcs accreted to the Yili microcontinent first in the middle-late Devonian and then in the late Devonian - early Carboniferous. The later Carboniferous arc developed on the Yili block was due to a southward subduction located at the northern margin of this microcontinent (Fig.1). The most important aspect of this model is that oceanic lithosphere in front of the arcs in the Southern Tien Shan subducted to the south as it was recorded from northern vergence of ductile deformation relevant to subduction. This model is at odds with other models developed for the Chinese (Klemd and Gao) and for the Kyrgyz/Uzbek segment of Tien Shan belt (Biske and his co-authors, Bush and his co-authors, Djenchraeva, Konopelko and his co-authors) according to which the middle to late Paleozoic tectonic history of Tien Shan was governed by the northward subduction beneath the Northern Tien Shan. The timing of the latest oceanic closure was also the matter of controversies. Charvet suggests the earliest Carboniferous (Visean) closure in Southern Tien Shan but scientists having studied the western segment of the Tien Shan belt insist for late Carboniferous age of this event. More recently, a Permian-Triassic collision of the Central Tianshan Terrane (Southern Tien Shan arc) and the Tarim plate was suggested by some Chinese geologists on the basis of zircon rim ages from HP-UHP eclogites of the Chinese Tien Shan. However, in their contribution Klemd and Gao pointed out that the age of these HP-UHP rocks and the significance of intimately interlayered HPUHP rocks need further studies of structural geology, petrology and geochronology. Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 The Kyrgyz Segment of Tien Shan presents the unique opportunity for deciphering the early Paleozoic history of the Northern Tien Shan (Kazakhstan-Yili plate) because in the Chinese segment these rocks are poorly exposed or sealed by younger successions. Masumova and her co-authors and Mikolaichuk and Apayarov presented stratigraphic and petrologic data on oceanic and magmatic arc complexes occurring in narrow zones with thrust contacts to surrounding continental blocks of earlier ages. They interpret these zones as relicts of former oceans that were closed at approximately the same time at the end of the early Ordovician. Afterwards, the amalgamated collage behaved as a magmatic arc with southern polarity. This episode of the evolution is poorly constrained in the Chinese sector of the Kazakhstan-Yili block to the internal part of which the early Ordovician ophiolite may continue. Qian and his co-authors reported Cambrian to Ordovician ophiolites intruded by middle Ordovician diorite and related island-arc volcanic rocks exposed along the southern boundary of the Yili block. The same timing of events was reported from the Kyrgyz segment. Thus the necessity of across border tectonic correlation becomes obvious. The Precambrian history of Tien Shan has always been the subject of hot discussion. Kiselev gave the overview of geochronologic data and their geologic interpretation on the Kyrgyz segment of the Tien Shan belt. However, Kroener and his co-authors cautioned the relevance of age data obtained from multigrain samples. Their own age determinations from earlier defined Archean rocks reveal younger Neoproterozoic ages including those around 1000 Ma which are poorly detected in other structures of Central Asia but well known from Tarim plate. Thus, Kroener and his co-authors suggest a former relationship of Tien Shan Precambrian blocks and Tarim. Bazhenov and his co-authors presented recent paleomagnetic data on the Paleozoic rocks of Tien Shan and Kazakhstan calling for significant oroclinal bending of regional structural trends. Natal’in emphasized the importance of the late Permian – Triassic transcontinental shearing in Northern Asia by presenting new data on South Mongolia where dextral shearing occurred as the continuation of Permian dextral shearing recorded in the Chinese Tien Shan. The metallogeny of the Tien Shan has been considered by Djenchuraeva and by Konopelko and his co-authors. Concerning the tectonic implication of their results the late Paleozoic magmatism and ore deposits do not record a collisional tectonic setting. Subduction-related magmatism was immediately followed by a post-collisional one. Geophysics of the Tien Shan was characterized by Sidorova and by Rubin and his co-authors. The first presentation demonstrated the crustal level of the majority of large faults in Uzbekistan and low velocities in mantle beneath the famous Muruntau gold mine. The second talk presented the results of CMP seismic profiling, receiver function and seismic tomography analysis along a profile crossing the Tien Shan range and the northern part of the Tarim Basin. This profile demonstrates underthrusting of the Tarim beneath the Tien Shan. Field excursions Figure 2 shows the location of stops made during the field excursion. The participants examined both paleotectonic and neotectonics structures, lithologies, and relationships exposed in the Kyrgyz segment of the Tien Shan orogen. Stop 1, Neotectonic structures of the Kyrgyz Range foothills. The panorama near a dam shows the Quaternary terrace overlying unconformably the tilted Neogene rocks that are deformed due to the north directed thrusting. In the Chu Basin, the top of the Paleozoic reaches a depth of 4000 m, implying an offset of 9000 m with the Kyrgyz Range. The last important tectonic movement occurred during late Pliocene-Pleistocene time. Stop 2, Basement of North Tien Shan, Aktyuz area. 2-1: On the right side of the river KichiKemin, in front of Aktyuz village, outcrops of gneiss and amphibolite with eclogite lenses were considered as the possible old basement of North Tien Shan. The ocean-derived HP metamorphic rocks tectonically overlie an ophiolitic complex metamorphosed under greenschist-facies conditions. But the relationship with the Devonian metasediments visible to the west of the gneiss suggests that it is a Paleozoic mélange instead of the basement; radiometric dating on zircons gave a maximum age of about 800 Ma. The most obvious lineation, trending N80, is almost horizontal. 2-2: At the junction of Chu and KichiKemin rivers. Exposure of the upper part of 60 Figure 2. Location of stops made during the field excursion. the gabbro of the lower ophiolitic unit; finegrained, with abundant plagioclase, it is crosscut by doleritic dykes and shows vertical foliation trending around N-S. Stop 3, Mid-Ordovician arc and its unconformable contact with the older granites, west slope of Kyok-Too Mountain. The visited outcrop shows the stratigraphic contact between a volcanic-sedimentary sequence and the underlying granite. The sedimentary sequence begins with a breccia with granite pebbles, grading upwards into sandstone and fossiliferous limestone dated as Llanvirnian. The overlying volcanic rocks: andesite, dacite, are more exposed on the other side of the valley. The granite is supposed to be Neoproterozoic. Stop 3bis, additional stop: migmatitic gneiss of the Proterozoic series. Dated at 1.1 Ga, banded gneiss, with few neosome veins; sub-vertical foliation trending N120. Stop 4, Cambrian-early Ordovician arc volcanics of northern Tien Shan, Cholok Complex. The volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, greenish in color, overlie with an erosional unconformity Riphean porphyroids. The basalts and andesites yield a sub-alkaline affinity. They are intruded by a Permian granite visible on the southern end of the section, but the intrusive contact is here hidden by Quaternary. Stop 5, Metamorphic basement of the Tien Shan, near the junction of Chu and Kichi-Kemin rivers. Complex of gneiss, migmatites, with relicts of ophiolitic material: gabbro, serpentinite, and of carbonates. In the landscape, the meta-ophiolites overlie the gneiss unit. Another outcrop shows dark migmatites, with a foliation trending N30, dipping at 60° to the NW. Recent dating gives an age of 830 Ma (Kröner et al., unpublished). Stop 6, Boom canyon. Cretaceous-Paleogene basalts, covered by Neogene continental deposits. The olivine basalts, dated at 61 Ma, overlie the Paleozoic sequence showing a beautiful Devonian polygenetic conglomerate. The Neogene is overthrust from the north by a Lower Paleozoic unit made of dark carbonaceous limestone. Stop 7, Neotectonic structures, observation of the panorama on the Paleogene and Neogene-Pleistocene sediments affected by folds and faults. The Paleozoic (CambrianOrdovician) is overthrusting the Neogene from the south, thus the Issyk Kul Lake is in a ramp basin. Stop 8, Akkulen, west of Lake Issyk-Kul., Permian syenite. Beautiful outcrop of an alkaline syenite, with spectacular giant Kfeldpars. Zircons gave a U-Pb age of 292 Ma. It is surrounded by other rocks of the Oktorkoi complex such as quartz-syenite and granite. Different interpretations, rifting due to asthenospheric bulge or transtension, are advocated for the tectonic setting. Stop 9, Kochkor complex, Proterozoic orthogneiss. The augen gneiss, which is crosscut by late granitic dykes, shows a foliation N100/60-70S. Some ultramylonitic layers indicate a strain partitioning. The stretching lineation, trending N60-80, has a pitch of about 55-55° to the west; the kinematic indicators (asymmetric pressure shadows around feldspar porphyroblast) show a top-to-N70 shearing (oblique thrust with sinistral component). Additional Stop 9bis, on the road between Kochkor and Karakudzhur River. Granite dated (SHRIMP) at 441 Ma (Kröner et al., unpublished); porphyritic texture, member of a suite of Late Ordovician-Early Silurian age. Two interpretations are proposed: for some authors, this suite was due to a collisional magmatism; for others, it was emplaced in an Andean active margin setting. Stop 10, Karakudzhur River, SW-NE cross-section of two Proterozoic thrust sheets. The lower unit includes carbonaceous (graphitic) shales, dolomites with rhyolites, sandstones, and finally basalts. The volcanic rocks reflect a Riphean rifting; rhyolites have been dated at 1.08 Ga; detrital zircon grains in sandstones at 1.2 Ga. The lower unit is intruded by an Ordovician granite developing a metamorphic aureole. The upper unit shows calcareous siltites. The contact is underlined by a 200 m thick mylonite at the top of basalts. The foliation, N160/65W, bears a N280-300trending lineation. The apparent shearing is towards the east. The contact is stitched nearby by a 640 Ma old granite. Stop 11, Tyulek, eastern end of Karakatty Range, Lower Paleozoic ophiolitic mélange; March 2010 61 blocks of gabbro, basalt, chert, in a serpentinite matrix. TIMS zircon ages of 720 Ma for gabbro and 680 Ma for basalt have been obtained. The cherts contain Cambrian conodonts. Pillow-lavas overthrust Riphean limestones. Along an east-west fault, blocks of limestones yielded FamennianTournaisian foraminifera. Likely, the mélange was reactivated during Late Paleozoic by a strike-slip motion. At the Tyulek depression border, pillowlavas overthrust the Neogene; the metapillows show a N40 trending vertical cleavage and some evidence of northwest-directed deformation. Stop 12, Sarybulak massif, outcrop of Devonian granite; the age is given by the similarity with other granites (400-410 Ma). Stop 13, Cambrian ophiolites, Sarybulak. Section along the river of an ophiolitic mélange: hyaloclastites, banded gabbro, basalt, blocks of marble, foliated granite. The matrix is supposed to be Arenigian sandstone. Stop 14, Dolon Pass area, several outcrops. View on big blocks of limestone in the olistostrome complex, dated as Cambrian to Tremadocian. Outcrop of Cambrian-Lower Ordovician turbidites, overlain with a disconformity by a diamictite with huge blocks of ophiolitic material, granite, and sandstone. It is clear that an obduction occurred before the deposition of the overlying Arenigian sandstones. After the saddle, outcrop of well bedded, homogeneous sequence of sandstones and shales, assigned to the Llandeilo; it shows an incipient cleavage dipping northward and is overturned to the south. Another outcrop, along the road, shows massive arkosic sandstones, dipping southward, assigned to the Arenig. Devoid of ophiolitic debris, they contain andesite pebbles. Stop 15, Nikolaev line. Actually several outcrops were observed to the north and to the south of the supposed main fault. To the north (15a), an outcrop of Lower Carboniferous continental red sandstones, N75-80/65S, bear a vertical cleavage, trending E-W, with a sub-horizontal lineation (pitch of 10-30 ° E). This facies is presented as typical of North Tien Shan. To the south (15b), after crossing the supposed main fault, we observed Visean marine limy turbidites and limestones, grading upward into a flysch, presented as typical of Middle Tien Shan. Also, a supposed tectonic contact was advocated, base of a Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 nappe of Carboniferous limestone thrust northward upon Lower Paleozoic marbles. For some participants (Charvet, Wilde), although some northward deformation can be seen within the sequence, this contact is purely normal, stratigraphic, and there is no nappe. This is also supported by the fact that, on the geological map shown by the guide, both red beds and Carboniferous turbidites appear in the same unit, between two faults. Outcrops of andesites and dacites were also observed, assigned to Late Carboniferous or Early Permian. A sinistral motion of the Nikolaev Line was advocated on the basis of a sinistral offset of 60 km of a Permian granite. But this motion is not constrained in age. Additional stops (15 bis) on the way to Naryn. We could see several outcrops of the Middle Tien Shan Paleozoic sequence: - Caradocian flysch-like succession of sandstone and shale, N20/20SE, affected by an incipient cleavage N40/60NW; - Middle-Upper Devonian red sandstones (N90/35S); the Silurian is lacking there; - Uppermost Devonian (Famennian) marine sedimentary sequence: limestone, calcareous siltstone, typical for a carbonate platform; - Tournaisian dark reefal limestone, locally dolomitic; - Visean-Serpukhovian bluish limestone, with a red alteration crust, showing overturned folds and brittle shear planes indicating a southern vergence of deformation. Additional stop (15 ter) in Naryn city, along the river: andesitic tuffs with andesite pebbles, volcanic breccia assigned to Late Carboniferous-Early Permian. Ar/Ar dating gives an age of 290 Ma (Early Permian). They are very weakly deformed and post-date likely the main tectonic event. In a recent paper, Alekseev and others assigned this kind of volcanic material to a northward subduction consuming the Turkestan Ocean to the east of Talas-Fergana Fault. However, the volcanics include olivine basalts which suggest an intra-plate rifting; the sequence, according to the authors, is overlying with an unconformity the older rocks. Therefore, it is likely the signal of the post-tectonic latest Carboniferous-Early Permian rifting or transtension, not the record of a pre-collision subduction. Stop 16, west of Naryn, active faults. Two different stops which show the landscape of recent faulting affecting the Neogene and the Pleistocene. The Neogene Naryn basin is overthrust on both sides by older rocks: Paleogene to the north, Carboniferous limestone to the south. The two faults merge in the east and the Neogene deposits disappear. Stop 17, east of Naryn, Proterozoic rift complex: porphyroids and tilloids. The oldest part of Middle Tien Shan is exposed in the core of an anticline. A first outcrop shows black shales and diamictites, assigned an age of about 600 Ma; affected by a cleavage N95/35S which bears a N160 lineation. Clear kinematic features around the pebbles show a top-to-the-north shearing. A bit more to the east, near the river, deformed red porphyroids show two cleavages: S1 N120/35S and S2 N60:80N; S1 bears a lineation trending N330. U-Pb ages of zircon grains are about 764 Ma (Kröner et al., unpublished). After lunch, a small cross-section along the Malyi Naryn River valley, more to the east, allowed the participants to observe several levels of the Cambrian sequence: black bedded limestone, green calcareous slates and cherts, affected by folds overturned to the south and by brittle thrust planes with a topto-the-south shearing. Some north-directed deformation can also be seen. Stop 18, Tashrabat River, the Atbashi suture zone. Several very interesting outcrops of the metamorphic units underlining the South Tien Shan suture could be observed (from the north to the south). 18a: the Atbashi metamorphic complex; assigned to Late Silurian (Bishke): HP metamorphic rocks containing to the east, along strike, lenses of eclogite; here they are retrogressed under amphibolite- to greenschist-facies conditions. Blueish staurolitebearing schists are dipping to the south (S1 N80/50S in average); Microtectonic features indicate a top-to-the-north sense of shear. A radiometric age of 320 Ma was obtained, detrital zircons give ages of 2.5 Ga to 400 Ma. A thermal event at 290 Ma can be deciphered. 18b: marbles of the Chirmash unit, assigned to Wenlock-Early Devonian; S1 N40-50/80N; some calcite sigmoids suggest a top-to-the-north shearing. 18c: Tashrabat unit, green schists coming from sedimentary and volcanic rocks, basalts assigned to Early Devonian. Steep dip to the north. The clearest lineation is sub-horizontal; a less intense one can be anticipated downdip. Sigmoidal exsudation quartz suggest a top-to-the-north shearing. 62 18d, Shiritiky unit, green schists and slates, with two cleavages, S2 crenulation cleavage marking the axial plane of kinks, with a southern low angle dip. 18e, doleritic sills cross-cutting the Shiritiky unit, near an old caravanserai. According to Biske, the sequence reaches the Lower Carboniferous. But the contact was not observed, nor the Carboniferous rocks which crop out at the Tashrabat pass. The initial southward thrusting, generally advocated, is questioned by the microtectonic evidence, which strongly suggests a northward early deformation. The southdirected deformation could be actually due to a secondary phase. The dextral or sinistral strike-slip component of the Atbashi fault could not be determined on the field during the short time of observation. Stop 19, Akbeit, ophiolitic mélange of the Atbashi suture. Actually, this stop was observed before the stop 18. Rather poor outcrop in trenches, showing a serpentinite mélange, overlain tectonically by a unit of Silurian limestones, both units covered with an angular unconformity by an Upper Carboniferous conglomerate. Additional stop (14 bis), Dolon Pass, northern slope of Karadzhorgo Range, same as stop 14. View on the Ordovician olistostrome, with giant Cambrian limestone olistoliths. Additional stop (8 bis), near Stop 8, close to Issyk Kul Lake. Intraplate olivine basalt, dated at 66 Ma, with xenoliths of lherzolite. The host rocks are made of greenish Carboniferous sandstone and tuff, trending N-S and dipping westward at around 40°. Stop 20 of the guide book was skipped. Stop 21 (see Fig. 1), Ananevo rock slide. Outcrop of fault scarp with fault gouge, affecting the granite. This rock slide was a consequence of the Kemin earthquake, in 1911, magnitude 8.2, along the Chon Aksu fault. The granite is a part of the huge magmatic belt developed from Ordovician to Early Silurian. The interpretation differs according to authors: collisional or linked to Andeantype margin. Konopelko suggested a first pulse around 470 Ma, linked to subduction, and a second post-collisional one around 435 Ma. Boris Natalin Leader of IGCP-480 Istanbul Technical University, Turkey Jacques Charvet Universite d’Orleans, France Reiner Klemd Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany International Conference on Geoscience for Global Development (GeoDev) 26-31, October 2009, Dhaka, Bangladesh Modern urbanization and industrial revolution, good and easy transportation and communication systems, sophisticated exploration and exploitation technology of hidden mineral resources are the indicators of development activities. It is now well recognized worldwide that without development activities upgrading of living standard and sustainability of a society can not be achieved. But reality is that, these development activities are simultaneously causing global warming, air, water and land pollution and as a whole environmental deterioration – a threat for living beings and have direct or indirect adverse impacts on global development whether it is developed or developing world. But in the developing world these impacts are much more acute and it is due to lack of proper geoscience knowledge. In spite of these adverse impacts, we want development to raise our living standards and at the same time we also want to preserve the natural environment as we, the human beings, have an unquenched liking for the shape, beauty and charms of the nature. In consideration of all these factors a 6-day International Conference on Geoscience for Global Development (GeoDev), which is also the ‘Vision’ of the conference, was successfully organized in Dhaka, Bangladesh in October 26-31, 2009 jointly by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) and Association of geoscientists for International Development (AGID), Bangladesh Geological Society (BGS), International Geoscience Education Organization (IGEO) and International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). The conference had two Inaugural Session. From right to left: Dr. Anthony J Reedman, General Secretary, AGID; Mr. Mohammad Mohsin, Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, MPEMR; Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, the Honorable Energy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh; Brigadier General (Retd.) Muhammad Enamul Huq, State Minister, MPEMR; Prof. Chris King, Founder Chairperson, IGEO; Ms. Afia Akhtar, Convener, GeoDev & Director General, GSB and President AGID & BGS; Mr. Sirajul Islam Khan, Member Secretary, GeoDev & Director GSB. March 2010 63 fold programs – (a) the first 3-day program in Dhaka for scientific paper presentations, open discussions, theme-wise plenary sessions and finally preparation of fruitful and effective recommendations and (b) the last 3-day program in Greater Khulna for geological field excursion in the Sundarbans – the UNESCO declared world heritage which is an ideal place for both geotourism and ecotourism. The major objective of this event was to address all the above mentioned issues. For this purpose, research papers were invited on the following themes and sub-themes from geoscientists of different corners of the world. Theme A: Geoscience Education A-1: Geoscience Education and Awareness for Mankind A-2: Women in Geo-Education and GeoDevelopment A-3: New Approaches in Geoscience Education and Research Theme B: Natural Resources B-1: Exploration, Exploitation and Management of Natural Resources B-2: Combating Energy Crisis and Researching Alternative Sources B-3: Water Resources Development, Management and quality Assurance B-4: Role of NGO’s in National Resource Management and Environmental Protection Theme C: Development Activities C-1: Geoscience for Development Activities: Development of Cities and Industries and Construction of Highways, Dams and Bridges C-2: Impacts of Development Activities on the Natural Environment C-3: Natural Hazard Assesments and Infrastructure Development C-4: Climate Change, Ecology and Biodiversity The overall objectives of this event were to gather innovative ideas and views, new information and technology from international geoscientists who are directly or indirectly involved with the conference themes. It was hoped that open floor discussion would bring local, regional and global cooperation and coordination among the geoscientists, planners, policy and decision makers of different countries round the world. Not only that, it was also hoped that paper presentation, discussion, recommendation and the end result - the proceedings of the conference would Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 contribute towards achieving the sustainable global development. After circulation of the first and the final announcement of the international GeoDev conference, in addition to 300 geoscientists of the host country, 149 foreign geoscientists responded from 44 countries (Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Check Republic, Cuba, France, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippine, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, USA) covering all continents along with abstracts of 145 scientific papers. The Inaugural Session of the conference was held on October 26 afternoon, 2009 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium near about the Bangladesh Secretariat, the office of the ministries and secretaries. More than 500 delegates including VIP guest and Ambassadors of the participating countries, high officials, geoscientists from 26 countries attended this inaugural session. Dr. Tawfiqe-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, the Honorable Energy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh was present as the Chief Guest. Brigadier General (Retd.) Muhammad Enamul Huq, the Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) and Mohammad Mohsin, Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD), MPEMR, Government of the Peoples, Republic of Bangladesh, were present as the Special Guest and Guest of Honor respectively. The welcome address was given by Ms. Afia Akhtar, Convener, GeoDev, and Director General of GSB and President of Bangladesh Geological Society (BGS). On behalf of the GeoDev Committee and the Geological community of Bangladesh, she warmly welcomed the delegates from home and abroad to the inaugural session followed by scientific sessions in Dhaka and geological field excursion to the Sundarbans in Khulna, SW part of the country. And then she highlighted the background of this joint event being held in Bangladesh and also the aims and objectives of the conference. She mentioned that geoscience or earth science knowledge plays an unparallel role in developing activities, mitigating geo-hazards effect, maintaining healthy environmental ecosystem and consequently in improving our socio-economic infrastructure. She also spoke that very unfortunately, in most of the developing countries, this science is not getting required importance due to unawareness about application of it’s knowledge for the betterment of a society. To acquire a good concept about this science, it is a must to give proper attention and concentration to this science from the very beginning of one’s life. Lastly she expressed her sincere thanks to all delegates especially to foreign delegates for their kind participation at the conference from longdistance countries round the world. Dr. Anthony J Reedman, Secretary General of AGID and Prof. Chris King, Past Chairperson of IGEO both from UK welcomed the audience as representative of their respective organizations. Dr. Reedman highlighted the aims of AGID as to encourage and facilitate greater communication among geoscientists in the developing and developed countries to transfer geoscience knowledge and information relevant to sustainable development to individual, agencies and government, and to promote geo-scientific activities within and appropriate to the needs of developing countries. He mentioned that during the succeeding 35 years, AGID has co-organized and co-sponsored more than 200 projects in more than 40 countries. He also expressed his opinion that Bangladesh will face many challenges from climate change and consequently effects on geological processes and environment. Geoscientists have a particular responsibility to educate local people and provide information to help them understand and mitigate future risk, he added. Prof. King stressed the importance of GeoDev’s objectives, including developing understanding of industrialization, urbanization, exploration and exploitation of mineral resources and construction and their impact on global warming, air and water pollution, health hazards and degrading the natural environments, necessary for the survival, which should be addressed in classrooms around the world. He also said that this involves educating curriculum writers, teachers and the general public in the vital importance of geoscience to the education of every child and promoting geoscience understanding wherever possible. He pointed out that earthquakes causes much more damage and loss of life in the developing countries than developed and it is because many of the buildings in the developing world are built to lower standards than elsewhere 64 and so collapse in earthquakes. He further mentioned if the builders had understood the importance of building properly, then this might have been avoided and this is one of the geoscience educational issues addressed by the GeoDev and IGEO. Unfortunately, the President and/or Secretary of IUGS could not attend from Argentina and Canada respectively to represent their organization at the conference. But the President Prof. Alberto C Riccardi kindly sent a massage for the conference where he expressed his thanks to the Bangladesh government and the geological community of Bangladesh, represented by GSB and BGS and also to AGID and IGEO, the two affiliated bodies of IUGS. He also mentioned in his massage that the issues or themes of the event are within the goal of IUGS which must be considered in relation to existing differences in social and economic development as well as education and capacity building throughout the world, and need to emphasize actions adapted to these diverse circumstances. Mr. Mohammad Mohsin, Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD), MPEMR, addressed the audience and mentioned that at the national level, followed by the Rio Earth Summit, UNDP assisted the government to identify and prioritize environmental concerns, which included management of natural resources, and protection as well as the regeneration of biodiversity unique to Bangladesh. He also said that out of that exercise came the comprehensive Sustainable Environment Management Program (SEMP), which was the first national attempt to target critical environmental challenges through one umbrella program, which works at the policy as well as community level. He further mentioned that at the global level, Bangladesh is a strong supporter of international agreements aimed at environmental protection and as a result the nation has already slashed the production of the ozone depleting CFCs by 60 percent and is now on target to meet commitments under the Montreal protocol. Brigadier General (Retd.) Muhammad Enamul Huq, the Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Government of the Peoples, Republic of Bangladesh, mentioned in his address that the scope of the geological sciences or earth sciences is much broader than rocks, mountains and petroleum exploration – it also includes climate change, natural disasters, water, environment and health as well as questions concerning any other issues related to earth. The earth is a highly complex system where many different processes play together and affect each other and consequently, the scientific work to understand the earth and its processes is also complex. He mentioned that the program of the conference illustrates this complexity, as it includes symposia in a wide range of disciplines. He further mentioned that Bangladesh as a developing country has big challenges to fullfil the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) and to overcome the challenges of the changing climate. He expressed his hope that sharing of expert knowledge and ideas gathered during this conference would greatly contribute towards sustainable development. Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, the Honorable Energy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh said in his inaugural address that geoscience knowledge is essential for the sustainable development as it deals with energy, mineral resources and environment, and environmental degradation and lack of access to clean affordable energy Clockwise: Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, BB, the Honorable Energy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh facing the reporters of TV Channels and printing media after the inaugural session; Brigadier General (Retd.) Muhammad Enamul Huq, State Minister, MPEMR, Mr. Mohammad Mohsin, Secretary, EMRD of MPEMR, and Ms. Afia Akhtar, Convener, GeoDev. services disproportionately affect the poor. These issues cannot be addressed by individual professional but geoscientists can share their knowledge to other professional for the optimum use of natural resources with minimum environmental and social impact. He mentioned that there are constant dangers throughout the world in the form of geologic hazards and geoscientists can help to minimize our exposure to these hazards. He further mentioned that climate change is another important realm of study for geoscientists. He also expressed concerns that Bangladesh would experience some of the most damaging effects of climate change in the future, both related to rising sea levels and to more extreme weather. Millions of people live without access to clean water, and groundwater sources become polluted as a result of human activities and this adds to other challenges now Bangladesh is facing. He further added that more research is needed and the earth sciences clearly have a central role to play. He expressed his hope that this conference would stimulate scientific debate and increased the network among scientists. An abstract volume of 145 pages and an attractive colorful 96 pages souvenir album were printed and distributed among the participants during the conference. The souvenir album contains messages from Sheikh Hasina, the Honorable Prime Minister, Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh, the Honorable Chief Guest, the special guest and guest of honor of the conference and also massages from representatives of IUGS, AGID, IGEO and the convener of GeoDev as well as Director General of GSB. As usual the souvenir volume also contains overall programs of the conference, list of delegates, advertisements and brief description of organizing organizations and the host country Bangladesh. The Honorable Prime Minister has mentioned in her massage that the conference is quite relevant to the present day concern for prudent use of natural resources, facing climate change, ensuring environmental sustainability and global partnership for development. She also expressed her hope that deliberation, and mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences among the scientists from home and abroad will create an opportunity for better understanding of our nature and its resources and thereby help us in maximum utilization of those resources. Two-day scientific oral paper presentation was held at 3 concurrent paralleled sessions in 3 lecture rooms of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka near about the office of the Geological Survey of Bangladesh. More than 100 papers including poster were presented during the conference. The scientific & industrial exhibition, poster paper presentation as well as registration were held at the National Art Gallery Open Plaza of the Academy. Papers for oral presentation were categorized into a) general papers, b) keynote papers and c) special papers. Daily presentation was divided into four time March 2010 65 Scientific paper presentation at one of the three lecture rooms at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. schedules: Morning Session, Pre-noon Session, Post-noon Session and Evening Session. Each morning session and post-noon session in three parallel room started by a keynote paper followed by a number of general paper presentations. In theme A, two keynote papers titled “Geoscience education and training for all stakeholders for sustainable development” and “Supporting Global Education” were presented by Australia and UK respectively. The keynote papers “Energy security in Bangladesh: How to ensure and sustain” and “Water Crisis, a Threat to Peace” were presented by Bangladesh and Italy respectively on theme B. and in theme C, the paper titled “Downstream impacts of development – A geovisionary analysis of case studies” was selected as keynote lecture from India but unfortunately the author could not attend the conference. After all scientific sessions three special papers – “The Growth and Rise of Tibet Plateau”,“Applying Geoscience to Australia’s most important Challenges” and “The Value of Geoscientific Information as a Contributor to the National Econmies of lowincome countries” were presented to the whole audience by Prof. Paul Tapponnier of France, Dr. Paul Kay of Australia and Dr.Anthony J Reedman of UK respectively followed by plenary and discussion sessions. A number of issues related to Geoscience Education, Natural Resources and Development Activities were presented and discussed in the Scientific Sessions. The recommendations mentioned in the box were made unanimously in the conference. The Conference Proceedings will be published soon. The recommendation was presented by the Convener, Ms. Afia Akhtar, at the Closing Session of the conference. Mr. Moshiur Rahman, the Honorable Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh and the Mr. Mohammad Mohsin, Secretary of EMRD, MPEMR, were present as the Chief Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 Guest and Special Guest respectively. The closing session was held on October 28 evening at the National Theater Main Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy followed by cultural show representing the culture of Bangladesh. The Honorable Chief Guest spoke in his address that industrial revolution that shaped today’s world was largely driven by profound use of energy and mineral resources and geologist had a key role in locating and developing these resources. He also mentioned that we have experienced some unprecedented natural disasters in the last few years – the Indian Ocean tsunami, cyclone in Bangladesh and USA, earthquake in China, Pakistan and Indonesia, all remind us about the great importance of geosciences in order to cope with challenges. He further mentioned that today’s A. Geoscience Education 1. Geoscience education must be delivered at a level appropriate to the audience: a. Primary Schools. b. Secondary Schools. c. Tertiary educational Establishments. d. General public 2. More surveys amongst school children and the general public are needed to find out the respondents awareness of the relevance of Geoscience to their daily lives. This information should be used to focus local programmes of public education. 3. The participation of women in geoscience at both the professional and informal level should be encouraged. 4. More collaboration between national geological societies, geological surveys and the private sector in public geoscience education should be facilitated. 5. Studies of environmental pollution (e.g. at Land fill and waste disposal sites) should be holistic and consider both the surface and sub-surface environment. 6. Studies in medical geology/mineralogy are to be welcomed and increased Educational Websites such as the pioneering website www.earthlearningidea.com should be widely advertised amongst teachers in every country. B. Natural Resources 1. In respect of energy sector development, the conference is of the opinion that for attaining energy security on a sustainable basis for socioeconomic development, the requirements are: a. firm political commitment, b. necessary acts, rules and regulations as well as comprehensive policies and an integrated energy plan approved with national consensus, c. institutional development to implement these policies and plans, and d. greater focus on diversification and efficient utilization of energy sources. 2. Greater emphasis should be given to the exploration and development of all solid minerals (heavy minerals, silica sand, peat, coal, limestone etc) as well as conducting necessary research and development in collaboration with concerned countries. 3. Greater attention should be given for the development of water resources including research and development for the solution of all water problems such as salinity and natural arsenic contamination. Regional cooperation for assessing the development of water resources and monitoring the impact of water development problems should be strengthened. Planning laws should be put into place to control the siting of boreholes. Some of the aquifers that contain the fresh water should be retained for drinking purposes only. 4. Necessary facilities for recording and forecasting all kind of environmental hazards including the effects of climate change (flood, drought, cyclone), landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis etc should be developed together with necessary facilities and capabilities for rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations. C. Development Activities 1. For spreading geosciences awareness among the mass population, awareness programs, specific target groups and an implementation strategy should be planned for sustainable development. 2. Geological maps, mineral maps etc aimed at providing information on georesources for the common people of society should be produced in such a way that the target audience understands the importance of the information while exploiting these resources. 3. Water crisis has become a major threat and to combat the crisis, aquifer conditions should be comprehensively evaluated and aquifers properly protected with the use of such geological knowledge. 4. Community based development programs need to be promoted particularly in rural areas. 5. Exchange of views, knowledge and ideas among geologists, engineers, planners, stakeholders and the general public should be encouraged. 66 One of the two cruise vessels: Delegates were waiting on speed boat to land at Hironpoint climate change is a serious global challenge – rising seal level threaten every coastline, powerful storm and floods threaten every continent and as Bangladesh has flat and wide low lining coast, we must increase our efforts in research to comprehend and cope with climatic change and relative sea level rise in Bangladesh. The Special Guest and representatives of AGID and IGEO also spoke at the closing session. The second part of the conference “Geological Field Excursion to the Sundarbans” started on 28th October night after cultural show and dinner. A part of conference delegates more than 70 in numbers both from home and abroad left Dhaka in two big busses towards Mongla Port of Khulna for boarding the two cruise vessels of 46 and 48 bedded for three days to visit the Sundarbans. Delegates visited Karamjol, Herbaria, Hironpoint or Neelkamal, Kotka and Kacikhali – different parts of Sundarbans – the largest single halophytic mangrove forest in the world. This forest is in the lower catchment or confluence of three mighty river system, the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna, which forms the largest sedimentary basin – the fluvio-alluvial delta of the world. The Sundarbans is a region of transition between freshwater of mighty river system and marine or saline water of the Bay of Bengal, the most preferred condition of the luxurious growth of mangrove forest. In terms A part of excursion delegates looking for tiger’s foot prints at Hironpoint of the Sundarbans. of fauna and flora, the Sundarbans has the highest species diversity than that of any other mangrove forest of the world. The delegates enjoyed very much the artificial preservation of wildlife at Karamjol, wide range of biodiversity at Herbaria; and especially they were very much excited to see the fresh foot prints of the Royal Bengal Tigers at Hironpoint and Kotka – the most attractive places of the Sundarbans. As per UNDP Report of 2006, there are 442 tigers but according to the British Geological Society and other sources, the number of tigers varies from 250 to 350. As per Daily Star, a total number of 275 species of birds, 55 species of mammals, 83 species of reptile and amphibians, 150 species of fish, 50 species of shrimp and other invertebrates exist in the Sundarbans. The conference was financially supported by Petrobangla, Overseas Ltd., Euro Bengal, AGID-UK and also by collection of quite a good numbers of advertisements from various organizations of the country. IGEO supported the conference by sending large number of IGEO Councilors from Argentina, Portugal, South Africa and UK. GeoDev organizers express their sincere thanks to all of them. Organizers are also grateful to the Biman Bangladesh Airlines for giving permission to use their Airlines as the official Airlines of the conference along with 25% discount on airfare. The Convener, on behalf of all organizing organizations, expresses her sincere thanks to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Govt. of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh for giving permission and cooperation to organize the GeoDev Int. Conf. in Bangladesh Afia Akhtar Convener, GeoDev Int. Conference President, AGID and Bangladesh Geological Society (BGS) March 2010 67 Annual General Meeting of the Geological Society of India 26th December 2009, Aizawl, India The 50 th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Geological Society of India was held on 26th December 2009 at 3 pm in the Department of Geology, Mizoram University, Aizawl – 796 009, Mizoram. The AGM was presided over by Harsh Gupta, President, Geological Society of India. R.H. Sawkar, Secretary, read the meeting notice and presented the Annual Report and audited statement of accounts for the year 2008-2009. The following awards of the Society were presented: (1) Prof. L. Rama Rao Birth Centenary Award to N.C. Mehrotra. (2) Hari Narain Award to B.R. Arora. (3) JGSI Radhakrishna Prize to K. Vijay Kumar and C. Leelanandam. (4) H.S. Pareek Award to D.C. Naskar, L.K. Das and A.K. Lahiri. A three-day (26 - 28 November, 2009) National Seminar on "Geodynamics, sedimentation and biotic response in the context of India-Asia collision" was jointly organized by the Department of Geology, Mizoram University and the Geological Society of India at Aizawl. It was inaugurated by Vanhela Pachuau, Chief Secretary to the Government of Mizoram on 26.11.2009 at 9.00 am in the Conference Hall, Beraw Tlang, Aizawl, Mizoram. Harsh Gupta, President, Geological Society of India was the Guest of Honour, D.P. Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Goverment of India and N.C. Mehrotra, Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) were present as special invitees. The seminar was attended by 125 eminent earth scientists from 46 organizations representing research institutions, IITs and Universities spread over 21 States of India. R.P. Tiwari, Convener of the seminar, in his opening remarks stated that the whole issue of India-Asia collision should be understood in its totality and the resulting processes, particularly plate motion, crustal shortening and seismicity need to be monitored for improved understanding and successful modeling. N.C. Mehrotra stressed on the need for intensifying palaeontological researches in the sedimentary succession of northeastern region for solving several vexed geological issues, and assured BSIP’s help in this regard. Sri D.P. Singh was of the view that geological inputs are of paramount importance in all spheres of urban planning. He further stated that crustal structure studies, earthquake occurrence processes, plate motion studies and structure safety and public awareness are thrust areas in which Ministry of Earth Sciences is encouraging and funding research programs. Amar Nath Rai, Vice-Chancellor of Mizoram University, opined that such occasions provide a platform for taking stock of the current status of research and in drawing contours for future course of research. He praised the organizers for arranging a seminar of this magnitude. Harsh Gupta, in his a keynote address on “The successful medium term forecast of an M~8 earthquake in Northeast India Region: Revisit and Extension” called for systematic study of earthquake swarms and quiescence preceding major earthquakes in the Himalayan region. He was hopeful in identifying a few locales where precursory swarm has already occurred and the region is presently experiencing the quiescence phase. This may lead to making medium term forecasts. A follow up effort should be taken up with multiparametric precursor studies to see whether success can be achieved in short-term forecasts also. Vanhela Pachuau in his inaugural speech stated that the Himalayan mountain range including Indo-Burmese Range (IMR) formed due to India-Asia collision has th Annual General Meeting at Aizawl, 26 November 2009. Episodes Vol. 33, no. 1 contributed significantly in shaping the destiny of India as the fertile lands of IndoGangetic plains that ensures food security to the vast population of the country, and mighty rivers systems of the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra ensuring perennial supply of water owe their origin to the Himalayas. The rock succession developed due to collision has great economic potentials particularly for coal, oil and natural gas. At the same time this collision has rendered the region highly seismic and highly susceptible for land-slides as well. It is praiseworthy that the organizers have selected the appropriate theme to deliberate upon and address the pertinent issues related to the India-Asia collision. He appealed to the scientists to disseminate knowledge to the grassroot level for the benefit of the society. Valedictory session was held at 5.30 pm on 28th November 2009. R.P. Tiwari, while welcoming the guests, expressed grateful thanks to the Society for serving the earth scientist community of the country relentlessly and selflessly under the patronage of B.P. Radhakrishna. Benjamina, IDAS, Registrar of the Mizoram University, also thanked the delegates. R.H. Sawkar, thanked the Mizoram University for inviting the Society and holding its Annual General Meeting in Mizoram and made the case for field workshop in the Northeastern region, and also for enhanced activity of the Northeast Chapter of the Society and assured full cooperation of the Society in these ventures. V.K. Gaur was of the view that planet earth is unique and stressed upon the need for protecting it by all means. A meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society was also held and Harsh Gupta addressed the young earth scientists. A field visit along a well preserved section of Upper Bhuban unit of Bhuban Formation, Surma Group was organized on 29.11.2009 in which nearly 60 delegates participated. Variable lithology, sedimentary structures and biota of the Bhuban Formation were the focus of attention during the field work. R.H. Sawkar Secretary Geological Society of India Bangalore 560 019 68 Geotrails in Greece Explore the landscape, the rocks and the nature of six Greek areas. Find out their geology, history and civilization The series “Geotrails in Greece” is a pilot publication of the Greek Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME), Department of General Geology and Geological Mapping, with funding by the 3rd European Community Support Framework for the project: “Designation of geositesgeoparks, contribution to sustainable development” and the sub-project: “Creating interpretative material for promotion, designation and community awareness on geosites-geoparks”. The trails were traced in 2008, within the scope of the sub-project “Planning of walking and motoring geotrails for potential geoparks”. Planning of geotrails around the geosites, in combination with other attractions of biotic, archaeological and cultural interest, as well as compilation of interpretative, awareness, printed material is one of the objectives of the sub-project. Same material in DB and GIS-aided digital form is used for appli- cations, exploiting the potential of multimedia and interactive technologies, to attract the interest of the visitor on the geological history and at the same time entertain him. The aim of the project is the designation and protection of the geological heritage in the framework of nature conservation, and also the establishment of new forms of geotourism, a modern tourist trend contributing in the socio-economic development. Designation of geosites will have a positive impact as well on the awareness and knowledge of geological history at all levels of education, in the country and internationally. The pilot series consists of 12x28cm² geotrails waterproof bags with 12-15 cards each, for six Greek areas scattered all over Greece, such as: Maroneia area, Thassos island, Vikos- Acheron river-Ziros Lake, Lavreotiki area, Nisyros island , W. Crete and Gavdos island. For two of these areas Lavreotiki and Vikos, candidature dossiers have been deposited to European and UNESCO geoparks networks. The trails described in the cards (12 to 15 for each area) have been designed to unveil some key points in the geological history of the area, all intimately connected with its cultural history. The introductory cards focus on how to use the cards, give useful information on the area, provide a code of conduct and warning of the responsible hiker and also briefly outline the natural (biotic) and geological (abiotic) heritage of the area, as well as its cultural heritage, while the rest of the cards describe the respective trails. Each geotrail is traced in a different color and matches the informative signs to be found on the spot. Survey form of the publication and in spot signs is to be found at http://www.igme.gr. The opinion of those who have used the cards will be very helpful for their improvement. Credits of the series follow: The following authors have contributed to the book titled "Geotrails in Greece", Edited by I. Theodosiou. Athanassouli, E., Pavlidou, S., Theodosiou, I., on Western Crete and Gavdos island. Epitropou, N. on Thassos island. Janikian, Z. on Lavrion and surroundings. Kossiaris, G., and Michail, C., on Maroneia area. Paschos, P., Nikolaou, E., Papanikos, D. on Vikos-Aoos and surroundings. Vougioukalakis, G. on Nisyros island. The book is published by Kaleidokopio. ISBN 978-960-98903-3-5 in English and 978-960-87453-7-7 in Greek. Maps on the cards compiled with Geographic Information Systems, by Kleisiouni, E. During the planning of the series several similar attempts were used as reference, such as the series “Landscapes from stone”, a joint publication by the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland and the Geological Survey of Ireland, ProGEO Croatia brochures for the Island of Rab, the bilingual publication “The geological heritage of Psiloritis”, “the guide of Lesvos fossilized forest parks in Plaka and Sigri”, and other relevant printed material. For information, publications, studies and maps on the Geology of Greece or of specific Greek regions, contact Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Greece, Spyros Louis 1, Olympic Village, Entrance C, 136 77 Acharnai, Attica, Tel.: +30 210 2413175; Fax:+30 210 2413448; Email: [email protected]; URL: www.igme.gr Publication is dedicated to the year of Planet Earth. Eirini Theodosiou D/ment of General Geology and Geological Mapping Institute of Geology and Mineral Explorations (IGME) [email protected] March 2010