Tuesday, September 7, 2010

2010 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (31 October –3 November 2010) Denver, Colorado

Technical Sessions

Field Trips

Other Daily Events

Exhibitors

General Information for this Meeting

Friday, September 3, 2010

Mass Extinctions Change the Rules of Evolution

Mass Extinctions Change the Rules of Evolution

By Brandon Keim
September 2, 2010

A reinterpretation of the fossil record suggests a new answer to one of evolution’s existential questions: whether global mass extinctions are just short-term diversions in life’s preordained course, or send life careening down wholly new paths.

Some scientists have suggested the former. Rates of species diversification — the speed at which groups adapt and fill open ecological niches — seemed to predict what’s flourished in the aftermath of past planetary cataclysms. But according to the calculations of Macquarie University paleobiologist John Alroy, that’s just not the case.

“Mass extinction fundamentally changes the dynamics. It changes the composition of the biosphere forever. You can’t simply predict the winners and losers from what groups have done before,” he said.

Alroy was once a student of paleontologist Jack Sepkoski, who in the 1980s formalized the notion that Earth has experienced five mass extinctions in the 550 million years since life became durable enough to leave a fossil record. Graphs of taxonomic abundance depict lines rising steadily as life diversifies, plunging precipitously during each extinction, and rising again as life proliferates anew.

As the fossil record is patchy and long-term evolutionary principles still debated, paleobiologists have historically disagreed about what these extinctions mean. Some held that, in the absence of extinctions, species would diversify endlessly. The Tree of Life could sprout new branches forever. Others argued that each taxonomic group had limits; once it reached a certain size, each branch would stop growing.

Sepkoski’s calculations put him on the limits side of this argument. He also proposed that, by looking at the rate at which each group produced new species, one could predict the winners and losers of each mass extinction’s aftermath. Groups that diversified rapidly would flourish. Their destiny was already established.

“It’s a clockmaker vision of evolution. Each group has fixed dynamics, and if there’s an extinction, it just messes it up a bit,” said Alroy. “That’s what I’m challenging in this paper. There are limits, and that’s why we don’t have a trillion species. But those limits can change.”

Alroy crunched marine fossil data in the Paleobiology Database, which gathers specimen records from nearly 100,000 fossil collections around the world. He used a statistical adjustment method designed to reduce the skewing influences of paleontological circumstance — the greater chances of finding young fossils rather than old, the ease of studying some types of rock rather than others.

Historical species diversity among marine animals of Cambrian, Paleozoic and Modern origin.

The analysis, published September 2 in Science, produced what Alroy considers to be the most accurate reflection of extinction dynamics to date. And while his data supported the notion that each group’s diversity eventually hits a limit, he didn’t find Sepkoski’s correlation between pre-mass-extinction diversity rates and post-extinction success. Each mass extinction event seemed to change the rules. Past didn’t indicate future.

In an accompanying commentary, paleontologist Charles Marshall of the University of California, Berkeley noted that Alroy’s statistical methods still need review by the paleobiology community. The Paleobiological Database, for all its thoroughness, might also be incomplete in as-yet-unappreciated ways. “There will be no immediate consensus on the details of the pattern of diversity,” he wrote. But “the pieces are falling into place.”

Enough pieces have come together for Alroy to speculate on his findings’ implication for the future, given that Earth is now experiencing another mass extinction. Starting with extinctions of large land animals more than 50,000 years ago that continued as modern humans proliferated around the globe, and picking up pace in the Agricultural and Industrial ages, current extinction rates are far beyond levels capable of unraveling entire food webs in coming centuries. Ecologists estimate that between 50 and 90 percent of all species are doomed without profound changes in human resource use.

In the past, many evolutionary biologists thought life would eventually recover its present composition, said Alroy. In 100 million years or so, the same general creatures would again roam the Earth. “But that isn’t in the data,” he said.

Instead Alroy’s analysis suggests that the future is inherently unpredictable, that what comes next can’t be extrapolated from what is measured now, no more than a mid-Cretaceous observer could have guessed that a few tiny rodents would someday occupy every ecological niche then ruled by reptiles.

“The current mass extinction is not going to simply put things out of whack for a while, and then things will go back to where we started, or would have gone anyway,” said Alroy. Mass extinction “changes the rules of evolution.”

Images: 1) A fossil skull of Dunkleosteus, an apex predator fish that lived between 380 million and 360 million years ago, and had what is believed to be history’s most powerful bite./Michael LaBarbera, courtesy of The Field Museum. 2) Graph of species diversity among marine animals of Cambrian, Paleozoic and Modern origin./Science.

NOAA Tsunami Reports Map (from Geology.com)

NOAA Tsunami Reports Map

The National Geophysical Data Center has an online database of tsunami reports that can be accessed through an interactive map. The image above shows locations of reported tsunami observations along the eastern United States and through the Caribbean. If you visit their interactive map website you can query any point shown above for more information. NOAA image.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Abstract book (45th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section, GSA)

It is available on our web site the abstract of

45th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section, GSA

59th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section, GSA

Sheraton Baltimore City Center

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

14–16 March 2010

www.geosociety.org/sectdiv/northe/2010mtg/

2011 Sediment Microbiology Meeting

Next Meeting:

Microbiology in Marine Sediments

Theme: Microbiology in marine sediments

Date: 2011 March 6-9

Host: University of North Carolina (UNC)

Organizers: Andreas Teske - chair (UNC),

Jen Biddle (University of Delaware),

Matt Schrenk (East Carolina University)

Scientific Conference: The theme of the UNC meeting will be the application of novel culture-independent and culture-dependent microbiological methods to marine sediments and their pore fluids. By necessity, research in this arena often focuses on enumerating cells and cataloging phylogenetic diversity. In the coming years, however, more emphasis will be placed on the active components of microbial communities and the expression of functional genes. Accordingly, to diminish misleading DNA signals from lysed and inactive cells, the more labile RNA molecules, which occur in proportionally greater numbers in active cells (Sørensen and Teske 2006), can be targeted through both molecular and microscopic techniques. The standardization of molecular (DNA and RNA-dependent) techniques, and development of consistent protocols in sample handling and analysis become increasingly important as divergent results from different groups and teams require cross-checking and reconciliation (Schippers et al. 2005 vs. Lipp et al.). Although sequencing capabilities and costs permit ever-growing genetic databases and an ever-growing dependence on such data, culturing efforts are also experiencing a scientific renaissance. As an example, the American Academy of Microbiology recently reported that "most environmental microorganisms have yet to be isolated and identified, let alone rigorously studies", and that research and technology must help overcome the barriers that prevent the study of uncultivated microorganisms (Harwood and Buckley 2008). Culturing efforts must target individual species and microbial communities, as well as the "effects of perturbation" on these communities.

Education workshop: The training workshop at this meeting will highlight methods for extracting genetic material from sediment, porewaters, and hydrothermal fluids; the development of nucleotide primers for functional gene analysis; advances in cultivating novel and dominant members of microbial communities; and ways to control for seawater contamination in sediments and associated fluids. First, new methods for analyzing deep subsurface communities based on 16S rRNA, instead of 16S rRNA genes (i.e. DNA), will be made available to the DEBI community through lectures, tutorials, and lab exercises; examples include extraction and analysis of 16S rRNA, instead of 16S rRNA genes (i.e. DNA), and rRNA-tag or randomly primed high-throughput pyrosequencing techniques (Sogin et al. 2006; Huber et al. 2007). Second, expertise in practical aspects of molecular surveys of deep-subsurface communities will be shared. One obvious example of many is primer development and functional gene analysis; published generic primers are frequently insufficient for deep subsurface studies due to lineage-specific mismatches and inherent bias (Teske and Sorensen 2008), and due to decreased sensitivity owing to lineage-specific nucleotide ambiguities; using multiple, lineage-specific primers allow much more comprehensive analysis of deep subsurface functional gene cohorts (Lever and Teske, 2007). Third, novel approaches for the enrichment of specific functional and phylogenetic groups will be discussed and also demonstrated as much as feasible. The approaches include sediment microcosms, stable isotope probing, and in situ colonization experiments. New culturing efforts are relying more heavily on solid substrates, non-traditional redox pairs, micronutrients, chemical gradients, and symbiotic relationships. Fourth, contamination monitoring with chemical tracers will be taught. An approach pioneered by Smith (Smith et al. 2000) and House (House et al. 2003), and developed further on IODP leg 301 to the Juan de Fuca Ridge flanks, can now be applied in microbial community analyses of deep sediments continuing into basement basalt (Lever and Teske 2007).

Application and registration information is forthcoming.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

CURSO POSTGRADO EN LA UPCH

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

William Smith Meeting 2010 - Landscapes Into Rock

Registration open now - see below for details

The aim of this meeting is to bring together geoscientists from different sub-disciplines to address the problem of the interactions between erosional and depositional landscapes, sediment routing systems and the building of stratigraphy. By studying these interactions we gain a better understanding of the dynamics of the coupling between exhumation, erosion, transport and deposition of sediment in source to sink systems, and an enhanced ability to invert stratigraphy for forcing mechanisms.

Organisers

Philip Allen (Imperial College London)
Hugh Sinclair (Edinburgh University)
Paul Bishop (Glasgow University)
Robert Gawthorpe (Manchester University)

Conference themes

The Erosional Engine
Convenors: Alex Whittaker (Imperial College London) and Andy Carter (Birkbeck College, University of London)
Keynote speakers: Kelin Whipple (Arizona State University) and Niels Hovius (Cambridge University)

The Dynamics of Sediment Routing Systems
Convenors: Alex Densmore (Durham University) and Ruth Robinson (St. Andrew’s University)
Keynote speakers: Jim Syvitski (University of Colorado-Boulder) and Chris Paola (University of Minnesota)

Landscapes into Rock: the Making of Stratigraphy
Convenors: Sébastien Castelltort (ETH-Zürich) and Emma Finch (Manchester University)
Keynote speakers: Mike Leeder (University of East Anglia) William Smith Lecture 2010 and Rudy Slingerland (Pennsylvania State University)

Integrative Studies of Sediment Routing and the Petroleum System
Convenors: Ian Lunt (Statoil) and Mike Blum (ExxonMobil)
Keynote speakers: Ole J. Martinsen (Statoil) and Peter Burgess (Shell)

Instructions for authors of abstracts

Call for papers is now closed.

Registration

Registration is now open and you can download the registration form below. Anyone who wishes to may attend the event, and registration fees vary depending on whether you are a Fellow, Corporate Affiliate, general public, etc.

Download the registration form (.pdf 26 Kb)

Date:	21-23 September 2010
Event Type:	Conference
Venue:	The Geological Society (Burlington House)
Accessibility:

Convenor contact details:

Name:

Leila Taleb

Address:

Geological Society

Burlington House, Piccadilly

London

Postcode:

W1J 0BG

Country:

United Kingdom

Telephone:

020 7432 0981

Fax:

020 7439 8975

E-Mail:

leila.taleb@geolsoc.org.uk

Monday, July 5, 2010

INTERESTING PUBLICATION

Arno Zang, Ove Stephansson, "Stress Field of the Earth's Crust"

Springer
2009
ISBN: 1402084439
240 pages
PDF
5,9 MB

This book about rock stress is suitable for students in geosciences and engineering, who need to broaden their horizon about the Stress Field of the Earth´s Crust. The book covers the topic in a way such that geoscience students will be able to grasp the Cauchy Stress Principle without fear of matrix transformations in an exercise. Students interested in math, physics and engineering will learn to cement a strain gauge on a rock specimen, measure residual strains by multiple overcoring and evaluate the results. Leading edge technology in determining stress (Kaiser Effect) is presented together with classical methods (Hydraulic Fracturing). In addition, borehole techniques (Breakouts) and drillcore techniques (Anelastic Strain Recovery) are illustrated. With respect to stress data, we choose locations of global interest where integrated stress determination strategies have been applied. Each case study presented has special application, like the scientific ultra-deep drilling project (KTB, Germany), drilling of seismic active fault zones (SAFOD, USA) and excavation for nuclear waste disposal (Forsmark, Sweden). Stress compilations viewed by the World Stress Map project are presented and interpreted in terms of plate tectonics. The purpose of this book is twofold. First, to report on the current field of knowledge in rock stress to students at an introduction level and second, to inform readers about stress measurements in underground excavations of public interest and about global rock stress in plate tectonic settings.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Coastal Zone Canada, Meeting

About the Conference

The Prince Edward Island Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development is pleased to be hosting Coastal Zone Canada 2010, in collaboration with the Coastal Zone Canada Association, and to bring the important subject of integrated coastal and ocean management to the province.
Larry Hildebrand, co-founder and vice-president of the association, said he is excited about bringing the biennial conference to Prince Edward Island. "Perhaps no where else in Canada is the connection between what we do on land and our ability to prosper from the sea more direct and intimate than in Prince Edward Island", he said. The conference will be a perfect opportunity to explore this relationship in some depth and to benefit from experiences on the Island, from across Canada and around the globe.

Why You Should Attend CZC 2010
Are you concerned about the future of Canada's oceans and coasts? Do you believe that Canada's rich ocean and coastal resources are critical to its ability to build a sustainable and prosperous future in the 21st century? Do you worry that our inability to manage the resources and natural environments in our vast coastal zones reduces our ability to plan for a sustainable and prosperous future? Do you believe that we need to raise the awareness and understanding of the importance of the world's oceans and coasts in global sustainability? Do you want to do something about it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to attend CZC 2010. And if you answered yes to the last question, then being an active participant at CZC 2010 will allow you to be part of the analysis and discussions that will generate the Conference Statement and Call to Action that will be a clarion call to Canada and the world to implement Integrated Ocean and Coastal Management more aggressively and effectively.

CZC 2010 will mark thirty two years since the first Canadian national conference on coastal management the Shore Management Symposium) in Victoria in 1978, and it is an opportune time to assess how far we have come towards managing our oceans and coasts and where we are going in the future. Globally, there have been great advances in the state of ocean and coastal management, but huge challenges remain. Bounded by three oceans and the world's largest freshwater lakes system, Canada cannot maximize its potential for prosperity and sustainability into the 21st century unless we effectively understand, protect, and manage our oceans and coastal zones in an integrated manner. This conference will look at the advances and the setbacks in our understanding and management of coastal and ocean systems, both in Canada and globally, and will establish recommendations and actions for the immediate future and the next thirty years.

Agenda

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Morning – Late Afternoon: Field Trips (Various Bay Area locations)
Evening: Welcome Reception (Hyatt Regency)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Morning: Opening Plenary Session (Hyatt Regency)
Late Morning – Noon: Concurrent Sessions (Hyatt Regency)
Noon – Luncheon Plenary (Hyatt Regency)
Afternoon – Concurrent Sessions (Hyatt Regency)
Evening: Reception and Poster Session (Hyatt Regency)

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Morning – Noon: Concurrent Sessions (Hyatt Regency)
Noon – Plenary Luncheon (Hyatt Regency)
Afternoon – Concurrent Sessions (Hyatt Regency)
Evening: Offsite Reception and Dinner (One Market Plaza)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Morning – Noon: Concurrent Sessions (Hyatt Regency)
Noon: Luncheon and Closing Plenary Session (Hyatt Regency)

More information here

Meeting of Sedimentology, 5th-8th July, 2011

28th IAS MEETING OF SEDIMENTOLOGY
Zaragoza, Spain, 5th - 8th July, 2011 Click here to download the first circular!

The International Association of Sedimentologists, the Department of Earth-Sciences of the University of Zaragoza and the Geological Society of Spain are happy to invite participants to the 28th IAS Meeting of Sedimentology, to be held in Zaragoza (Spain), on 5th - 8th July, 2011. The site of the meeting will be the Conference Centre of the Boston Hotel, located in the centre of the city of Zaragoza.

SECRETARIAT AND CORRESPONDENCE
Arsenio Muñoz
28th IAS Meeting of Sedimentology
Departamento Ciencias de la Tierra (Estratigrafía)
Universidad de Zaragoza
c/ Pedro Cerbuna, 12
50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Webpage: www.iasnet.org/ias2011
E-mail: ias2011@unizar.es

English will be the official language of the meeting. No translation facilities will be available.

18th International Sedimentological Congress

Invitation On behalf of the Organising Committee, we are pleased to invite you to the 18th International Sedimentological Congress 2010 in Mendoza, Argentina. First convened in Belgium 60 years ago, this next event will be held in the Argentinean city of Mendoza and for the second time in South America, after the 14th ISC in Recife (Brazil) in 1994. The 18th-ISC will be the result of a close cooperation among the members of the South American sedimentological community, who will make every effort to provide an excellent environment for a stimulating and enjoyable scientific congress.

Secretariat and Correspondence Address all correspondence to: Dr. Sergio D. Matheos - Secretary General, CIG (La Plata) ISC2010 Secretariat Office - secretary@isc2010.com.ar 1 # 644 (B1900TAC) La Plata - Argentina Phone/Fax: +54-221-4215677/4258696

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Search for the Age of the Earth

The Chronologers' Quest: The Search for the Age of the Earth By Patrick Wyse Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press 2006 | 310 Pages | ISBN: 0521813328 | PDF | 3 MB

The history of geology and how we learned about the age of the Earth is a fascinating subject, but Jackson, a geologist at Trinity College, Dublin, is unable to explain and pass along his enthusiasm. Aficionados might appreciate the tour through attempts to arrive at the planet's age from ancient myths, the Bible, the salinity of the oceans, temperature readings, fossils, geology, biology, radiology and cosmology. Each chapter ends with a "close but no cigar" statement of why a given theory was a good idea at the time. Numerous sections feel rushed—in particular the opening catalogue of creation myths—though when readers finally arrive at the sections on geology and fossils, Jackson injects more detail and, consequently, more interest. But while the preface states that this book is meant for a general as well as scientific audience, too many terms go undefined and too many names are dropped without immediate explanations of who the people were.

Economic and Palaeoceanographic Significance of Contourite Deposits

There has lately been a growth in the number and level of studies of contourite deposits. Most recent studies of contourites have two major lines of interest. One, propelled by the oil industry's continuous move into increasingly deep waters, concerns their economic significance. The other involves the stratigraphic/ palaeoceanographic record of ocean circulation changes imprinted on contourite deposits that can be a key to understanding better the climate ocean connection. The application of many different theoretical, experimental and empirical resources provided by geophysics, sedimentology, geochemistry, petrology, scale modeling and field geology are used in the 16 papers of this volume, proposing answers to those two main aspects. The papers are subdivided into two major categories (economic interest and stratigraphic/palaeoceanographic significance), with case studies ranging from well-documented drifts to new examples of modern and fossil series, involving a large diversity of geographic and physiographic scenarios worldwide.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

XV Congreso Peruano de Geologia

Descripción: El Congreso Peruano de Geología tiene como objetivo principal reunir a los profesionales nacionales como extranjeros, para compartir los resultados de las investigaciones recientes, trabajos técnicos y aplicaciones en las distintas ramas de la Ciencia de la Tierra. Asimismo, el Congreso está destinado a presentar avances tecnológicos relacionados con el estudio de la Tierra. Finalmente debe constituirse en centro de reflexión acerca del desarrollo de nuestras disciplinas geocientíficas y su incidencia futura en la sociedad.

Lugar: Centro de Convenciones Cusco

Fecha: 27 Setiembre al 01 Octubre, 2010

Inversión: Valores Hasta 30 Marzo 2010
-----------------------------------
Socios : US$ 150.00
No Socios : US$ 180.00
Docentes : US$ 65.00
Estudiantes : US$ 35.00

Valores Hasta 31 Julio 2010
-----------------------------------
Socios : US$ 200.00
No Socios : US$ 240.00
Docentes : US$ 75.00
Estudiantes : US$ 45.00

Valores Hasta 27 Septiembre 2010
------------------------------------------
Socios : US$ 300.00
No Socios : US$ 360.00
Docentes : US$ 85.00
Estudiantes : US$ 65.00

Reservaciones en Línea con Espacios Confirmados: La inscripción incluye: Coffe Break, Cocktail de Inaguración, Cocktail de Clausura, material de participantes, certificado participación.

Formulario de Inscripción al Evento

Para cualquier consulta sírvase contactar a:
Contacto: Heidi Calcina
E-mail: congreso@sgp.org.pe
Teléfono: +511 4441180 Anexo : 102

Monday, June 14, 2010

Journal of Coastal Conservation

The Journal of Coastal Conservation is a scientific journal for the dissemination of both theoretical and applied research on integrated and sustainable management of the terrestrial, coastal and marine environmental interface.
A thorough understanding of both the physical and the human sciences is important to the study of the spatial patterns and processes observed in terrestrial, coastal and marine systems set in the context of past, present and future social and economic developments. This includes multidisciplinary and integrated knowledge and understanding of: physical geography, coastal geomorphology, sediment dynamics, hydrodynamics, soil science, hydrology, plant and animal ecology, vegetation science, biogeography, landscape ecology, recreation and tourism studies, urban and human ecology, coastal engineering and spatial planning, coastal zone management, and marine resource management.
Environmental applications that make use of spatial information technology (IT) to collect, analyse, interpret, visualise, and communicate the results of scientific research are also encouraged. This includes the use of remote sensing, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), environmental databases, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and mobile technologies, cartography and digital mapping, geovisualisation, modelling and simulation, and the Internet.
Applications that focus on the use of physical coastal modelling involving the detailing of the design, construction, instrumentation and results of model tests are also encouraged, including the theory, measurement, analysis and modelling of: Waves - generation, theories, prediction; Structures - types, interactions and structural responses; Measurement Techniques - pressures, velocities, and forces; Erosion/Scour ? assessment and control; Scale Effects ? control and techniques; and Natural Hazards Assessment.
Research that promotes the role of education and training to integrated and sustainable management of the terrestrial, coastal and marine conservation and management is also considered important to the coastal practitioner and manager.
International contributions to the journal are encouraged.
Thematic volumes and output from conference proceedings are also welcome.

Related subjects » Ciencias Ambientales - Ciencias de la Tierra - Geophysics & Geodesy - Nature Conservation - Biodiversity - Oceanography

International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management (Conclutions)

Conclusion Note

The ICCCM10 was participated by 250 researchers from 24 countries worldwide. A huge array of scientific and technical competences was gathered, amongst academics and the administration as well as corporations with interests in coastal conservation and management.
A general set of ideas and good pratices coming out from this event to improve performance of those working in the coastal area are listed below:

Good science is available but more information science-wise is needed.
Good technical solutions are also available but we need to work on new and more sustainable solutions.
We need better information management and networking.
We need to improve the translation of sustainability into operational terms, such as indicators.
We need to engage stakeholders to identify disfunctional states and raise awareness of problems.
We must make better use of negotiation tools to facilitate cross-scale and cross- organizational interactions and improve communication.
There is no institutional arrangements applicable to all situations, no single formula. We must maintain flexible strategies and transparency.
We need to recognize social-ecological interdependencies of human activities and ecosystem services.
We must act local. Municipalities must engage in actions to preserve and sustain natural resources and the services they provide.
Different jurisdictions on the coastal zones must work together, create synergies and commit to create a single voice of science.

The organizing Committee would like to thank the session chairs for their contributions and all the participants who contributed to improve knowledge on the coastal zone, either through their presentations or through the lively discussions they engaged on the various conference topics.
We thank the Universidade Nova de Lisboa – Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia for leading the ICCCM10 organization and the Cascais Municipality (Cascais Energia e Cascais Atlantico Agencies) for their logistic support.
The ICCCM10 was partially sponsored by Instituto da Água, Administração da Região Hidrográfica do Tejo, Porto de Lisboa e Instituto Geográfico Português.
We thank the Master students who volunteered to work and the great support from the Secretariat. Thank you all.
The Organizing Committee

Submitted Papers

Papers presented at the ICCCM10 and submitted for publication in the Special Issue of the Journal of Coastal Conservation and are now being evaluated.
This process may take some time, if you have doubts or need more information please contact the Secretariat (Felicidade Ferreira at fmnf@fct.unl.pt).
Download the list of submitted papers here.