Conferences Archive


6th International Dyke Conference

Date: Thursday, February 4, 2010 — Sunday, February 7, 2010

Location: Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Web: http://idc6.igpetbhu.com/default.aspx

Contact: Rajesh Srivastava (rajeshgeolbhu@gmail.com)

General theme: Dyke swarms – keys for geodynamic interpretation

Sub-themes: (i) Regional maps of dyke swarms and related magmatic units; (ii) Emplacement mechanism of dykes; (iii) Petrology, geochemistry and petrogenesis of dykes; (iv) Geophysics of dykes with special reference to palaeomagnetism, new aeromagnetic maps and remote sensing studies; (v) Geochronology of dykes; (vi) Dykes as plumbing system for Large Igneous Provinces; (vii) Giant dyke swarms and supercontinents; (viii) Alkaline dykes (including kimberlites, lamproites, lamphrophyres and carbonatites); (ix) Synplutonic mafic dykes; (x) Dyke swarms and planetary bodies; (xi) Links to mineralisation e.g. U, PGE and Au, base metals, diamond, Ni-Cr-Co, laterite etc; (xii) Miscellaneous – any other research related to dykes.

Includes the following fieldtrips:

Mafic dyke swarms and synplutonic dykes emplaced within the Dharwar craton

Date: 29th January – 4th February

Leaders: M. Jayananda (mjayananda@rediffmail.com), J. Mallikharjuna Rao (mallikharjun_ngri@yahoo.co.in), Santosh Kumar (surendra100@hotmail.com)

Dyke swarms of Deccan volcanic province

Date: 29th January – 4th February

Leaders: Nitin Karmalkar (nrkarmal@unipune.ernet.in), Raymond Duraiswami (raymond_d@rediffmail.com)

Wajrakarur kimberlite field

Date: 7th-10th February

Leaders: N. Chalapathi Rao (nvcr100@gmail.com), Fareeduddin Srinivas

Mafic intrusive rocks from western Himalaya

Date: 7th-12th February

Leaders: Talat Ahmad (tahmad001@yahoo.co.in), Vikram Thakur (thakurvc@wihg.res.in), Deepak Srivastava (dpkesfes@iitr.ernet.in)



European Geophysical Union (EGU) General Assembly

Date: Sunday, May 2, 2010 — Friday, May 7, 2010

Location: Austria Center Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Web: http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2010/home.html

Includes the following sessions:

Session TS5.1/GD4.5/GMPV41: Continental rifting – mechanism of deformation, sedimentation, and magmatism

Convenors: Gwenn Peron-Pinvidic (Gwenn.Peron-Pinvidic@NGU.NO), Richard Corfield (British Petroleum), Laurent Geoffroy (laurent.geoffroy@univ-lemans.fr), Ulrich Anton Glasmacher (ulrich.a.glasmacher@geow.uni-heidelberg.de), Matthias Hinderer (hinderer@geo.tu-darmstadt.de), Suzon Jammes (suzon.jammes@geo.uib.no), Sylvie Leroy (sylvie.leroy@upmc.fr), Graham Leslie, Dieter Mertz (mertz@uni-mainz.de), Georg Rumpker (rumpker@geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de), Timothy Reston (t.j.reston@bham.ac.uk), Alastair Robertson (alastair.robertson@ed.ac.uk), Cecile Robin (cecile.robin@univ-rennes1.fr)

Recent discoveries into the composition and architecture of deep-water rifted margins changed our way of looking at continental rifting. Deep ocean drilling and high quality geophysical surveys proved the existence of exhumed continental mantle and hyper-extended crust in deep water settings. However, at present, little is known about the depositional environments, sedimentary facies, the kinematics and age of structures, or the subsidence and thermal history of many of these deep water rifted margins.

We propose that this EGU Session includes general presentations on rifting with particular interest on contributions addressing the influence, evolution and interaction of various rifting processes such as deformation modes, sedimentary processes, serpentinisation, magmatism, and lithospheric thermal characteristics. Which parameter/process influences and interact with which other and how do they control the final architecture of the deep rifted margins? We believe that one of the keys in progressing future research on rifted margins is to combine studies from various sites (onshore and offshore as well as mature and young margins) and methods (modelling, observations). That's why contributions from field studies, data analyses and models are welcome, from worldwide areas.



GeoCanada: Working with the Earth

Date: Monday, May 10, 2010 — Friday, May 14, 2010

Location: BMO Centre, Calgary, Canada

Web: http://www.geocanada2010.ca/

Includes the following sessions:

Palaeoproterozoic tectonic assembly of the W. Canadian Shield: new findings and implications for palaeocontinental reconstruction

Chairs: Kathryn Bethune (kathryn.bethune@uregina.ca), Richard Ernst (richard.ernst@ernstgeosciences.com), Robert Berman (rob.berman@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca)

Cordilleran magmatism, tectonics and resources

Chair: Lyn Anglin (Geoscience British Columbia)



56th Annual Institute on Lake Superior Geology

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010 — Friday, May 21, 2010

Location: Holiday Inn, International Falls, USA

Web: http://lakesuperiorgeology.org/IF2010/index.html

Chairs: Peter Hollings (pnhollin@lakeheadu.ca), Mark Smyk (mark.smyk@ontario.ca), Mark Jirsa (jirsa001@umn.edu), Terry Boerboom (boerb001@umn.edu)



Cenozoic Continental Rifting

Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2010 — Saturday, June 5, 2010

Location: Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia

Web: http://www.mantleplumes.org/Conferences/IrkutskSymp2010.pdf

Organising committee chairmen: Evgeni Sklyarov (skl@gpg.crust.irk.ru), Sergei Rasskazov (rassk@crust.irk.ru)

Contacts: Tat’yana Yasnygina (ty@crust.irk.ru), Sergei Rasskazov (rassk@crust.irk.ru)

Russian Petrography Committee, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Earth’s Crust, Irkutsk State University: symposium dedicated to the memory of academician Nikolay Alekseevich Logatchev in connection with the 80th anniversary of his birth.

Cenozoic rifting is a process well developed in all continents. Intensive studies of rift systems in central and east Asia, west Europe, and North America have shown general similarity in terms of structural development, thinned lithosphere, elevated heat flow and involvement of melting of deep mantle magmatic sources, but have also revealed some features which are specific only for some rifts. New geophysical and geological data obtained recently on the Baikal, East China, Rio Grande and other rifts essentially improve our understanding of deep processes. Researchers and students are invited to present reports on rift-related phenomena in different continents to this special scientific meeting in Irkutsk, Siberia.

The overall objective of the symposium is to highlight results of Russian and international research groups working on different aspects of Cenozoic continental rifting and to discuss data obtained by high-precision geophysical and geochemical techniques. The significant contribution to understanding processes in the Baikal and other continental rift systems was done by the academician N.A. Logatchev – a leader of several international workshops. The symposium is dedicated to his memory in connection with the 80th anniversary of his birth.

Basic topics for discussion: (i) Tectonic, geophysical, and magmatic criteria for rift-related processes; (ii) Stratigraphy, lithology, and geochronology of sedimentary and volcano-sedimentary units in the Baikal and other continental rift systems; (iii) Evolution of rift-related processes; (iv) Comparative analyses of rifting and related processes in inner regions and margins of continents; (v) Relations between continental rifting and processes at convergent plate boundaries; (vi) Recent motions in continental rift regions, geo-hazards; (vii) Geodynamic models.



11th International Platinum Symposium

Date: Monday, June 21, 2010 — Thursday, June 24, 2010

Location: Laurentian University, Sudbury, Canada

Web: http://11ips.laurentian.ca/Laurentian/Home/Departments/Earth+Sciences/NewsEvents/11IPS/11IPSHome.htm?Laurentian_Lang=en-CA

Includes the following fieldtrips:

PGE mineralisation in the Nipissing and East Bull Lake intrusive suites

Date: 16th-19th June

Leaders: Michael Easton (mike.easton@ontario.ca), Richard James (rjames@laurentian.ca), Scott Jobin-Bevans (Caracle Creek International Consulting), Richard Sutcliffe (URSA Major Minerals)

The Palaeoproterozoic Southern Province encompasses a variety of mafic intrusions hosting Cu-Ni±PGE mineralisation, the most famous of which is the Sudbury Igneous Complex. This 4-day field trip will focus on the geology, stratigraphy, and contact-style Cu-Ni±PGE mineralisation hosted in two other areally-extensive mafic intrusive suites located within the Southern Province: the 2.48 Ga East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite and the 2.2 Ga Nipissing Intrusive Suite. Rocks of the East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite were once part of the same Palaeoproterozoic craton that included rocks of similar age and composition now located in Finland, Russia, Wyoming, and Ontario. Day 1 stops will view the major stratigraphic units and typical mineralisation present in the River Valley Intrusion (East Bull Lake Suite), which has been affected by varying degrees by Grenville (1.0 Ga) metamorphism, followed by travel to Espanola. Day 2 stops will visit the classic East Bull Lake Intrusion, viewing all major stratigraphic units as well as typical mineralisation, returning to Espanola in the evening. Day 3 stops will compare and contrast rock units and mineralisation styles between rocks of the East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite and Ursa Major's 2.2 Ga Shakespeare deposit (Nipissing Suite). Day 4 stops will examine rocks of the Agnew intrusion (East Bull Lake suite), returning to Sudbury in time for the welcoming reception. Cost: $650 for non-students, $400 for non-students (max. 3 at that rate), includes 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners, and 3 nights (16-18 June) shared accommodation, ground transportation, guidebook, and geological maps. Departs: Sudbury 8AM on Wednesday 16 June. Returns: Sudbury 5PM on Saturday 19 June. Maximum: 18 participants, Minimum: 10 participants.

Geology of the Duke Island Complex, Alaska

Date: 16th-19th June

Leaders: Curt Freeman (Avalon Development Corp.), Ed Ripley (ripley@indiana.edu)

The Duke Island Complex is a Ural-Alaskan intrusion that occurs in the Alexander Terrane of southeast Alaska. Rock types in the Complex include dunite, wehrlite, olivine clinopyroxenite, hornblende-magnetite clinopyroxenite, hornblendite and hornblende-plagioclase pegmatite. Emplacement occurred between 106 and 112 Ma, just before the onset of Mid-Cretaceous thrust faulting in the Alexander Terrane. Debate continues as to whether the Complex fits the description of a concentrically zoned ultramafic complex or if "cumulate" processes overshadowed reactive melt-rock interaction. What is not debated is that the Complex contains some of the most spectacularly layered igneous rocks on Earth. Cu-Ni-PGE sulphide mineralisation has recently been discovered, primarily in the olivine clinopyroxenites. The trip will include two days devoted to examining rocks of the Complex, as well as country rocks. Lodging will be in Ketchikan, Alaska, with helicopter/float plane transport to the island each morning and helicopter transport on the island and for the return to Ketchikan each evening. NOTE: Participants will require passports and possibly also visas to enter the US.Cost: $2225 for non-students, $1500 for students (max. 1 at that rate), includes 3 nights (16-19 June) single lodging in Ketchikan, helicopter/float plane transport to and from Duke Island, 2 lunches and mid-morning coffee/snacks (17-18 June), and guidebook. The hotel serves a continental breakfast, but there are other options for breakfast, as well as dinner, in Ketchikan. The trip does not include transportation between Ketchikan and Sudbury. Actual trip dates: Thursday 17 and Friday 18 June. Participants should make arrangements to arrive in Ketchikan on 16 June and to depart for Sudbury on 19 June. Maximum: 10 participants, Minimum: 10 participants.

Physical volcanology of komatiites and associated Ni-Cu-(PGE) mineralisation in the western Abitibi greenstone belt, Ontario

Date: 25th-29th June

Location: Michel Houle (Michel.Houle@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca), Sonia Prefontaine (sonia.prefontaine@ontario.ca), Brian Atkinson (Ontario Geological Survey)

The Abitibi Subprovince hosts a variety of komatiitic lava flows, subvolcanic sills, and intrusions hosting Ni-Cu-(PGE) mineralisation. This 5-day field trip will focus on the stratigraphy, the physical volcanology, and the Kambalda- and Mt. Keith-style mineralisation hosted in two extensive lithotectonic assemblages located within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, the 2719-2711 Ma Kidd-Munro assemblage and the 2710-2704 Ma Tisdale Assemblage. Komatiitic rocks in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt are among the best-preserved mineralised komatiites in the world. Day 1 will be used to drive from Sudbury to Kirkland Lake (~5 hours). On the way to Kirkland Lake, an atypical komatiite-hosted nickel occurrence will be visited; the C-Zone mineralisation is associated with a heterolithic komatiitic breccia in Bannockburn Township. An evening lecture will be presented to introduce participants to the general geology of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Day 2 stops will be devoted to the physical volcanology of komatiite by examining typical volcanic facies at classic exposures such as Pyke Hill and Lava Lake at the Potter Mine in Munro Township. VMS-style mineralisation closely associated with this mafic to ultramafic volcanic succession and an ultramafic to mafic layered intrusion will also be examined (if time permits). Day 3 stops will look at the subvolcanic-volcanic architecture of the Shaw Dome, prolific for its nickel mineralisation associated with komatiites, by comparing and contrasting physical volcanology and mineralisation styles between extrusive and intrusive mineralised environments (DDHs at Hart, McWatters and Redstone). Day 4 will focus on the physical volcanology of komatiites in Dundonald Township and its implication for komatiite-associated Ni-Cu-(PGE) deposits. Day 5 stops will examine rocks of the Bartlett Dome (Serpentine Mountain, Texmont mine) and the Halliday Dome (Sothman deposit), returning to Sudbury late afternoon. Travel will be by mini-vans, accommodations will be in motels in Kirkland Lake and Timmins. Cost: $900 for non-students, $550 for students (max. 2 at that rate), includes 4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners, 4 nights shared accommodation (25-28 June) in Timmins, ground transportation, and guidebook. Departs: Sudbury ~830AM on Friday 25 June, Returns: Sudbury ~6PM on Tuesday 29 June. Maximum:18 participants, Minimum: 10 participants.

Ni-Cu-(PGE) mineralisation in mafic intrusions of the Lake Superior region

Date: 24th-30th June

Leaders: Jim Miller (mille066@tc.umn.edu), Mark Smyk (mark.smyk@ontario.ca), Peter Hollings (pnhollin@lakeheadu.ca)

This 6-day trip will investigate field exposures and drill core of Cu-Ni-PGE deposits hosted by various 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift-related, mafic and ultramafic intrusions in the western Lake Superior region. Mineralised intrusions to be visited include the Coldwell Complex near Marathon, Ontario, several small ultramafic bodies in the Lake Nipigon-Thunder Bay, Ontario area, the South Kawishiwi and Partridge River intrusions of the Duluth Complex in northeast Minnesota, and the Eagle Intrusion in Upper Michigan. The trip will also visit the Pd-mineralised Archean Lac des Isles Complex near Thunder Bay. Travel will be by coach bus and accommodations will be in motels in Marathon and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Biwabik and Duluth, Minnesota, and Marquette, Michigan. NOTE: Participants will require passports and possibly also visas to enter the US.Cost: $1475 for non-students, $1000 for students (max. 3 at that rate), including all meals, 6 nights (24-29 June) shared accommodation, motor coach transportation, and guidebook. Departs: Sudbury ~1PM on Thursday 24 June, Returns: Sudbury ~3PM on Wednesday 30 June. Maximum: 45 participants, Minimum: 30 participants.

PGE mineralisation in the River Valley intrusion (East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite)

Date: 25th June

Leaders: Michael Easton (mike.easton@ontario.ca), Richard James (rjames@laurentian.ca), Scott Jobin-Bevans (Caracle Creek International Consulting)

The Palaeoproterozoic Southern Province encompasses a variety of mafic intrusions hosting Cu-Ni±PGE mineralisation, the most famous of which is the Sudbury Igneous Complex. This 1-day trip will view the major stratigraphic units and typical contact style PGE±Cu-Ni mineralisation present in the River Valley Intrusion, typical of that found throughout the 2.48 Ga East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite, as well as the effects of Grenville metamorphism (1.0 Ga) on rocks of the intrusion. Rocks of the East Bull Lake Intrusive Suite were once part of the same Palaeoproterozoic craton that included rocks of similar age and composition now located in Finland, Russia, Wyoming and Ontario. Cost: $80 for non-students, $50 for students (NOTE: maximum of 2 at that rate are already filled),includes lunch, ground transportation, and guidebook. Participants are responsible for making their own accommodation, breakfast, and dinner arrangements on 25 June. Departs: Sudbury 7AM on Friday 25 June 25, Returns: Sudbury 7PM on Friday 25 June 25. Maximum: 18 participants, Minimum: 10 participants.



Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting

Date: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 — Friday, June 25, 2010

Location: Taipei International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan

Web: http://www.agu.org/meetings/wp10/index.php

Includes the following sessions:

V04: Large Igneous Provinces: recent developments and ways forward

Convenors: Gregory Shellnutt (jgshelln@earth.sinica.edu.tw), Kwan-Nang Pang (mailto:knpang@ntu.edu.tw)

During the last four decades there has been substantial interest in large igneous provinces (LIP). LIP research began to blossom in association with mantle plume theory which has led to exciting new discoveries that challenge our perceptions of the formation of the crust. Studies on LIPs have improved the scientific understanding of volcanic effusion rates, mineral deposits, crustal growth and catastrophic ecosystem collapse. This session is aimed at geochemists, petrologists, economic geologists and geophysicists to present new results with emphasis on sub-aerial and sub-marine large igneous province of the Asia-Pacific region.

V08: Volcanism and environmental change

Convenors: Susanne Straub (smstraub@ldeo.columbia.edu), Chang-Hwa Chen (china@earth.sinica.edu.tw)

Earth history provides rich testimony that volcanism influences the evolution of the habitable Earth. Single large volcanic eruptions may trigger landslides and tsumanis, and lower global temperatures causing famine. Volcanic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may have influenced glacial cycles in concert with other pacers of environmental change. Plateau-forming volcanism formed may have altered ocean circulation patterns and ocean chemistry, and erased some species. We invite contributions from basic and applied research that shed light on the mechanisms by which volcanism and volcanic processes shape and change the habitable environment on Earth.



The Meeting of the Americas

Date: Sunday, August 8, 2010 — Friday, August 13, 2010

Location: Rafain Hotel and Convention Center, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil

Web: http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja10/

Includes the following sessions:

P05: Impact cratering on solid planets – shocks on basalts

Convenors: David Baratoux (baratoux@dtp.obs-mip.fr), Masahiko Arakawa (arak@eps.nagoya-u.ac.jp), Alvaro Crosta (alvaro@ige.unicamp.br)

Impact craters on solid planets are often formed on magmatic rocks. For the Moon and Mars, new magnetic, mineralogical and chemical data motivate a better quantification of shock effects on basalt. Recent analyses of craters on terrestrial igneous provinces offer the perspective of comparative studies. Contributions providing insights into the formation of impact craters on magmatic bodies, experimental or field studies (e.g. Vargeao and Cerro do Jarau, or Lonar), and analyses of extra-terrestrial impact structures will be appreciated. A 2-day field trip to Vargeao and Vista Alegre craters is being proposed in association with this session.

V03: Layered intrusions: up and down inside a volcano

Convenor: Nikolai Bagdassarov (nickbagd@geophysik.uni-frankfurt.de)

Layered intrusions represent a time evolution of closed crystallising magma bodies. Pressure, temperature, oxidation state as well as magmatic fluid regime are reflected in density stratification of magmatic minerals inside magma chambers. The session is aimed to discuss petrological field observations of mineral layering in various volcanic environments, numerical and laboratory modelling of sedimentation-floating processes in magma chambers on micro and macro scales.

V04: LIPs and mafic dyke swarms of South America

Convenors: Wilson Texeira (wteixeir@usp.br), Richard Ernst (richard.ersnt@ernstgeosciences.com), Elson Oliveira (elson@ige.unicamp.br)

Continental flood basalts, volcanic passive margins, oceanic plateaux, mafic dyke swarms, as well as bimodal and dominantly felsic magmatism represent the largest known intraplate-type igneous episodes on Earth. The high-quality information content of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) record (precise ages and piercing points, trends, palaeomagnetic poles) is critical in sorting out supercontinent configurations. With the importance and potential of LIP studies in mind, this session welcomes presentations on all aspects of the Phanerozoic and Precambrian LIP record of South America, including assessment of the broader global geodynamic implications.

V06: Mantle plumes in the Atlantic Ocean

Convenor: Munir Humayun (humayun@magnet.fsu.edu)

This session aims to attract geologists, geochemists and geophysicists, conducting research on the mechanisms of plume generation, ridge-plume interactions, plume source compositions and plume melting dynamics, for the diverse variety of plumes encountered in the Atlantic Ocean basin. This session encourages submissions regarding physical or chemical studies that contribute to our understanding of plume generation, including the recycling of subducted slabs, or other sources of mantle heterogeneity expressed in oceanic island basalts (OIB), and processes involving the impact of OIB on the mid-oceanic ridge due to ridge-plume interactions.

V10: Understanding magmatism: from crystals to provinces

Convenors: Olivier Bachmann (bachmano@u.washington.edu), Guilherme Gualda (g.gualda@vanderbilt.edu), Josef Dufek (dufek@gatech.edu), Calvin Miller (calvin.miller@vanderbilt.edu)

Understanding magmatic systems requires combining information from a variety of disciplines (petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geochronology), using a variety of approaches (from field work to modelling), and in a variety of scales (from individual crystals to entire provinces). This session aims to bring together researchers studying multiple aspects of magmatic systems. We are interested in (1) emphasising the relationship between plutonic and volcanic rocks, (2) using mineral compositions to record magmatic conditions, (3) unravelling the chronology of events, (4) using well-constrained modelling, and (5) exploring eruption triggers.

Includes the following fieldtrips:

Impact craters in basalts

Date: 14th-15th August

Basaltic impact craters are rare on Earth (although common in other solid planetary bodies). We will visit two impact craters: Vargeão and Vista Alegre, in Paraná and Santa Catarina states, with diameters of 13 and 9.5 km, respectively. This will provide a first-hand insight of the shock deformation features in basalt, especially for participants of the session "Impact Cratering on Solid Planets - Shocks on Basalt".

The sites are only a few hours from Iguazu.

ParanaMagmatic Province

Date: 3rd-7th August

Leaders: Leila Marques (leila@iag.usp.br), Antonio Jose Nardy (nardy@rc.unesp.br), Breno Waichel (breno@unioeste.br)

The opening of the South Atlantic was preceded by voluminous magmatism in Brazil and Africa, giving rise to the Paraná-Etendeka Magmatic Province, one of the largest igneous provinces of the world. In Brazil, the volcanic rocks were erupted into a Palaeozoic sedimentary basin (Paraná Basin) represented by flood basalts with minor intermediate and acid (rhyodacite/rhyolite) volcanics. The volcanism was also accompanied by significant intrusive magmatism, which gave rise to sills and three dyke swarms. In the field trip different volcanic rock-types will be observed, as well as several volcanic structures, such as lava lobes, pegmatoid segregations, pahoehoe lavas and peperites. The trip begins with the spectacular outcrops of the Florianópolis Dyke Swarm, belonging to the final stages of the magmatic activity. Then, several exposures of the lava piles will be visited, beginning with the first basaltic flows in contact with the aeolian sandstones of Botucatu Formation. We will then follow the sequence of lava flows upward in magnificent valleys where the entire pile of basaltic flows, and intertrap sandstones, can be recognised. The two types of acid volcanics, at the upper portions of the lava piles and representing the last stages of the volcanic activity, will also be examined. The trip will finish in Foz do Iguaçu City, which was built over basalts of Paraná Magmatic Province. Participants must arrive in Florianópolis on August 2nd. The field trip starts on August 3rd early in the morning. Interested participants can contact Leila Marques at leila@iag.usp.br. Preliminary cost estimate is U$ 1,000.00.The minimum number of participants is 15 and the maximum is 35.

 



Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) Field Trip

Date: Monday, August 30, 2010 — Saturday, September 4, 2010

Location: Attacal, County Down and Ballintoy, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, UK

Web: http://www.dur.ac.uk/d.a.jerram/VMSG/meetings.html

In the Footsteps of Giants: Irish Legends and Palaeogene Magmatism

Contact: Carl Stevenson (c.t.stevenson@bham.ac.uk)

This year’s VMSG field trip will be to the Palaeogene igneous centres of Northern Ireland. The Northern Irish sector of the British and Irish Palaeogene Igneous Province (BIPIP) is a classic area in British and Irish geology containing key subvolcanic complexes – the Mourne Granite Centres, Slieve Gullion Ring Complex and the Carlingford Complex, and the UNESCO World Heritage site the Giant’s Causeway. This region is also steeped in mythology where the fabled giant Finn McCool acquired his name (Finn or Fionn meaning fair) when he was tricked by a witch to dive into an enchanted pool at the summit of Slieve Gullion. Then there is the eponymous Giant’s Causeway which was part of a spat between Finn and the Scottish Giant Fingal (of Fingal’s Cave on Staffa).

On this trip we plan to visit localities in the Mourne Granites, some new road cut outcrops through the Slieve Gullion ring-complex, cone sheet outcrops of the Carlingford Centre, faulting and intrusion relationships west of the Antrim Basalt plateaux, the Portrush Sill and, of course, the Giant’s Causeway. The aim of the trip is to consider the structural relationships of these subvolcanic intrusions, the implications for their emplacement and examine new evidence for tectonomagmatic relationships in this sector of the BIPIP.

Costs:

Full price £350 Student £280

(£50 deposit with full price to be paid by registration deadline is also acceptable, but payment after registration deadline will incur a £50 admin. charge)

Price includes full board YH accommodation and a field guide. Places are limited to 30, given on a first come first served basis and are already filling up fast.

Registration deadline 1st July (or when places are filled).



Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting

Date: Sunday, October 31, 2010 — Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Location: Colorado Convention Center, Denver, USA

Web: http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2010/

Includes the following sessions:

T124: Proterozoic crustal evolution

Convenors: Paul Mueller (mueller@geology.ufl.edu), Joe Wooden (jwooden@stanford.edu), Marion Bickford (mebickfo@syr.edu)

This session will explore controversies regarding Proterozoic evolution of southern Laurentia. Topics include Palaeoproterozoic arc-accretion versus rift-related reactivation and assembly and the nature of ca. 1.45-1.0 Ga Mesoproterozoic activity. These questions will involve supercontinent assembly.

T156: Controls and consequences of continental rifting: from heat flow, stress, and strain to magmatism, landscape-basin evolution, and development of natural resources

Convenors: Yilderim Dilek (dileky@muohio.edu), Benjamin Drenth (bdrenth@usgs.gov), Ren Thompson (ren52157@mac.com), Harald Furnes (herald.furnes@geo.uib.no)

Broad-ranging, multidisciplinary studies are sought to discuss continental rift-related topics such as lithospheric breakup; mantle response/melt evolution; magma localisation; influence of pre-existing structures; stress fields/kinematics; surface uplift/sedimentation; basin segmentation/evolution; natural hazards/resources; and climate change.



American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting

Date: Monday, December 13, 2010 — Friday, December 17, 2010

Location: Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, USA

Web: http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm10/

Includes the following sessions:

T05: Interaction between magmatic and tectonic processes in continental and incipient oceanic rifts

Convenors: Derek Keir (d.keir@leeds.ac.uk), Carolina Pagli (c.pagli@leeds.ac.uk), Juliet Biggs (juliet.biggs@earth.ox.ac.uk), Eleonora Rivalta (e.rivalta@leeds.ac.uk)

A key breakthrough in the last decade is recognition of the intimate linkage between extensional deformation and magmatism during rupture of the continents. However, the nature of this relationship at all depths through the lithosphere and its evolution through time remain controversial. We invite contributions from observational and modelling studies that constrain the length, time scales and mechanisms of magma transport and emplacement in continental and incipient oceanic rifts. We also welcome contributions on interactions between magmatism and other deformation mechanisms (e.g. faulting and ductile stretching) and their response to rheological controls.

T06: Structure, dynamics, and evolution of the African-Arabian rift systems

Convenors: Derek Keir (d.keir@leeds.ac.uk), Ian Bastow (ian.bastow@bristol.ac.uk), Christel Tiberi (christel.tiberi@gm.univ-montp2.fr), Cecile Doubre (cdoubre@uinstra.fr)

The Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and rifts of the Afar volcanic province have developed since Palaeogene times during the removal of the Arabian plate from Africa above anomalously warm mantle: the African superplume. The geological record of the region exhibits active extensional systems ranging from the early stages of breakup to sea-floor spreading, and thus the development of young passive margins. We invite contributions from geoscientific studies that help constrain structure and dynamics of crust and mantle beneath the region. We also invite contributions from studies that address linkages between mantle dynamics, lithospheric extension and magmatism.

T20: Investigation of the Earth’s interior using geophysical and laboratory measurements

Convenors: Anne Pommier (apommier@mit.edu), Robert Evans (revans@whoi.edu)

Physical properties, such as electrical resistivity, seismic velocity, viscosity and density of melts, minerals and fluids, are the filter through which geophysical models attempt to constrain geodynamic processes. These constraints can only be as good as our understanding of how the physical properties measured vary as functions of Earth's temperature, pressure and composition. Laboratory measurements, therefore, provide the vital information through which geophysical interpretations are made, and also mark the limits of interpretational ability. We invite contributions that emphasise a laboratory-field multidisciplinary approach in furthering geological understanding.

V25: Generation and evolution of alkaline to sub-alkaline magmas

Convenors: Romain Meyer (mail@romain-meyer.eu), Sebastien Pilet (sebastien.pilet@unil.ch), Etienne Medard (e.medard@opgc.univ-bpclermont.fr), Ralf Gertisser (r.gertisser@esci.keele.ac.uk)

This session is designed to bring together multiple disciplines to understand the generation and evolution of alkaline to sub-alkaline magmas observed in rift volcanic systems and intraplate settings. This session will include discussion on the mechanism of magma generation (asthenospheric vs. lithospheric), on source characteristics (implication of recycled material, metasomatism, crustal anatexis), and on processes related to the chemical evolution of these magmas from mantle depths to shallow level (fractional crystallisation, assimilation, magma mixing). We encourage contributions that explore new petrogenetic scenarios using field observation, petrological constraints as well as geophysical observations or numerical modelling.

V37: Are hotspots hot?

Convenors: Gillian Foulger (g.r.foulger@durham.ac.uk), Peter Clift (p.clift@abdn.ac.uk), James Natland (jnatland@rsmas.miami.edu)

An anomalously hot mantle source is a requirement of the plume hypothesis, but not of the shallow plate hypothesis. Whether or not the temperature beneath "hotspots" is unusually high is a matter of current dispute. Methods used to measure mantle temperature include seismology, petrology, heat flow, and modelling ocean-floor topography, e.g., swells. A critical underpinning of these efforts is the thermal structure of the mantle, including the thickness of the surface conduction layer and expected lateral variations. This session solicits contributions, from all subdisciplines, that bear on estimating the temperature of the mantle beneath "hotspots". A diversity of viewpoints is anticipated and session time will be allocated to discussion.