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International Geological
Correlation Program #464
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Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial
Cycle:
Knowledge and Applications
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click for full resolution logo
NEW Annual Conference
re-scheduled Oceanian venue (Australia)
December 2003
First circular
with request of funding to attend the conference
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Past Regional Conferences
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image
courtesy Lindsay Collins
In
February 2001 Unesco approved a five-year
International Geological Correlation Project
entitled “Continental Shelves during last
glacial cycle. Knowledge and applications” (IGCP464). More than
120 emails and letters of support from some 25 countries, including
several from groups of scientists were collected for proposal submission.
The project is a follow-up of the previous
IGCP396
“Continental shelves during the Quaternary”.
At present (2003) the project involves some 325 researchers from 39 countries,
conferences have been held in Hong Kong (China), S.Paolo (Brazil), Vancouver
(Canada), Gdansk (Poland).
The
project aims to define the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the
continental shelves, particularly leading into and since the Last
Glacial Maximum. This will include the processes that have produced
the present morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentology.
The project is timely as continental shelves are under increasing
pressure of exploitation and require basic scientific understanding
followed by better management. Shelf areas are being assessed
world-wide, particularly up to 2004, when the Law-of-the-Sea convention
on continental margins comes into effect.
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FAQ
(frequently
asked question s)
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FAQ
frequently asked questions
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What is IGCP? |
The International Geological Correlation Programme
(IGCP) is a joint endeavour betweenUNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and IUGS
(International Union of Geological Sciences). It was
launched in 1972 to facilitate cooperation among geoscientists
across frontiers and boundaries. Its objective is to bring scientists
from around the world together and enhance interaction, particularly
between North and South, through joint research work, meetings
and workshops.
This goal is accomplished by establishing
5-years long, subject specific projects. Projects are typically
world-scale; at present some 40 projects are active.
The level of funding is of some thousand
of US dollars per year; funding is mainly devoted to support
scientists from developing countries to participate to the
annual conferences and meetings. Additional information is available
at
http://www.unesco.org/science/earthsciences/igcp/background.htm
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What is IGCP464?
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IGCP project 464 was approved and
established in 2001 to discuss and compare data on continental shelf evolution
during the last climatic/eustatic/depositional cycle. This interdisciplinary
project brings together researchers specializing in a variety fields within
geology, geography, archaeology, and climatology. Through
investigation, synthesis of ideas, and collaboration with colleagues,
greater understanding will be achieved about the character and controlling
factors influencing global shelf evolution. It is anticipated that
advancements will be made in the understanding of global shelf geometry,
paleogeography, paleomorphology, carbon budgeting, cultural heritage,
as well as in stratigraphic sequencing methods and models and training.
It is hoped that researchers from developing countries may find a scientific
environment where research topics are expressed in a "friendly" manner,
and ideas may be easily transmitted. For further information see
project proposal .
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How Can I participate?
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You may participate in the project
by: a) sending an e-mail to
francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it ; you will then be
included in the mailing list and receive newsletters; b) participating
in the web discussion forum; c) participating in annual meetings (2002
Brazil, 2003 Oceania, 2004 Italy, 2005 South Africa/Egypt) or to regional
meetings (May 2003 in Poland and May 2003 in Canada)
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Can I obtain funding?
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Funding is not available for data acquisition. The
program is intended to advance knowledge through communication
and cooperation. IGCP is not a funding agency and the limited funds
available are for "catalytic purposes"; which means that funds are
available only for RESEARCHERS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES to participate
in Project meetings. You may apply for such funds when submitting
an abstract in the “call-for-papers” issued for each meeting, or by writing
an email to:
toschi@uow.edu.au
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Project
Leaders
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Leader
of Physical stratigraphy Working Group
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Leader
of Chemical Stratigraphy Working Group
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Leader
of Applied AspectsWorking Group
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Leader
of Influence on human culture Working Group
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Francesco
L. Chiocci
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Allan Chivas
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Gilles Lericolais
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Allan Chivas
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Wyss Yim
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Renée
Hetherington
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Dipartimento
di Scienze della Terra, Università di Roma "La Sapienza
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School
of Geosciences, University of Woolongong
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GeoSciences
Marines IFREMER - Centre du Brest DRO/GM
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School
of Geosciences, University of Woolongong
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Department
of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong
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University
of Victoria, Dept. of Geography/Geological Survey of Canada
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PROJECT PROPOSAL
Project division
Division 2. Quaternary, environmental and
engineering geosciences
Also related to: Divisions 1, 3 and 4.
Short title of
the project
Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial
Cycle: Knowledge and Applications
Full title of the project
Palaeoenvironmental evolution of Continental
Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle
Proposed by
Prof. Francesco L. Chiocci and Prof. Allan
R. Chivas
Mailing addresses, names,
telephone, fax, e-mail
Francesco Latino Chiocci, Dipartimento
Scienze della terra, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, P.le
Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
phone 39 06 44585075 fax 39 06 44585080
e-mail francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Allan R. Chivas, School of Geosciences,
University of Wollongong NSW 2522, Australia.
Phone 61 2 42213263 fax 61 2 42214250 e-mail
toschi@uow.edu.au
Scale of the project
Global
Brief outline of the project
(a) To compare and contrast the global
development of continental shelves, particularly with respect
to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This requires compilation
of various styles of shelves (e.g. tidal/non-tidal, high/low
energy, well-fed/sediment-starved, glaciated/non-glaciated).
The definition of a common terminology and the development of
methods to depict graphically LGM features on shelves.
(b) To understand the geometry and palaeogeography
of shelves (and exposed shelves at/near the LGM), their incised
or truncated river valleys; and the isolation and diversion
of water masses as seaways narrowed or closed near the LGM.
(c) To understand the palaeoclimate and
sea-surface palaeotemperatures near the LGM from key areas,
in particular those in tropical areas, using combined trace-element
and stable-isotope methods applied to corals, molluscs and foraminifers.
(d) To investigate the imprint of higher-frequency
climatic events (e.g. Younger Dryas, Heinrich events) on
continental shelves.
(e) The application of seismic methods
to identify the palaeomorphology of shelf deposits and the
testing of sequence-stratigraphic methods/models from more
ancient materials to younger sediments. The application of multibeam
bathymetric mapping and regional digital terrain images to continental
shelves.
(f) Investigation of the carbon budget
of shelf deposition and exposure.
(g) To investigate other applied aspects
(mineral deposits, geotechnical and engineering properties)
and the cultural heritage of palaeoenvironmental changes of
shelves (e.g. human, floral and faunal migrations across archipelagic
and land bridges).
(h) An emphasis on research training in
modern methods for shelf studies, by an integrated series
of workshops delivered in developing countries, and by visits
and research exchange with key laboratories (seismic interpretation,
geochemical and isotopic laboratories, geotechnical facilities).
(i) Synthesis of results in publications
throughout the life of the project and culminating in an edited
monograph that incorporates reviews and advances in continental-shelf
research.
Estimated duration
of the project
5 years
Tentative work schedule
2001 : Initial organisational
and field meeting in Hong Kong (directed by Wyss Yim, co-leader
of the outgoing IGCP-396 Quaternary Shelves project); field
visits to engineering and coring-technology and geotechnical facilities.
This is a possible joint meeting with the 5th International Conference
on the Palaeoenvironment of the Asia-Pacific Region (tentatively
dated late October 2001) and will attract participants principally
from China, South-east and North Asia and Australasia.
Election of office-bearers and establishment
of Working Groups. At present we plan the formation of 3
working groups covering Physical Stratigraphy (e.g. Gilles
Lericolais (France), Francisco Hernandez-Molina (Spain) and
Francesco L. Chiocci (Italy)); Chemical Stratigraphy (e.g. Michael
Gagan and Allan Chivas, Australia); and Applied Aspects i.e. resources,
geotechnics and management (e.g. Wyss Yim (China) and Keith Tovey
(UK)).
Establish an email listserver and webpage.
This would proceed immediately upon approval of the new
project, and build upon the excellent electronic communications
established for IGCP-396 at East Anglia by Keith Tovey. We plan
to adopt and expand another 396 innovation, that is, the addition
of all ‘new project’ conference posters to the web-site. Furthermore,
one of our principal objectives is the establishment of a major training
strand (e.g. seismic interpretation, geotechnical testing, chemical
and isotopic analyses, dating methods) and fullsome lecture-notes
of such workshops will be progressively added to the website.
Presentation of first training courses
including fibre-optic cable route surveys as a source of
research information.
Preparation of first annual report
2002 : Symposium and field
meeting in New Zealand (probably October; organised by Tim
Naish, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences); field trip
to Wanganui to examine a remarkably long uplifted shelf sequence.
Laboratory work (chemical/isotopic) at
University of Wollongong throughout the year with laboratory
visits to Wollongong for participants en route to New Zealand.
Compilation of a list of project publications;
solicit high-quality scientific papers (in advance of annual
meeting) for publication in a special volume of an international
scientific journal, from 2001 and 2002 meetings.
Review progress of Working Groups
Preparation of Second Annual Report
2003: Symposium and field
meeting in Brazil just before or after South American Quaternary
meeting (probably May; in Niteroi or Sao Paulo coastal research
station; organised by Alberto Figueiredo and Michel Michaelovitch
de Mahiques).
Presentation of training courses
Continuation of laboratory work and laboratory
training
Review progress of Working Groups
Preparation of Third Annual Report
2004:
Symposium just before or after the IGC Congress in Florence, Italy
(September 2004) (Francesco L. Chiocci to co-ordinate). A special
symposium at IGC with presentation of selected papers will be organised
as well.
Planning and soliciting of multi-authored
papers for a monograph that incorporates reviews and advances
in the field of continental-shelf studies. The book would be edited
to be a coherent and full statement on the subject, and not simply
a compendium of contributed items.
Preparation of the Fourth Annual report
2005:
Final-year Symposium and field meeting. Africa (either Egypt
or South Africa, are the currently discussed possibilities).
Publication of all the posters presented
in the five annual meetings in electronic format (CD).
Presentation of training courses
Publication of monograph on continental
shelves
Preparation of Final Project Report
Results expected of the project
(a) In theoretical sciences
1. Enhanced understanding of the features
and styles of relict and modern shelf deposits (seismic signatures,
geometries, chemical and isotopic signatures) in various environments
(variable energy and tidal range, degree of sediment delivery,
latitude).
2. Understanding the environmental conditions
(i.e. wave-energy, extent of glaciers/coral reefs, type of
vegetation, temperature of surface water, palaeohydrology) at
the LGM and during the last sea-level rise.
3. Estimation of shelf carbon budgets and
storage at the LGM compared to modern shelf environments including
C-13 measurements in cores and seismic mapping of shelves affected
by methane-related acoustic turbidity. The results of this
task will be a contribution to the co-IGCP project on Global
Carbon.
(b) Applied sciences and technology
1. Mapping of continental shelves and shelf
breaks as assistance to countries, particularly less-developed
countries, in the perspective of submissions on shelf geometries
for claims under the Law of the Sea Convention.
2. Second edition of the world map, and
first editions of various national and regional maps, showing
the extent and character of continental-shelf sediments (particularly
at 20ka BP). Our project will be a primary data-gathering group
that will liaise with INQUA Commissions including the Commission on
Palaeo-climate to continue where the earlier CLIP (Climates of the Past)
IUGS/UNESCO activity finished, and the Commission on Sea-level and
Coastal Evolution.
3. Compilation of the geotechnical properties
of shelf sediments, particularly of those materials previously
exposed at the LGM. Application to coastal engineering and
coastal management including offshore oil-platform installations
and the sustainable utilization of shelves.
(c) Benefits to society
1. Several of the above which bear on economic
development and resources e.g. shelf mapping and communication/hydrocarbon
exploitation.
2. Training of participants from less-developed
countries by short-courses and in hands-on laboratory visits
and analytical work (e.g. in seismic interpretation, geotechnical
properties, and isotopic data). There is the opportunity for these
participants to co-operate in a high-level scientific debate with
low-cost and easy-to-perform data collection and compilation (i.e.
shelf geomorphology and bathymetry)
3. Studies of the resource assessment and
genesis of shallow marine placer deposits and sand and
gravel resources (in conjunction with INQUA’s Quaternary Economic
Deposits Committee).
4. Definition of the cultural heritage
of climatic/eustatic events. The exposed shelves are likely
to have been colonised by human communities during palaeolithic
time (because of the flatness of the area, proximity to the sea,
resources availability); if material remains were inundated during
sea-level rise, cultural remains can be found in most of the cultures
(golden age, flooding events).
The following sequential results are expected
2001: Promulgation
of the project’s objectives, and relevance to society, in national
and international journals and magazines and via the website. Choice
of key sites for further work (e.g. Black Sea, east coast of South
America, Mediterranean Sea, Southeast Asian/Australasian epicontinental
seaways). Assembly of small teams to focus on these areas. These
areas may form the core of the subject matter for the monograph to be
published in year 5, to be built upon year by year. Production of abstracts
of first annual meeting. First training workshop and laboratory exchanges.
Encouragement of participants to use the IGCP Project as a lever and
as support for funding from national sources and in seeking access to
non-confidential industrial data (e.g. cable or geotechnical surveys)
especially in developing countries.
2002: Second annual meeting and abstract
volume; all articles and posters to be available on the
website. Production of a catalogue of shelf sites into types,
and this information used to begin developing models of their
genesis and to assist in expanding/applying/modifying classification
to other areas. Tentative definition of the amount of methane
stored in deltas depending on climate and river size. Training workshops
and laboratory visits continue.
2003: Third annual meeting. Training workshops
and laboratory visits continue. Production of a special issue
of a journal devoted to this shelf project. Report on progress
to be published in Episodes.
2004: Fourth annual meeting. Training workshops
for this year to be integrated into the short courses on offer
at the International Geological Congress (Florence).
2005: Final meeting. Further training workshops
as required. Publication of a monograph. Publication of all
the posters presented in the five annual meetings in electronic
format. Publication of summary of project outcomes in Episodes
and other channels.
The present state
of activities
IGCP-396 assembled a large team of researchers
who work on the continental shelf. After four years, most
members have met, exchanged views and realise the benefits
of research collaboration. The gathering at the IGC in Rio was
a watershed in this subject matter, even though it came late in IGCP-396’s
life. The terminating project presented 47 posters from members
as well as an oral session with five invited speakers and additional
oral presentations in several other sessions.
During three business
meetings in Rio, key opportunities and problems in shelf research
were discussed. The principal description of our proposed successor
project (Item 16 in this application) addresses these opportunities.
Participants
Argentina
Servico de Hidrografia Naval; Depto. Oceanografia
Centro de Geociencias Aplicadas; Facultad
de Ingenieria - UNNE Chaco
Australia
Antarctic Division; Department of Science
Australian Oceanographic Data Centre (AODC)
Department of Geology; University of Newcastle
Australian Geological Survey Organisation
(AGSO)
Department of Earth Sciences; Flinders
University of South Australia
School of Geosciences; University
of Wollongong;
School of Geosciences; University of Sydney;
School of Applied Geology; Curtin
University of Technology;
Department of Geology and Geophysics;
University of New England;
Department of Applied Geology; University
of Technology, Sydney;
Research School of Earth Sciences; The
Australian National University,
Department of Geology; The Australian National
University,
Division of Archaeology & Natural History;
Australian National University;
Department of Geology & Geophysics;
University of Adelaide;
Department of Geology; University of Tasmania
Bangladesh
Department of Geology & Mining;
University of Rajshahi;
Department of Geography; Jahangirnagar
University;
Department of Geography; University
of Rajshahi
Belgium
Department of Geology; Stratigraphy
and Sedimentology Division, Gent
Brazil
Institut Oceanografico; Universidade de
Sao Paulo
Universitad Fluminense - Niteroi
Bulgaria
Department of Botany; Biological Faculty
University of Sofia
Department of Hydrogeochemistry; Geological
Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Department of Marine Geology; Geological
Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Deaprtment of Sedimentology; Geological
Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Canada
Groupe de Recherche en Environnement; Universite
du Quebec
Centre for Marine Geology; Dalhousie
University
Geological Survey of Canada
Atlantic Geoscience Centre; Bedford
Institute of Oceanography
Department of Earth Sciences and Geography;
Brock University;
Department of Geology & Geological
Engineering; Universite Laval;
Department of Geography & Geotop;
University of Montreal at Montreal;
Chile
Facultad de Recursos del Mar; Universidad
de Antofagasta
China
Department of Geography; East China Normal
University
South China Sea Institute of Oceanology;
Academia Sinica
Institute of Oceanology; Academia
Sinica;
Institute of Geology and Geophysics;
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Marine Geology Department; Tongji University
Nanjing Institute of Geology &
Paleontology; Academia Sinica
Guangzhou Marine Geological Analysis Center;
Guangzhou
First Institute of Oceanography;
SOA
College of Marine Geosciences; Ocean
University of Qingdao
Institute of Marine Geology; MGMR
Department of Marine Geology; Institute
of Oceanology;
Department of Geo- and Ocean Sciences;
Nanjing University
Institute of Marine Geology; Qingdao
Tianjin Institute of Geology & Mineral
Resources; Tianjin
Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes;
Academia Sinica
Department of Geology; Zhongshan University;
Second Institute of Oceanography;
State Oceanic Administration
State Pilot Lab of Coast & Island Exploitation;
Nanjing University
Hong Kong
Department of Earth Sciences; The
University of Hong Kong
Geological Survey of Hong Kong
EGS (Asia) Limited
Fugro Geotechnical Services Limited
Lam Geotechnics Limited
Bachy Soletanche Limited
Gammon Construction Limited
China - Taiwan
Institute of Marine Geology and Chemistry;
National Sun Yat-sen University
Institute of Earth Sciences; Academia
Sinica
Institute of Oceanography; National Taiwan
University
Department of Geology; National Taiwan
University
Czech Republic
Czech Geological Survey; Klarov
Egypt
Department of Geology; Cairo University
Fiji
Department of Geography; The University
of the South Pacific
France
GeoSciences Marines; IFREMER - Centre du
Brest
Centre de Sedimentologie et Paleontologie;
Universite de Provence
Laboratoire de Geographie Physique;
CNRS
Germany
Department of Geography; University of
Marburg
Baltic Sea Research Institute
Forschungsstelle fuer Archaeometrie; Heidelberger
Akademie der Wissenschaften
Geographisches Institut; Univesitaet
zu Koln;
Geological Institute; University of Muenster
Bundesanstalt fur Geowissenschaften und
Rohstoffe
Institute of Biochemistry and Marine Chemistry,
Hamburg University
India
National Institute of Oceanography; Dona
Paula
Department of Ecological Studies;
School of Environmental Sciences
Geological Survey of India
Marine Geology and Geophyics Department;
Cochin University of Science and Technology
Chemical Oceanography Division; National
Institute of Oceanography
Indonesia
Dept of Geotechnology; Indonesian Institute
of Sciences
Iran
AZAD University
Ireland
Coastal Resources Centre; University
College Cork
Israel
Department of Geography; Ben Ilan
University
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Institue for Nature Conservation Research;
Tel Aviv University
Italy
CNR - Istituto Geologia Marina, Bologna
CNR - Istituto Geomare Sud, Napoli
Dip. di Geologia e Geofisica, Università
di Bari
Dip. di Sc. della Terra, Univ. di Ancona
Dip. di Sc. Terra e Geol. Ambientali, Univ.
di Bologna
Dip. Geologia e Geodesia, Università
di Palermo
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Univ. di Roma
La Sapienza
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Univ. Napoli
Federico II
Dip.Territorio e Risorse, Università
di Genova
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Univ.
Firenze
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra,Univ.
di Cagliari
ENEA - C.R.A.M. S.Teresa, LA SPEZIA
Enea, Dip. Ambiente, Roma
Ist. Geodinamica e Sedimentologia, Univ.
Urbino
Ist. Sc. Geologiche Ambientali e Marine,
Trieste
Ist. Cent. Ricerca Applicata al Mare, Roma
Istituto di Scienze del Mare, Università
di Ancona
Servizio Geologico d'Italia
Jamaica
Department of Geology; The University
of West Indies, Kingstone
Japan
Institute of Geology & Paleontology;
Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai
Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences;
Kyushu University
Laboratory of Geography; University
of Ryukus
Institute for Hydrospheric-Atmospheric
Sciences, Chikusa-ku
Department of Geosciences; Osaka
City University
Graduate School of Science & Technology;
Niigata University
Location of main
field activities
Potential sites derive from continental-shelf
areas world-wide that provide a record of the variable environments
of the last glacial cycle and, in particular, the Last Glacial
Maximum. Key locations will be subject to team study with a strong
sense of collaboration among representatives from several countries
at each site, and aided by introductory work particularly during
annual or regional on-site project meetings. Several teams are in
place, following extensive discussions at the IGC in Rio (e.g. see sequential
results for 2001).
Location of major laboratory research
During the life of IGCP-396, attempts were
made, with only modest success, to involve participants from
less-developed countries in aspects of technology transfer,
upgrading of skills and opportunities to work in established
laboratory facilities. A major difficulty lies in funding these
activities, both for travel for visits and for the bench-costs of
undertaking these analyses. We have come to realise that the bench-costs
can be reduced or eliminated if visitors are able to prepare their
samples, by simple methods, in their own countries, thereby saving
time as well as money, prior to submitting to/visiting an established
laboratory.
Accordingly, we plan to redouble our efforts
in this regard, and announced at the closing IGCP-396 business
meeting in Rio (August 2000) that several laboratories would
act as hosts for a successor project, should it be approved. Several
joint researches were immediately planned, and it is probable that
analytical work will commence before a successor project is
in place. Thus, samples from the continental shelves of Brazil
and Argentina will be analysed for organic content, C-13 and N-15
shortly, in research involving participants from those countries
who had not been previously able to fully participate in IGCP-396
due to lack of funds, for travel to its annual meetings. Applications
for travel funds from national sources and exchange of personnel have
been sought to support this endeavour.
The principal laboratories that have agreed
to support such exchanges, particularly for work from developing
countries are University of East Anglia, UK (geotechnics),
University of Rome (seismic interpretation), IFREMER, Brest,
France (data processing and seismic interpretation), University
of Wollongong, Australia (chemical and isotopic analyses) and University
of Hong Kong (field and laboratory testing of engineering properties
of shelf deposits).
Thus laboratory work will be undertaken,
at least at the preparatory level, in many countries listed
in this application. However, the detailed geochronological
and chemical analyses involving more expensive equipment will
be largely performed in Europe, North America and Australasia. We
have specifically identified some of those laboratories, at this early
stage, and expect this list to grow as the project develops.
Other considerations
Scientific Collaboration: Members of
current and past Quaternary-related IGCP projects (e.g. carbon
cycle, karst, long rivers, dryland changes, and continental shelves)
held a business meeting in Rio at the IGC to discuss collaboration.
The concept of the proposed new project on Continental Shelves during
the LGM was presented and collaborative links established between
the projects on carbon and rivers. Associate Professor Colin Murray-Wallace,
leader of IGCP-437 (‘Coastal Environmental Change during Sea-level
Highstands) was unable to be present in Rio, but has since endorsed
the current proposal, and indeed provided advice during its preparation.
The importance of collaboration between these two projects (one on
sea-level high-stands the other focussing on low-stands) is clear.
Note that Colin Murray-Wallace and Allan Chivas are colleagues at
the same institution, and that their suggestion to merge project-mailing
lists will provide a combined membership of nearly 600 scientists.
Our proposed project has collaborative
links with INQUA’s Commissions on Sea-level Changes and Coastal
Evolution; Palaeoclimate (maps at 20 ka), and its Committee
on Quaternary Mineral Deposits. The MARGINS project, coordinated
from the USA, has plans to drill the continental margins of Papua
New Guinea, Alaska and New Zealand sometime after 2002, and is anticipated
to provide further opportunities for scientific collaboration.
The proposal has been prepared by Francesco
Chiocci and Allan Chivas and enriched by the discussion held
in Rio during three specially devoted IGCP-396 meetings. Specific
contributions by Leonid Poliak (Ohio State University, USA),
Gilles Lericolais (IFREMER, France), Wyss Yim (University of Hong
Kong), Heiner Josenhans (Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada),
Colin Murray-Wallace (University of Wollongong, Australia) and Natalia
Patyk-Kara (Russian Academy of Sciences) are also part of the proposal.
Attachment 1: Full
Description of the Proposed Project
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the project is the definition
of the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the continental shelves,
leading to their present morphology, stratigraphy and sedimentology.
The geological approach to the environment and to its global
changes is in fact based on a complete understanding of the long-term
cyclicity of natural systems. On the continental margins the leading
factor is undoubtedly the very rapid changes in sea level that brought
it from -125m during the Last Glacial Maximum (~20ka b.p.) to its
present position in little more than 10,000 years at an average rate
of 1m/century. The project will therefore be focused especially on
the Last Glacial Maximum (hereafter referred as LGM) and to the following
sea-level rise. In fact the LGM is a key event in Pleistocene/Holocene
environmental evolution, as it represents the main and latest extreme
in sea-level and climatic trends at a global scale. The conditions
at the LGM on continental shelves and their effects on coastal plains
and continental slopes will thus be the "starting point" of the most
recent and continuing environmental cycle.
The project follows and originates
from the experience of IGCP 396 "Continental Shelves in the
Quaternary", that successfully brought together a large number
of researchers (some 400 participants from 40 countries) to
work and cross-correlate data among different shelves of the world.
The focus of the new proposed project was decided trough public
and web discussion by IGCP-396 participants, with an intent to narrow
the time-span and the topic to the most relevant and important
themes that emerged from the previous IGCP initiative.
As LGM features are commonly quite easy
to recognise (sharp lithologic contrast, first-order geomorphologic
features) and well-known in most of the geological studies
of continental shelves, the topic is affordable even with relatively
low-cost technologies available in developing countries. Moreover,
for most of the relict deposits on the shelf of the last glacial
cycle, the time scale is fully encompassed within the range of a
number of Quaternary dating methods, and much is within the radiocarbon
time-scale. Given the focus of the topic, an effort will be made
in defining a common terminology and in developing methods to
depict LGM features on shelves, as the main interest will be in
the comparison among different areas of the world (tidal/non tidal,
high-energy/low-energy, low/high/intermediate latitudes, well-fed/starved,
glaciated/non-glaciated shelves). We will also seek evidence for
the higher-frequency phenomena, including the Younger Dryas, and
Heinrich events.
The continental shelves are, of course,
the physiographic province most affected by sea-level fluctuation,
that control exposure/submersion of wide areas. However the
information on shelf behaviour during glaciation and deglaciation
will have particular relevance for the behavior of watercourses in
adjoining plains and the position of sources feeding continental slopes.
The following points are the main targets
of the proposed project:
DEPTH OF THE EUSTATIC MINIMUM: According to published oxygen-isotope
curves, the LGM is one of the lowest sea levels of the entire Quaternary,
and thus has a very high potential for preservation and recognition
in the sedimentary record, even with relatively unsophisticated prospecting
technologies.
The definition of the maximum depth reached
by erosion in the outer shelf/upper slope will give insights
on different geological processes occurring at LGM. Relevant questions
in this respect are the relationship between the position of the
eustatic minimum and shelf edge, between sea level and the depth of
erosion, the testing of the eustatic values given by oxygen isotope
ratios.
A relevant application
of the depth of LGM erosional/depositional features is its use
as an indicator of vertical movements within continental margins.
As for coastal terraces, neotectonic trends can in fact be inferred
if a given sea-level position (previous 120 ka highstand for coastal terraces,
last 20ka lowstand for LGM features) can be geologically determined.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY : During the last glacial cycle and in particular
at the LGM, the amount of subaerially exposed continental shelf
was considerably greater than at present, this datum being of great
importance for climate and carbon cycle studies; the definition
of the lowermost shoreline position on a regional base will give
a precise definition of the maximum sea/land ratio.
In continental margins with complex morphology,
the palaeogeography might have been very different, with strong
effects on depositional processes. Water masses can have been
isolated from the sea creating lakes (as for the Gulf of Carpentaria,
Australia or Black Sea, Europe), seaways may have been closed
(as Messina, Italy) or narrowed thereby forcing currents to deeper
passages (as Gibraltar, Spain/Morocco). Straits areas will thus be
one of main areas of interest for the project.
PALAEOCLIMATE
The study of the condition of the shelf
at the LGM is likely to give relevant information on past climate.
Several important questions remain unanswered at present,
including major aspects of the following topics:
PALAEO-RAINFALL/PALAEO-HYDROLOGY : During the Würm/Wisconsinian
glacial time, continental shelves were exposed and scoured
by rivers. Surprisingly, paleovalleys are found even offshore
of some of today’s very small rivers, which are currently unable
to incise valleys. Even more surprisingly their valleys do not extend
down to the maximum depth reached by sea level, but stop at 70-80
m below present sea-level. A palaeo-hydrological model is needed
to explain such situations.
In some cases palaeo-valleys on the shelf
are not tied to present-day water courses. This information
is likely to be used to define relevant palaeo-hydrological features
such as the positions of present submerged springs on the coast
and different-than-today drainage patterns.
PALAEOCONDITIONS AT LOW LATITUDES: The tropical areas of the world
are vital to understanding the evolution of the climate in the
recent past, and by inference, the way climate is forced at any
time. It is still much debated whether low-latitude sea-surface
temperatures during glacial time were similar, marginally cooler
or substantially cooler than those of today (although see recent work
by Lea et al., 2000: Science 289: 1719-1724). Our project will
address this question at a number of locations using O-18 and trace-element
data from corals, shells and foraminifers recovered by coring and
dredging at water depths of ~125m.
Other key climatic questions relate to
the presence/absence/reduced intensity of palaeomonsoons
at the LGM, and seek to determine global climate, circulation
and heat budgets/transfers different at this time.
PALAEOCONDITIONS AT HIGH LATITUDES: During the last glacial cycle
a sizeable portion of high-latitude continental shelf was occupied
by ice sheets. Knowledge of glaciation limits by morphological/sedimentological
features is required for an estimate of the spatial and volumetric
characteristics of shelf ice masses and accurate assessment of
sea-level change and sea/land ratio. Ice sheets on the shelf were
inherently unstable, being controlled by sea level. Therefore shelf
glaciation played a critical role in the dynamics of deglaciation. Presently
the LGM glacial extents on the continental shelf are insufficiently understood,
especially in northern Eurasia. New data from glaciated shelves will
aid in determining the ice-sheet limits and the timing and patterns of
the last deglaciation.
PALAEO WAVE CLIMATE: A very peculiar feature of the sediments deposited
at the LGM is their two-dimensional (tabular) geometry, as opposed
to the strong three-dimensionality of the transgressive and highstand
deposits that are always related to point sources. Lowstand deltas
at the shelf edge are very rare and if present, they are far thinner
and are elongated parallel to the palaeo-coast than are present deltas,
despite the lowering of rivers’ base-levels and exposure of the shelf
at the LGM.
If the longshore redistribution of sediments
were much more effective during glacial periods that during
inter-glacials, such evidence may give information on palaeo-wave
or longshore current energy.
PALAEOMORPHOLOGY/ Incision process: The deposits making-up the
continental shelves are truncated at their top by an erosional
unconformity thought to be formed by shelf exposure during the
last glaciation. Actually the surface is extremely flat, much
flatter than any subaerial errosional surface. In most of the
cases, shoreface erosion during the ensuing transgression re-worked
their surface but in places where palaeo-crust or backshore/shoreface
deposits are found, a reconstruction of the palaeo-morphology
can be possible, with an estimate of the amount of sediment eroded
by ravine-forming processes. Such information can be used to estimate
the amount of sand scraped from the shelf, transported shoreward
during the later transgression and forming the core of present-day
littoral wedges.
STRATIGRAPHY: As
the LGM is a key moment in the sedimentary evolution of continental
margins, a better definition of the depositional models for the Late
Pleistocene can be attempted. Is it possible to define any peculiar
feature strictly indicating the LGM or lowstand, discriminating among
the latter and the deposits tied to the sea-level fall? Can sequence-stratigraphic
models encompassing a three-fold (or four-fold, if forced regression
is considered) development of depositional sequences be applied
to the high-frequency, high-amplitude, asymmetric glacioeustatic
cycles? Are sedimentary models that predict processes similar
to those of the present-day correct? Is there any relevant and constant
difference between these two eustatic settings that has to be considered?
HERITAGE IN HUMAN CULTURE: Climatic- and eustatic-driven changes of
the physical environment may have left deep traces on human culture.
Shelf areas, that during lowstand were flat coastal plains suitable
for human settlements, experienced dramatic changes because
of glacioeustasy; as an example, during deglaciation an average
rate of 1m/century of sea-level rise was reached, that may account
for metre or metres per year of coastal retreat in low-gradient
shelves. The constant rise in base level and the damming of the incised
valleys by transgressive littoral barriers favoured river flooding
and formation of coastal marshes and swamps. In key areas, as in the
Black Sea where the Dardanelles and Bosphorus acted as a plug with respect
to the Mediterranean water masses, catastrophic flooding of the continental
shelf was inferred (Ryan et al., 1997). Saltwater poured through this
spillway to refill the lake and submerged more than 100,000 km2 of
its previously subaerially exposed continental shelf. If this drowning
had occurred, it must have accelerated the dispersal of the Neolithic
population into the interior of Europe at that time.
Possible migration routes and civilization
trends (compartmentalisation of cultures during the Upper
Palaeolithic for instance) may have a link with the palaeoenvironmental
changes of the shelf. Episodes present troughout different cultures
(as the golden age or the flood) may also be linked to such changes.
APPLICATIONS : The project is aimed at increasing the scientific knowledge
of processes and features related to the LGM, through a comparison
of different situations at a global scale. Several possible applications
can be considered:
1) Collection of information relevant to
define the Carbon Cycle and budget in the recent past as
information on vegetation on exposed shelves, storage of methane
in deltaic deposits during highstand, possible abrupt release
of gas hydrates by large-scale mass failure at shelf edges during
sea level fall/lowstand ; 2) The role of the tropical epicontinental
seas and exposed large shelf areas during the LGM as controls on
global climate (El Niño at the LGM, palaeomonsoons); 3)
Changes in coastline orientation and closure of straits as controlling
factors for coastal currents; 4) Neotectonics as vertical mobility
of a segment of coast may be inferred by the depth of the LGM sea-level
markers; 5) Hydrology indications as position of lowstand springs
and drainage pattern, behaviour of water table; 6) Data for defining
the long-term littoral sedimentary budget (possible definition of the
present-day underfed beaches as relict features from last sea-level rise)
7) Palaeoanthropology for land-bridges and archipelagoes formed
during the LGM as routes for human migration, human environment at LGM,
remains on cultural heritage of eustatic-driven environmental changes);
8) Lowstand shelf mineral resources (placer deposits of diamonds, tin,
gold, sand and gravel); 9) Engineering Geology (engineering properties
of shelf deposits); 10) Coastal Management (sustainable utilisation
of shelves).
Work Plan
The principal elements of the work plan
are covered in the main body of the text. These include:
(a) The tentative work schedule (Item 9),
including the establishment of three working groups (Note
that IGCP-396 initially had up to 6 working groups, but that
these quickly reduced to 3 or 4, all of which could be productive
and were central to the aim of the project).
(b) The outline of the project (Item 7)
which is effectively its aims.
(c) The major proposal (Item 16) which
outlines the principal questions to be addressed.
(d) The emphasis on our workshop training
plan. In addition to workshop presentations at annual or regional
meetings, we have identified at least three project members who
commonly travel widely and who have offered to maintain a set of
teaching materials (e.g. slides, text handout) and present, at short
notice, seminars/workshops of opportunity, particularly in less-developed
countries.
(e) Our research-exchange plan, to provide
key laboratories for analytical work/data interpretation
and to actively make opportunities available for laboratory-based
visits and training.
(f) Our publication strategy; namely, abstracts
and posters from all meetings to be entered on the website;
a major journal publication on contributions in 2002; a final
monograph in 2005.
(g) Contribution to, and encouragement
of national and global maps of shelf sediments, and shelf sediment-facies
at 20ka.
Curricula Vitae of the Proposers
Francesco L. Chiocci
- Born in Gubbio, Perugia, 22 August 1959
- Degree in Geology (110 with honours)
and PhD in Earth Sciences at University of Rome "La Sapienza"
- From 1988 to 1993 researcher at National
Research Council (CNR) Centre for Technical Geology,
Rome
- From 1993 to 1998 researcher at National
Research Council (CNR) Centre for Quaternary and Environmental
Evolution, Rome
- From 1998 Associate Professor at University
of Rome "La Sapienza", teaching courses in Littoral Dynamics,
Marine Geology and General Geology.
- Member of the Italian Association for
the Quaternary (AIQUA), Geological Society of Italy (SGI),
International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS)
Research activity
From 1993 to 1999 was secretary of CROP
Project (joint venture among CNR-AGIP-ENEL for deep seismic
crustal study).
In 1994 was in charge of seismostratigraphic
analysis offshore Montalto di Castro nuclear plant to study
active faulting and neotectonics of the area. The study was
commissioned by the Minister of the Environment through the
Italian Geological Survey.
Since 1994 co-ordinates a research group
of about twenty researchers of the University of Rome and
National Research Council to study present-day depositional
processes on the sub aerial and marine basin of the Ombrone River
(Tuscany).
In 1997-98 was in charge of an Italian-Spanish
joint project (CNR-CSIC) aimed to study sedimentary record
on continental margins.
Participated in 25 oceanographic cruises
(about half of them as chief scientist) mainly in the Tyrrhenian
Sea but also in the Red Sea, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and
Antarctica.
Presented a proposal to the European Community
to use TOBI deep-sea vehicle to study instability on the flanks
of Italian volcanic Islands (T.I.VOL.I. cruise). The
proposal was accepted and he was Chief Scientist on the cruise
in September-October 1998 (http://gea.geo.uniroma1.it/tivoliweb/t1.html).
In 1998-2000 was National Representative
and leader of the Sequence Stratigraphy Working Group of the
International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP-396) "Continental
Shelves in Quaternary."
Performed occasional review of scientific
articles for Marine Geology, Sedimentology, Geological Society
Sp. Pub., Il Quaternario, Bollettino and Memorie Società
Geologica Italiana, Giornale di Geologia.
At present is Scientific Director of geological
mapping (1:50.000) of marine areas of geological sheets 53
(Montalto di Castro), 354 (Tarquinia), 413 (Borgo Grappa). Is
also member of the national commission for the definition of mapping
procedures.
At present is responsible for a three-year
(2000-2002) National Project of the Institute for Geophysics
and Volcanology to study instability on the flanks of Italian
volcanic islands.
At present is in charge of seismic data
acquisition and interpretation in a joint-project between
University of Rome and Latium Government to search and exploit
relict transgressive beaches for littoral artificial nourishment.
List of articles
Chiocci, F.L., Orlando,L., Tortora,P.,
1991, Small-scale seismic stratigraphy and paleogeographical
evolution of the continental shelf facing the SE Elba Island
(northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) Journal of Sedimentary Petrology,
61, 4, 506-526
Chiocci, F.L. and Clifton, H.E., 1991,
Gravel-filled gutter cast in nearshore facies - indicators
of ancient shoreline trend; "From shoreline to abyss, contributions
in marine geology honoring Francis Parker Shepard", Special
Publication SEPM, 46, 67-76.
Chiocci, F.L. and Normark, W.R., 1991,
Effect of sea-level variation on upper-slope depositional
processes offshore of Tiber delta, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. Marine
Geology, 104, 109-122.
Chiocci, F.L., 1994,Very High-resolution
seismics as a tool for sequence stratigraphy applied to outcrop
scale.- Examples from eastern Tyrrhenian margin Holocene/Pleistocene
deposits AAPG Bulletin, 78, 3, 378-395
Bellotti P., F.L. Chiocci , S. Milli, P.
Tortora, P. Valeri, 1994 Sequence Stratigraphy and Depositional
Setting of the Tiber Delta: integration of high-resolution seismics,
well log and archaeological data. Journal of Sedimentary Research,
B64, 3, 416-432
Chiocci F.L., Esu F., Tommasi P., Chiappa
V, 1996, Stability of submarine slope of the Tiber River delta.
in: Landslides - Glissements de terrain, K.Senneset (Ed.),
Balkema, Rotterdam, 521-526
Chiocci F.L. and L. Orlando, 1996 Lowstand
terraces on Tyrrhenian Sea steep continental slopes,
Marine Geology, 134, 127-143
Chiocci F.L., Ercilla G. and Torres J.
,1997, Stratal architecture of Western Mediterranean Margins
as the result of the stacking of Quaternary lowstand deposits
below "glacio-eustatic fluctuation base-level. Sedimentary Geology,112
(3-4), 195-217
Ercilla, B. Alonso; J. Baraza; D. Casas;
F.L. Chiocci; F. Estrada; M. Farràn; E. Gonthier; F.
Pérez-Belzuz; C. Pirmez; M. Reeder; J. Torres; R. Urgeles
(1998) New high-resolution data from the "braided system" of the
Orinoco deep sea fan. Marine Geology (146)1-4,243-250
Tommasi P., Chiocci F.L., Esu F. (1998)
Geotechnical properties of Soft Clayey Sediments from the Submerged
Tiber River Delta, Italy. Marine Georesources and Geotechnology,
16, 221-242
Chiocci F.L., 2000, Depositional response
to Quaternary 4th order sea level falls on the northern Latium
margin (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). In: D.Hunt and R. Gawthorpe
(Eds),Sedimentary Responses to Forced Regressions, Special Publication
of Geological Society of London,172, 271-289.
Allan R Chivas
- Born in Sydney, Australia, 14 May 1950.
- BSc with First Class Honours (1972),
PhD (1977), University of Sydney.
- 1977-78: Visiting Scientist, US
Geological Survey, Menlo Park.
- 1978-79: Research Fellow, Centre
de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques,
Nancy, France.
- 1979-1995: Research Fellow to Senior
Fellow; Group Leader, Environmental Geochemistry, Research
School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University.
- 1995 - : Professor of Geosciences,
University of Wollongong (Head of School, 1995-1999).
Research Interests
Low-temperature geochemistry - Chemical,
C-14, Cl-36 and stable-isotope studies of the formation and
evolution of modern and ancient lake basins, coral reefs,
near-shore and deep-sea sediments, weathering profiles and laterites.
Chemical hydrology, palaeoceanography and atmospheric chemistry.
Geochemistry and isotopic studies of mineral deposits.
Conference Convener (selection)
1986 Session F3 on "Isotopes in palaeoenvironments
and dating" of the 12th International Sedimentological Congress,
Canberra.
1990 Symposium 6, "The first few
metres: isotope geochemistry at the Earth's surface", 7th
Int. Conf. Geochronology, Cosmochronology and Isotope Geology,
Canberra. Also member of general and program committees and
co-convenor of field-trip committee.
1993 1st Australian and New Zealand
Meeting on Quaternary Dating (Canberra - Co-convener with R.
Grün)
1994 Symposium 7, "Paleoclimate reconstruction
using isotopic tracers - the continental record of paleoclimate",
8th Int. Conf. Geochronology, Cosmochronology and Isotope Geology,
Berkeley, California.
1997 Climates of the Past (UNESCO/IUGS)
meeting, Cairns/Atherton/Townsville.
International Committees
1991-1993 Organizing Committee, 6th
International Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Conference (Canberra/Sydney)
1992-1993 Organizing Committee, 6th
International Paleolimnology Conference/inter-INQUA Conference
(Canberra)
1993-1995 Australian representative;
Sedimentary and Geochemical Processes Panel, (CanAus alternate
member); Ocean Drilling Program.
1994-1999 Steering Committee, CLIP (Climates
of the Past) project of the International Union of Geological
Sciences and UNESCO; from 1997, chairman of the project.
1996-2000 Leader, Working Group on Dating
within IGCP-396 project on Continental Shelves in the Quaternary.
1999- Treasurer, International
Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA).
1999- Secretary, INQUA Committee
on Quaternary Economic Deposits.
National Committees (selection)
1980-1986 Geological Society of Australia,
Commonwealth Territories' Division. Treasurer 1980-83;
Vice-Chairman 1984; Chairman 1985-1986.
1993-1996 National Committee for
Quaternary Research, Australian Academy of Science.
1993-1997 Consortium for Ocean Geosciences
(COGS) of Australian Universities.
1995- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Specialist
Committee, Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering.
(chairman since 1998)
Editor (selection)
(e) Six special issues for Chemical Geology;
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology ;
J. Paleolimnology; AGU monograph.
(f) At various times, member of the editorial
advisory boards of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology;
International Journal of Salt Lake Research; Quaternary Geochronology;
AGSO Australian Journal of Geology and Geophysics.
Membership of Learned
Societies
International Quaternary Association
The American Geophysical Union
The Geochemical Society
Geological Society of America
Geological Society of Australia
Australasian Quaternary Association
Australian Marine Sciences
Association
Australian Coral Reef Society
Cushman Foundation
Society of Economic Geologists
Major Relevant Research Projects
(selection)
Environmental geochemistry of the Great
Barrier Reef. Salt Lakes and evaporites in Australia.
Saline Lakes and fjords in Antarctica. Quaternary marine
palaeoclimate around Australia. Quaternary record of the
Gulf of Carpentaria.
Publications
123 publications in international journals,
those below are a selection relevant to the proposed IGCP
Project.
1985 Torgersen, T. and Chivas, A.R.
Terrestrial organic carbon in marine sediment: a preliminary
balance for a mangrove environment derived from _13C.
Chem. Geol. 52: 379-390.
1985 Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. and Shelley,
J.M.G. Strontium content of ostracods indicates lacustrine
palaeosalinity. Nature, 316: 251-253.
1986 Chivas, A.R., Chappell, J., Polach,
H., Pillans, B. and Flood, P. Radiocarbon evidence for
the timing and rate of island development, beach-rock formation
and phosphatization at Lady Elliot Island, Queensland, Australia.
Marine Geol., 69: 273-287.
1986 Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. and Shelley,
J.M.G. Magnesium content of non-marine ostracods: a
new palaeosalinometer and palaeothermometer. Palaeogeogr.,
Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 54: 43-61.
1988 De Deckker, P., Chivas, A.R., Shelley,
J.M.G. and Torgersen, T. Ostracod shell chemistry:
a new palaeoenvironmental indicator applied to a trangressive/regressive
record from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Palaeogeogr.,
Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 66: 231-241.
1988 De Deckker, P., Chivas, A.R. and Shelley,
J.M.G. Paleoenvironment of the Messinian Mediterranean "Lago
Mare" from strontium and magnesium in ostracode shells.
Palaios, 3: 352-358.
1990 Chivas, A.R., Torgersen, T. and Polach,
H.A. Growth rates and Holocene development of stromatolites
from Shark Bay, Western Australia. Aust. J. Earth Sci., 37:
113-121.
1990 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Herczeg,
A.L. Shelf-wide erosion, deposition and suspended sediment
transport during Cyclone Winifred, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
J. Sediment. Petrol., 60: 456-470.
1992 Vengosh, A., Starinsky, A., Kolodny,
Y., Chivas, A.R. and Raab, M. Boron isotope variations
during fractional evaporation of sea water: new constraints
on the marine vs. nonmarine debate. Geology, 20: 799-802.
1994 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Isdale,
P.J. High-resolution isotopic records from corals using
ocean temperature and mass-spawning chronometers. Earth Planet.
Sci. Lett., 121: 549-558.
1995 Gagan, M.K. and Chivas, A.R.
Oxygen isotopes in western Australian coral reveal Pinatubo
aerosol-induced cooling in the Western Pacific Warm Pool.
Geophysical Research Letters, 22: 1069-1072.
1996 Gagan, M.K., Chivas, A.R. and Isdale,
P.J. Timing coral-based climatic histories using 13C enrichments
driven by synchronized spawning. Geology, 24: 1009-1012.
2000 Chivas, A.R. et al. Sea-level
and environmental changes since the Last Interglacial in
the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: An overview. Quaternary
International (in press).
General aims of the
project for the non-specialist
The project aims to define the palaeoenvironmental
evolution of the continental shelves, particularly leading
into and since the Last Glacial Maximum. This will include
the processes that have produced the present morphology, stratigraphy
and sedimentology. The project is timely as continental shelves
are under increasing pressure of exploitation and require basic
scientific understanding followed by better management. Shelf
areas are being assessed world-wide, particularly up to 2004, when the
Law-of-the-Sea convention on continental margins comes into effect.
Objectives and
measurable outputs
The project will synthesise data from continental
shelves world-wide and develop a common terminology for their
description and depiction on maps and atlases at global and regional
scales. On a more fundamental scale, the geometry of shelves,
their past sea-surface temperatures, and carbon budgets will
be assessed on a regional basis by research teams, using both simple
and technologically advanced methods. Applied aspects include
the study of palaeomonsoons, palaeohydrology, engineering and geotechnical
assessment, and the palaeoanthropological implications of past
archipelagic and land bridges.
A key plank of the proposal is an emphasis
on research training in modern methods of shelf study by an
integrated series of workshops and by research exchanges to
advanced facilities and laboratories.
The principal physical outputs include
an electronic database of all materials/posters contributed
to the project, training workshop manuals, numerous papers in
scientific journals, a special volume of contributed papers
in 2003, an edited monograph in 2005, and contributions to shelf
maps at world, regional and national scales.
Geosciences in
the Service of Society
Several of the more applied aspects of
the proposed project relate to societal concerns, particularly
those that bear on engineering aspects of shelf sediments (shelf
mapping for management, geotechnics; laying of submarine optical
cables), as do the development of mineral resources (sand, gravel
and marine placer deposits of diamonds, tin, gold and other heavy
mineral sands).
The characterisation of continental shelves
is of prime importance to the convention on the Law of the Sea,
and in this regard our research training programs will be of
substantial significance to marine geologists, particularly
in less developed countries.
There is another aspect to the human dimension
on shelves, and it lies in their previous occupation during
partial exposure at or near the Last Glacial Maximum.
Our project will seek to interpret and integrate aspects of the
human heritage of shelves as occupation sites and as corridors for
migration.
Report of first-year (2001) activities for
International
Geological Correlation Programme
Project 464
‘Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle:
Knowledge and applications’
Meetings held
25-28 October 2001: ‘Continental Shelves during
the Last Glacial Cycle’.
1st Annual conference of IGCP 464; Hong Kong
Several additional regional meetings were co-sponsored;
and with strong participation from IGCP-464 members:
29 October – 1 November 2001: 5th International
Conference on the Cenozoic Evolution of the Asia-Pacific Environment;
Hong Kong.
7-10 January 2002: Continental Shelves: processes,
record, utilisation and management; Hong Kong. Workshop on Environmental
Sedimentology. Principal sponsors were the IAS (International
Association of Sedimentologists) and SEPM (Society of Sedimentary
Geology).
(copies of the abstract volume
from this meeting have been forwarded separately to the UNESCO
Paris office, by the conference organizer by Wyss Yim. There were
40 delegates from 10 countries and 40 oral and poster presentations).
Future Meetings
The principal IGCP-464 activity will consist
of an annual meeting, rotated among five continents, during the
project’s five-year lifetime and at least one regional meeting
per year. Accordingly, the following program has been planned:
2002: IGCP-464 2nd Annual
conference: 30 August – 3 September 2002, Brazil. (Sao Paulo and
the coastal city of Cananeia). Organised by Dr Michel de Mahiques,
University of Sao Paulo; and who is the IGCP-464 Brazilian national
representative. The first circular was issued on 18 December 2001.
This meeting will be linked to the Brazilian Symposium on Oceanography,
Sao Paulo, 26-30 August 2002.
There will be a combined one-day meeting of
both conferences, and IGCP-464’s training outreach will commence
by the project’s leaders (Francesco Chiocci and Allan Chivas)
presenting short courses on continental margins within the Brazilian
Symposium on Oceanography.
2002: Regional meeting: A/Prof.
Lindsay Collins (Curtin University, Western Australia) and
Australian national IGCP-464 representative, has convened a
symposium on Continental Shelves nested within the (biennial)
Australian Geological Convention, Adelaide, 1-5 July 2002.
2003: IGCP-464 Annual Conference:
New Zealand, to be organised by Dr Tim Naish and supported by
the New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
2003: Regional meeting: Dr.
Szymon Uscinowicz offered to organise a meeting in Gdansk, Poland,
to summarise work from the Baltic region and possibly include the
theme ‘Last post-glacial sea-level rise and inundation of semi-enclosed
basins’.
2004: IGCP-464 Annual Conference:
to be held adjacent to the International Geological Convention in Florence
Italy.
2005: IGCP-464 Annual Conference:
Possible African location.
Report of 1st Annual IGCP-464 Meeting: Hong Kong,
25-28 October, 2001
Scope of the Meeting
About 45 participants made 33 presentations,
nearly all oral, with some accompanied by posters. The participants
were drawn from fourteen countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland,
United Kingdom and USA).
The four-day meeting comprised two days of oral
presentations, a one-day field trip and a day with a business
and planning meeting. Poster presenters also made supplementary
10-15 minute oral presentations in the main lecture theatre
to the assembled audience. All activities were smoothly co-ordinated
and organised by A/Prof. WyssYim from the Department of Earth
Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Autonomous
Region, China.
The field trip to Lantau Island visited the
sites of proposed and current major coastal and dredging operators
at Tai O Bay and Penny’s Bay. The scale and intensity of these engineering
activities are very substantial and involve major disturbance and
management issues pertaining to the sea bed.
Papers presented
Fabrizio Antonioli and
Sergio Silenzi: Palaeoenvironmental analysis of submerged speleothems
formed during the LGM in Argentarola Island, Italy.
L.S. Chan and W.W.-S. Yim:
Application of magnetic properties for studying modern seabed sediments
contaminated by shipping activity in Hong Kong Harbour.
Francesco L. Chiocci:
Continental shelf morphostratigraphic features due to last sea-level
rise: certainties and uncertainties with examples from Mediterranean
margins.
Allan R. Chivas, Matt Griffiths,
David Wheeler and Sue Wang: Chemical evidence for marine/estuarine/lacustrine
transitions in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia.
Lindsay B. Collins:
Growth history of coral reefs since the Last Glacial Maximum
in the western margin of Australia.
Luis A. Conti and Valdenir
V. Furtado: Geomorphological indicators of Quaternary sea levels
on the continental shelf of southeastern Brazil.
M. D. Dickman, W.W.-S. Yim,
G. Wang and G. Huang: Distribution of diatoms in Holocene sediments
in a core from Tai O Bay, Hong Kong SAR, China.
A. Garcia, A.R. Chivas, J.
M.Reeves, M.J.J. Couapel, S. van der Kaars, S. Holt and P. De
Deckker: Palaeoenvironments of the Gulf of Carpentaria since
the last glacial: reconstruction from palaeobiota.
Gdaliahu Gvirtzman, Oshe
Wieder and Nathan Bakler: Sea-level rise since the Last Glacial
Maximum: the eastern Mediterranean Sea off Israel.
Richard Hale: Mapping
the seabed sediments of the southern China continental shelf
and slope.
Till J.J. Hanebuth, Karle
Strattegger and Yoshiki Saito: Stratigraphy and sea-level
history of the late Pleistocene Sunda Shelf.
R. Hetherington, J.V. Barrie,
R. Reid, R. MacLeod and R. Kung: Palaeogeography and early
human adaption of the Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada: drowned
landscapes, paleo-coastlines, and paleo-marine habitats.
Guangqing Huang and Wyss
W.-S. Yim: Can the distribution of foraminifers in Holocene
inner shelf sediment from the South China Sea be used as typhoon
indicators?
Gilles Lericolais, Nicolas
Panin, Francois Guichard and Candace Major:
A high-resolution record of the late glacial maximum event in
the western Black Sea.
Shuanglin Li and Shaoquan
Li: Palaeodeltas during the last glacial period in the outer
shelf of the East China Sea.
Zhenxia Liu, Ping Yin, Serge
Berne, Alain Trentesaux and Kelin Zhuang:
Quaternary transgressive and regressive depositional sequences
of the East China Sea.
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques,
Ilson Carlos Almeida da Silveira, Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa
and Marcelo Rodrigues: Post-LGM sedimentation on the outer shelf/upper
slope of the northernmost part of the Sao Paulo Bight, southeastern
Brazil.
E. Martorelli, F. L. Chiocci
and G. Ercilla: Seismic and sedimentological characters of a
5th -order depositional sequence formed during the last glacio-eustatic
cycle.
Hugo G. Nami
: Palaeo-Indian archaeological evidence and two cases of land
bridges in southern South America.
Yong A. Park: Clastic
sedimentary facies of lowstand sea-level during the LGM in the
continental shelf and shelf-edge of the East Sea, southeastern
Korea.
Kalus Schwarzer: Influence
of the Holocene palaeoenvironment on shore protection measures
in Flensburg Fjord, Baltic Sea.
Silvia H.H. Sousa, Michel
M. Mahiques, Raquel F. Passos, Luiz Fernando D’Agostino, Thomas
R. Fairchild, Wania Duleba, Alberto G. Figueiredo, and Jurgen
Patzold: Post-last glacial maximum coastline change
as a major forcing of regional hydrodynamic variations: an example
from the eastern Brazilian continental margin.
Marcello Tropeano, Luis Pomar
and Luisa Sabato: The offlap break position versus
sea level: a discussion
Szymon Uscinowicz: Relative sea-level
curve of the southern Baltic
Szymon Uscinowicz and Grazyna
Miotk-Szpiganowicz: The final stage of the Holocene transgression
in the Puck Lagoon area, southern Baltic Sea as observed from
the Rzucewo Headland case study.
Roberto A. Violante:
Submerged features related to the LGM in the Argentine continental
shelf: the present knowledge.
Dongxing Xia:
A preliminary study of the lower reaches of the Huanghe and
Changjiang rivers during the Last Glacial Maximum
Shou-Ye Yang, Cong-Xian Li,
Hoi-Soo Jung and Hee-Jun Lee: Holocene evolution of the
Subei coastal plain and the contributions of Changjiang and Huanghe
rivers, Jiangsu, China.
W.W.-S. Yim: Recognition
of postglacial and pre-postglacial sediments on continental
shelves: lessons learnt from the Hong Kong SAR, China.
W.W.-S. Yim: Review
of results of International Geological Correlation Programme
project no. 396 ‘Continental shelves in the Quaternary’
Joanna Zachowicz: Human
activity of the Vistula delta plain and Vistula lagoon shoreline
displacement during the Holocene.
Kelin Zhuang and Zhenxia
Liu: Conceptual model of tidal sand ridge development since
the last deglaciation in the continental shelves of Bohai, the
Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.
Y. Zong, Z. Huang and W.
Zhang: Postglacial sea-level rise and palaeo-shoreline movement
along the northern continental shelf of the South China Sea
Report of second-year (2002) activities for
International
Geological Correlation Programme
Project 464
‘Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle:
Knowledge and applications’
Meetings held
2002 Annual Report of IGCP Project Nº 464 IGCP project short title:
“Continental shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle” Project duration: 5
years; 2001-2005. Executive Committee: Project Co-leaders: Prof. Francesco
Latino Chiocci Dipartimento Scienze della terra Universita di Roma “La Sapienza”
P. le Aldo Moro 5 00185 Roma, Italia e-mail: francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Prof. Allan Ross Chivas School of Geosciences University of Wollongong.
NSW 2522. Australia. e-mail: toschi@uow.edu.au Advisory Board: Prof.
Donn Gorsline University of Southern California, USA. Prof. Yong Park
(recently retired from Seoul National University) Prof. Paolo Pirazzoli
(past IGCP-project 200 Leader) A/Prof. Wyss Yim University of Hong Kong
(Past IGCP-project 396 Leader)
1. Introduction and Summary
Project 464 bears the full title “Palaeoenvironmental evolution of Continental
Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle with particular reference to the last
Glacial Maximum”.
The project commenced in 2001, as a successor to the 1996-2000 project
IGCP-396 (Continental Shelves in the Quaternary).
The project’s first meeting was in Hong Kong in October 2001, and the
second annual meeting was in São Paulo and the coastal city of Cananéia,
Brazil (30 August-3 September, 2002). The project produces an annual newsletter,
available on its website (http://tetide.geo.uniroma1.it/igcp464.html), holds
an annual scientific meeting, and one or more regional meetings per year.
More than 300 scientists from 35 countries are project members. Professor
Francesco Chiocci (University of Rome, Italy) and Allan Chivas (University
of Wollongong, Australia) are the co-leaders of the project.
The aims of the project relate to the global development of continental
shelves, their geometry, relative sea-levels, palaeoclimate, incision during
sea-level low stands, carbon budget, mineral deposits, geotechnical properties
and cultural heritage.
The principal working groups relate to Physical Stratigraphy (leader,
Francesco Chiocci), Chemical Stratigraphy (Allan Chivas), Applied Aspects
(Wyss Yim, Hong Kong, China), and Human Interactions with Shelves, e.g.
migration routes (Renée Hetherington, Canada).
A key element is research training, involving presentation of short courses
on both broad and specialised aspects of shelf research. Another strand
is the interchange of personnel, leading to enhanced opportunities and expertise.
For example, Paula Alvarez, a PhD student from the University of Vigo, Spain,
has recently undertaken training in carbon-isotope analysis, at the University
of Wollongong, Australia.
2. Achievements of the project this year
2.1. General
The International Law of the Sea comes
into effect in 2009 allowing nations to claim certain areas of the continental
shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. This has emerged as an important imperative
within our project, as geoscientific understanding and documentation of shelf
areas are required to establish access to these areas. Accordingly, our
categorisation of shelf areas based on sediment thickness and geometry is
being broadly addressed by groups of our project members in teams organised
by regions. This same information is also required for ecological conservation
of biota on the shelves and in the management of sustainable fisheries, where
sediment substrate properties are important.
2.2. List of Meetings
The 2002 Annual meeting was superbly organised by Associate Professor
Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques, and his colleagues and students form the
Institute of Oceanography, University of São Paulo (USP). The first
day of the meeting (30 August, 2002) was nested within the Brazilian Oceanographic
Symposium (900 delegates), at USP. Immediately prior to this, and to the
broader Brazilian oceanographic community, Francesco Chiocci and Allan Chivas
presented IGCP-464 short courses on “high-resolution seismic stratigraphy”
and “stable-isotopes in the marine environment”, respectively.
Almost 60 IGCP-464 aficionados then spent a day in transit and field inspections
of the Brazilian coast near Iguape before arriving at Cananéia, where
USP has a marine field station. The field trip was led by Moysés
Gonsalez Tessler and Michel, with some participants only grudgingly willing
to leave the beach areas for the lecture theatre.
Two days of formal scientific presentations from the Brazil meeting are
summarised in a 104-page abstract booklet (12 copies previously forwarded
to the IGCP, to be made available on the project’s website. Indeed, the
project is attempting to capture all posters in full, from all its meetings
and have these available on the web.
There were 58 participants at the Brazil meeting from Argentina, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China (Hong Kong), France, Germany, India, Italy, Nigeria,
Spain, Portugal, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Important issues and discussions were raised during business meetings as
to the project’s possible final products. The consensus is that the project
will attempt as to produce a map or maps of the world’s continental shelf
areas and one or two books on both principles and methods and case studies.
These will be completed by 2005, and thus need to be in near-final form
by the time of the International Geological Congress (Florence) in 2004.
Other meetings
IGCP-464 co-hosted, together with IAS and SEPM, a sedimentology workshop
(Dr Wyss Yim), in Hong Kong (7-10 January, 2002) with the theme “Continental
Shelves – processes, record, utilisation and management”.
Lindsay Collins organised a special 2-day session on Australian continental
shelves, nested within the Australian Geological Convention, in Adelaide
in July 2002. 2.3
Selected publications
- Chiocci, F.L. 2002. “Free” artificial
nourishment: linking beach erosion in highly exploited shores with relict
sand bodies on sea-shelf. In CIESM 2002, Erosion Littorale en Mediterranee
occidentale: dynamique, diagnostique et remedes. Ciesm Workshop series 18:
67-71.
- Chiocci, F.L., de Alteriis, G. Budillon,
F., Bosman, A., Martorelli, C. and Violante, R. 2002. The Ischia debris avalanche:
the result of a catastrophic collapse of the island southern flank. XXVII
Assembly European Geophysical Society. Nice, France
- Chivas, A.R., García, van
der Kaars, S., Couapel, M.J.J., Holt, S., Reeves, J.M., Wheeler, D.J., Switzer,
A.D., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Banerjee, D., Price, D.M., Wang, S.X., Pearson,
G., Edgar, N.T., Beaufort, L., De Deckker, P., Lawson, E. and Cecil, C.B.,
2001. Sea-level and environmental changes since the last interglacial in
the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Quaternary International 83-85: 19-46.
- Chivas, A.R., De Deckker, P. Wang,
S.X. and Cali, J.A., 2002. Oxygen-isotope systematics of the nektic ostracod
Australocypris robusta. In The Ostracoda- Applications in Quaternary Research
(Eds Holmes, J.A. & Chivas, A.R.), Am. Geophys. Union, Geophysical Monograph
131: 301-313.
- Dias, J.M.A., Gonzalez, R., García,
C. and Diaz-del-Rio, V. 2002. Sediment distribution patterns on the Galicia-Minho
continental shelf. Progress in Oceanography 52: 215-231.
- Ercilla, G., Alonso, B., Estrada,
F., Chiocci, F.L., Baraza, J. and Farran, M., 2002. The Magdalena turbidite
system (Caribbean Sea): present-day morphology and architecture model. Marine
Geology 185: 303-318.
- García, A., Jones, B.G.,
Chenhall, B.E. and Murray-Wallace, C.V., 2002. Charophytes as environmental
indicators: a Holocene example from Tom Thumbs Lagoon, NSW. Alcheringa 26:
507-518.
- Gonzalez-Vila, F.J., Polvillo, O.,
Boski, T., Andres, J.R., 2002. A biomarker approach to the organic matter
deposited in coastal estuarine sediments during Holocene: a case studied
in the Guadiana River estuary. Organic Geochemistry. (in press).
- Hetherington, R. and Reid, R.G.B.,
2002. Molluscan insights into the marine ecology and changing climate of
the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene. Canadian Journal of Zoology (in press).
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V.,
Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and King, R., 2002. Lost landscapes: A palaeogeographic
reconstruction of Queen Charlotte Islands 8,750 to 14,250 14C y.B.P. Antiqua
2002, American Quaternary Association meeting, p. 61. Anchorage, Alaska.
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V.,
Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and King, R., 2002. Palaeogeography, glacially
induced crustal displacements, and late Quaternary coastlines on the northeast
Pacific continental shelf, Antiqua 2002, American Quaternary Association
meeting, p. 63-64. Anchorage, Alaska.
- Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V.,
Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and King, R., 2002.Queen Charlotte Islands palaeogeography
and the America’s first humans. Antiqua 2002, American Quaternary Association
meeting, p. 65-66. Anchorage, Alaska.
- Holmes, J.A. and Chivas, A.R., (eds)
2002. The Ostracoda- Applications in Quaternary Research, Am. Geophys. Union,
Geophysical Monograph 131: 313 pp.
- Holmes, J.A. and Chivas, A.R., 2002.
Ostracod shell chemistry- Overview. In The Ostracoda- Applications in Quaternary
Research (Eds Holmes, J.A. & Chivas, A.R.), Am. Geophys. Union, Geophysical
Monograph 131: 185-204.
- Liu, J.P., Milliman, J.D. and Gao,
S., 2002. The Shandong mud wedge and post-glacial sediment accumulation in
the Yellow Sea. Geo-Marine Letters 21: 212-218.
- Lobo, F.J., Hernández-Molina,F.J.,
Somoza, L., Díaz del Río, V. and Dias, J.M.A., 2002. Stratigraphic
evidence od an Upper Pleistocene TST to HST complex on the Gulf of Cadiz
continental shelf (southwest Iberian Peninsula). Geo-Marine Letters (in press).
- Mahiques, M.M., Silveira, I.C.A.,
Sousa, S.H.M. and Rodriges, M., 2002. Post-LGM sedimentation on the outer
shelf-upper slope of the northernmost part of the Sao Paulo Bight, southeastern
Brazil. Marine Geology 181: 387-400.
- Ramban, M., Rao, V.P., and Schneider,
R.R., 2002. Reconstruction of late Quaternary monsoon oscillations based
on clay mineral proxies using sediment cores from the western margin of India.
Marine Geology 186: 527-539
- Rao, V.P., Michard, A., Naqui, S.W.A.,
Boettcher, M.A., Krischnaswamy, R., Thambnan, M., Natarajan, R. and Borole,
2002. Quaternary phosphorites off the southeast coast of India. Chemical
Geology 182: 483-502.
- Tovey, N.K. and Paul, M.A., 2002.
Modelling self-weight consolidation in Holocene sediments. Bulletin of Engineering
Geology and The Environment 62: 21-33
- Tovey, N.K. and Yim, W.W.-S., 2002
Desiccation of Late Quaternary inner shelf sediments: microfabric observations.
Quaternary International 92: 73-87.
- Uscinowicz, Sz. and Miotk-Szpiganowicz,
G., 2002. Holocene Shoreline Migration in the Puck Lagoon (southern Baltic
Sea) based on the Rzucewo Headland case study. Landform Analysis 4.
- Violante, R.A., Parker, G. and Cavallotto,
J.L., 2001. Evolución de las llanuras costeras del este bonaerense
entre la Bahía de Samborombón y la Laguna Mar Chiquita. Revista
Asociacion Geologica Argentina 56: 1-66. 2.4.
List of countries involved in the project
Argentina*, Australia*, Belgium, Brazil*, Bulgaria, Canada*, Chile, China*,
Chinese Taiwan*, Egypt*, France*, Germany*, India*, Indonesia*, Israel*,
Italy*, Japan*, Korea*, Mozambique*, Netherlands*, New Zealand*, Nigeria*,
Norway, Portugal*, Russia*, South Africa*, Spain*, Thailand, Turkey*, United
Kingdom*, USA*.
2.5. Activities involving other IGCP
projects
The project is a member of the CHANGES program which is a super-IGCP
collaboration of Quaternary activities also involving sister projects on
the carbon cycle, karst, and drylands. Our task in this is to provide information
relating to the carbon budget (storage and loss during episodes of subaerial
exposure of the continental shelves).
2.6 Participation of scientists from developing countries
Project strategy
Probably each IGCP project develops its own ‘culture’, strategy and aims.
IGCP-464’s strategies are several-fold, but we are placing particular emphasis
on research co-operation and research training (i.e. capacity-building).
We wish our project to achieve outcomes beyond those that are a sum of several
countries’ own independent research programs. This strategy is enunciated
in the minutes of discussions at our annual meetings (see attachment for
the 2002 Sao Paulo gathering).
There are several ways that our strategy is expressed; as short courses
given, where possible, to participants in developing countries, and as fostered
research co-operation. The test of our success, is the documentation of those
activities or projects that would not have developed without the
IGCP-464 umbrella.
The following examples of activities during 2002, attest to our strategy:
A. Offering short courses on seismic stratigraphy, and marine geochemistry,
within the Brazilian Oceanographic Symposium (August 2002). A further course
on marine isotope geochemistry will be presented at the National Institute
of Oceanography, at Goa, India, in late January 2003. We have requests for
further courses to be presented in Nigeria, and offers of course provision
from project participants in Australia, Italy, France, Germany and the United
Kingdom.
B. A joint research agreement and funding between teams from France and
China to work on the Northern South China Sea shelf, over several years.
C. Enthusiastic teams involving several institutions from Argentina and
Brazil have commenced joint work in the east-coast South American shelves.
D. The offering of equipment and facilities at host institutions in France,
Australia, Italy, UK and Hong Kong to project participants to enable study
to occur on the continental shelves of other countries. Under this plan,
we can report:
(i) Isotopic analyses were undertaken in Australia, at no cost to the
recipient, for a project on the Indian west-coast continental shelf.
(ii) Paula Alvarez, PhD student at the University of Vigo, Spain, spent
7 weeks in late 2002 in Australia, learning techniques for isotopic analysis.
(iii) External funding sought under the IGCP-project banner, will permit
Paolo Abballe, PhD student, University of Rome, to undertake one-year of
his thesis research in Australia.
E. Most of the members within the project, and also those who attend
our annual meetings, are from developing countries. Our funds are used
almost exclusively to support their participation in such meetings.
3. Proposed activities for the year
ahead
3.1. General goals
To offer short courses to less developed countries (e.g. Nigeria), on
a variety of potential topics, including seismic stratigraphy, geochemistry,
geotechnics, palaeoceanography. A full list is given in the attached minutes
of the Sao Paulo meeting.
Continued team-building and co-operative research, leading to:
Concrete steps towards the production of one or more books or manuals
and maps, a detailed discussion of which is also presented in the Sao Paulo
minutes.
3.2 Future meetings
Several future meetings are planned for 2003. A regional thematic conference
in Gdansk, Poland (8-10 May 2003) on Rapid Transgressions into Semi-enclosed
Basins will focus on isolation basins such as the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and
Gulf of Carpentaria. Another regional session in Vancouver, Canada, within
the GAC-MAC-SEG Conference (25-28 May, 2003), will consider the importance
of the continental shelves to humans, for example, with respect to archaeology
and migration routes. The major 2003 annual project meeting will be held
in the North Island of New Zealand from 26-31 August. The 2004 annual meeting
will be within the International Geological Congress, in Florence, Italy.
4. Project funding requested
We would like to request funding at or near the upper end of the range,
to financially support attendance at two meetings in 2003. There is a regional
meeting in Gdansk, Poland (where support for scientists from eastern Europe
is important), and the annual meeting in New Zealand, for which scientists
from southern and east Asia will need support. On another front, we have
written separately to Dr Eder, requesting that consideration be given to
additional funding (possible from UNESCO, more broadly), to allow our offering
short courses in developed countries.
5. Project extension: N/A.
To contact IGCP464
email:
francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Univ. "La Sapienza",
P. Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy
